Earlier in May, I attended the Appleseed Comic Convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I also had the pleasure of staying with my good friends, Justin Stewart and Tressina Bowling. We recorded an episode of their podcast, Sequential Spirits which had special guests too, from Victor Dandridge (writer on Wonder Care Presents: The Kinder Guardians), to Ren McKenzie, and Mason Easley. It was incredibly fun but very, very NSFW.
The show itself was a lot slower than most cons I've been to. I did get some groovy commissions which you can check out here. Also did a few art drops but again no one stopped by the table to claim it. Victor's girlfriend Adrianna spotted it, but left it for some lucky kid to find.
Well I am back from Summit City Comic Con and had a fantastic
time. I was sad however as my partner in crime and better half was not able to come with me. I had to fly solo heading
out the door at five to make the 10am start time.
The drive there felt like it would take forever but that's my own
fault having not caught enough sleep prior.
I powered through, blasting tunes and listening to SModcasts. I find myself calculating drive times by how
many times I can watch The Dark Knight.
This trip was one and a half viewings, probably ending on the 2nd view
of the interrogation scene…where Joker is getting punched in the face and Bats
is screaming, "WHERE ARE THEY!?" With an hour left in my drive I was
definitely feeling the exhaustion and had the hunger games. I stopped for
a quick bite to eat before heading into downtown Fort Wayne.
I made it just in time with 15 minutes before they opened the show
floor. I had an exceptional table spot being the first row, third table
in. I had the great pleasure of being
neighbors with Instant Press Comics. They kept my
energy up talking comics, movies, and TV.
The show rocked. It was
definitely a print and art show for me this year. I didn't sell as many books as I would've
liked but I certainly did a ton of business sketch wise. I finally caught up to that sketch list
around 3pm. Took a mini break, Cheetos
in hand and walked the aisles. It gave
me a chance to stop and visit con friends, Victor Dandrige, Trevor Mueller,
Russell Lissau, and Dustin Carson.
The last half of the show was on the slower side but I managed to
make one or two book sales and sneak in at least 3 more sketches to end the
day. I packed up and headed home. I stopped to get some Cracker Barrel before
powering through the last hour of my trip.
Spent the evening doing inventory before knocking out to reruns of Man
Vs. Food.
It was a great show and quickly becoming one of my favorite one
day shows to attend. I look forward to
next year. Thanks for having me Fort
Wayne!
This past Saturday I attended Summit City Comic Con at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, IN. We had an early drive ahead of us leaving about 5am in he morning. We got there just in time to set up and start the show. It was a great turn out and my first time doing a one day show. I was amazed at how well the show was put together and how much space the artists were given. I also got a sweet parking spot too!
The crowd was great as I had a lot of kids come up to the table. However, talking to fellow artists, I found out there were fewer kids than last year. At about mid-way through the rain came and the attendance dropped a bit. I had more opportunities to step away from my table and meet with other artists and get a few things signed. I was also able to get some new sketches done in my TMNT book. I also met with Derby City Comic Con's Eric Banister and we talked about his upcoming show and he gave me some posters to sign and we talked about things to do in Louisville, KY.
Right around closing time we said goodbye to friends and made our trek back. I was feeling a bit tired but we found a Red Robin where we stopped for dinner. (YUMS) The best surprise is that we came home to find my parents babysitting the grandkids. It was awesome. So we spent the time playing with them before completely crashing into a deep slumber. Only to get up early again and watch Nicole and her family take on the Warrior Dash.
All in all it was a great show from start to finish and one I would definitely do next year. Up next I have the Comic Book Mania! Convention in July and as I mentioned previously...Derby City Comic Con. We hit the ground running in the next few weeks. I hope to have my new book completed and available for the rest of my con season. Also, please check periodically at the store as I will be uploading some prints, original art work, and more.
And lastly, here's some of the sketches I did at the show:
This past weekend I tweeted that I wanted to do a new print for Summit City to go along with the new business cards I am getting done. I am still working on the new When I Was Little book and I'm hoping to have it done by end of June. So with that being said I thought a new print would be a great addition to all the things I have to offer for the upcoming Summit City show. This print will be a vertical 8x10. I tend to do two new prints one vertical and one horizontal. I will be working on a new print for Derby City and that one will be the horizontal.
I know I wanted to do a villain from the comic universe this time out. It's hard to make certain villains fit in the theme of the When I Was Little prints. I think the rogues gallery from the Batman universe is the easiest but I did not want to keep doing Batman villains every time. So after racking my brain suggesting characters like Mystique and Sinestro (how can fear be cute?), I had a vision early this morning.
I seriously had a dream drawing the Silver Surfer scooping up a planet and feeding it to a baby Galactus, the devour of worlds. I woke up and did this today.
Creative spark comes from the strangest places at the strangest times. Either way I'm really happy at how dopey and goofy and cute this print looks. I hope you guys dig it.
Hi! Real quickly I'd like to tell you about the conventions I have lined up so far. Obviously as soon as the dates for these get closer I will talk about them more.
My first con of the year is going to be in sweet home Chicago! c2e2: March 18-20 at McCormick Place
I have some one day cons lined up in June and July as well. I'm really excited to be a part of these two, they are shaping up to be great!
Summit City Con: June 18 at The Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, IN
Derby City Comic Con: July 16 at Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, KY I did a poster for this convention so be on the look out for that. I'll post pics and links when they go live.
And I just added this one about a week or two ago. My good buddy Mike Roll, whom I shared a table with me at Detroit Fanfare, asked if I would like to join him and Joe Foo at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD! I was so excited to be asked to come. That's going down in September 10-11 at Bethesda North Marriot Hotel and Conference Center.
I went to Maryland last year on a family road trip vacation and I'm excited to go back and bring the When I Was Little series with me.
Well that's it for now, I've been looking into book fairs and other types of festivals I could participate in so I'll keep you all posted.
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