Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Post Wizard World Comic Con NASHVILLE Post: A Recap of My First Convention as an Artist in Artist Alley

A few of the sketch cards I drew before the con. I also took requests throughout the weekend.

   Wow! How time flies! It's already been almost three weeks since Wizard World Comic Con NASHVILLE & I'm still smiling. It was such a great time! I was excited about having my own table at a comic convention for the first time, but didn't entirely know what to expect. I received great advice from other artist who attend cons often, but was still a bit anxious. What a thrill! Yes, it was a lot of work, but you all made it all worth it! (CLICK IMAGES TO VIEW LARGER.)

My initial setup Friday morning. As you can see, most of the other artist's hadn't set up yet. I didn't know how long/short a time it would take. But I was glad to have the extra time. Featured in this photo is my new table front banner that I designed just for the con. I ordered it through Vistaprint.

    The most popular thing at my table, by far, were the sketch cards. (Also seen at the top of the post.) They're like little baseball or trading cards with original drawings by me. I had a selection of pre-drawn characters on on table & also gave the option of requesting any character you wanted. I drew so many! I didn't get pictures of all of them, but here are a few snapshots that my friend Wyatt & I took.


            


    I did a good number of Star Wars characters ahead of time & while at the con, because, ya know, it's Star Wars.

Special Guest, Stan "The Man" Lee was in Nashville! I did not meet him. We were both probably sad about that.

There were a a few characters that people requested, that I'd never heard of, like this guy!

Just a few of the Pokémon I drew throughout the convention.

         
JP!
A character I'd never heard of from a show I'd never heard of! Looks cool!

Another popular guy from a thing I've heard of,
 but do not watch. I think he turned out pretty good
.
A character from a popular game apparently!
 (For a girl named Mercedes.)

I actually saw some Ghostbusters at the con! They "had just caught a ghost." 

My new "pull down" banner I designed & had made through Vistaprint.

     Here is a closer look at my table display with new banners from Vistaprint.com & new art prints that I had printed at ASAP printing in Hendersonville, TN. I think I may still do some tweaking with the setup, but it served me well this time!

Convention Table: Art Prints & Sketch Cards.

Convention Table: Art Prints, Commissions, Original Artwork & Sketch Cards. The "table front" horizontal banner was attached using Velcro & safety pins. It worked this time, but wasn't the most reliable method. I still may rig up something else next time.

    While at the convention, I had the pleasure of meeting many of new, friendly folks & reuniting with some familiar faces. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting each of you that came to my table! It brought me so much joy to talk with you & draw for you! I also enjoyed meeting some other artists & entertainers whom I'd never met before. Below are some examples of some of their fine work that I was lucky enough to buy at their tables! I barely had time away from my table, but I knew I had to pick up some of their work!

         
Art Print by Beth Hughes.
Sketch Cards by Danny Limor (top drawing) & Yoni Limor (bottom three drawings)
 of Pencil Ink Publishing.


    Thanks again to my buddy Wyatt Langford drove into town to be my partner at the table & basically kept everything going while making it even more fun. And a big thanks to my awesome parents for helping me cut out sketch cards & much more. Thanks to Guy Gilchrist for the tips & connecting me with Wizard World & making it happen & to all the awesome folks at Wizard World (specifically Scott Perry,) who made it way easier to have a pleasurable time. All of the Music City Center staff that I had contact with were great & boy, what an amazing facility! Thanks! And thank you Scott "Scoot" McMahon for the advice to try sketch cards! All of you made my first con in Artist Alley not only possible, but incredible!
    
    It seriously was such a delight to meet so many cool & friendly people, kids, teens & adults alike! It did my heart good to draw for you all & to see you smile as you received your custom drawing or just when you stopped by & had a chat. God is good & he used this experience to bless me & remind me once again of how great it is to create things for people. I'm not sure when my next con will be, but already excited about it! I'll see you then!!! God bless you all!