Monday, November 10, 2008

Wizard World Texas: Aftermath


[image: my convention painting that was done at the table. Watercolor, gouache, silver paint, and ink on 300 Lanaquarelle.]

The Wizard World tour retires this year with it's final stop in Texas, and what a stop it was. Conventions have been a real drain on the finances: table, travel, food, product. Product is going to take a while to cover, but for the first time ever i covered expenses (table, travel, food, small purchases). I'm typically the one that makes the least amount of money if i make money at all. This is partially due to the fact that i am a dog zodiac so i tend to wander off. But as Evan said "We know we did good because Luan was actually at the table for 95% of the time. Can you imagine what would happen if it was 98%? I don't even want to think about it." It was that good; and the show was pretty good to all of us. We've been doing shows together as a studio for little over a year now, and i think we've done a lot over that year. I think this next year will be a good indication as to where this will be progressing to; and it's been a really good haul so far.

Wizard World Texas is one their newest additions to the tour and it wasn't bought from a previously successful convention (a la Chicago, Philly, LA). So they had to build this show from the ground up, trying to figure out what the market here wants. It's been an interesting evolution over the years, so there are always rumblings of them not having a show the next year. Their first year here they brought along the big booths and heavy names (Lee, Silvestri, Turner, etc), treating it like one of their big media shows like LA or Chicago. They had artist alley tucked away in another room, dimly lit and unadvertised. I think now they understand that people here in Texas don't want the big media glitz. There's a certain pride here of not being like LA or NYC: things here are bigger, stronger, and more easy-going. Over the years artist alley has grown immensely; and they have kept it to small press and independent artists. Gone are the models, small retailers (for the most part), and media people. It is truly an Artist Alley. The main reason i made the money that i did was because i had original paintings. Studio-mate Evan had the same experience and i think Tommy Castillo did bang-bustah his originals as well. People are there to look for convention sketches and original art. I think that's why the live art scene here has been booming lately.


[image: my live art painting for Heroes4Heroes Fundraiser. Watercolor, gouache, and ink on 300 Lanaquarelle.]

Heroes4Heroes
had their third annual live art fundraiser on Saturday, and i think it went awesome. It was pretty cool to work along side with such great talent; the Space-Gun Kru ran really strong and turned a few heads. I feel that I need to bring my "A++" game to these sorts of events, this one in particular. The audience for the most part not as local as the other shows that we do. I feel that i am not only representing myself but my studio and the Dallas art community as a whole. Over the course of the last few years, I have identified myself as a Space-Gunner and a proud Dallas artist. So at this annual show, I feel that I need to step up and show that Dallas isn’t just a city of cowboys and corporate offices. There is a real thriving art community here, and we rock it pretty hard.

They had more and a traditional English Open Auction this time, with a stage for the pieces and the bidders were seated in front of the stage. It went fairly well for the most part; though i think how the pieces go up for auction could be more streamlined as a few pieces were forgotten along the back wall for hours. Understandably, they want to get the headlining guests up first/early as their pieces would carry more weight; but a few great pieces got less love than they deserved as the night got late. Though this is their third show and it’s only once a year so there will be kinks here and there to iron out as they find a system that works for them.

This con was a great way to end out the convention tour. The art show was awesome; the convention was really good to us overall. We all left with contacts and money in our pockets; there’s not much more you can ask for. It’s a great way to wrap up one year of shows. Thanks to the Wizard World staff, they were friendly in correspondence and in person as well. We’ve never had any issues with anyone at these shows. Special kicks out to Dave Hopkins and Paul Milligan for being cool convention neighbors; to Tommy Castillo for throwing down some veteran advice on me; and to Terry Parr and Amber May for just being cool and even shelling my pinup book at their table. And a huge thanks goes out to ArtLoveMagic for having the Space-Gun Kru be part of their setup at the live art show.

And now to find real work and replace all the art that I sold.

Photos
Wizard World Texas
Heroes4Heroes Live Art Fundraiser

Thursday, November 6, 2008

New Paintings

This blog has gone too long without art. So here are some paintings that i have done recently over the last month or so. Sitting at home looking for work gives me a lot of free time to draw. Most of these will stay as is, some may get changed up between now and whenevers.

Elvis Costello: NYC
Ink and acrylics on 15x20 matt board (the rectangles are
photos that were already pasted to the board).

Painted Helen: NYC
Ink and acrylics on 15x20 matt board (the rectangles are
photos that were already pasted to the board).

Viet: Political (GIFT/NA)
Ink and acrylics on 15x20 matt board (the rectangles are
photos that were already pasted to the board).

These are ink wash, watercolor, gouache, and some metallic paint on 5x8 Cresent hot press. The Delirium piece was a gift to a friend.






Monday, November 3, 2008

Wizard World Texas & Live Art Show



[image: Wizard World Texas Location Map]

Well, with the Zuda competition and the lessons therein behind us, it's time to move on to other things. This weekend is the annual Wizard World Texas show in Arlington. This year they are co-promoting it with Texas Fearfest, so there is a fairly eclectic guest list. From Terry Moore to Corey Feldman to Dallas's own Vinnie Paul of Pantera. Weird, no? The dates for next year's show is TBA while all the other cities have their dates pretty solid; so it doesn't really bode well for the convention. I would be sad to see it go as it is THE biggest comic show here in Dallas. Co-promoting with FearFest is a pretty good move on their part. Texas has a pretty damn big horror scene for whatever reason. We'll see how it pans out for them.

The Space-Gun Kru will be set up at 2520 and 2530 a little off-center of the artist alley. We'll have a full spread of books and art for you guys; even with two tables between the four of us it's getting pretty packed really fast. I'll have my Gun Gals | Blade Babe pinup book and prints as well as the paintings that i have been doing recently. This is also an opportunity for you local folks to pick up a copy of Synesthetic for yourself.

Saturday night, Novemeber 8th at 7PM Heroes4Heroeswill be hosting a live art show at the Sheraton Hotel Arlington. Along with a myriad of pros that will be arting live, the Space-Gun Kru will be getting our art on with ArtLoveMagic and other local artist. Heroes4Heroes is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works directly with members of the United States Military, corporations, and the general public to provide portable media to active troops in order to boost morale and keep our men and women in uniform culturally tuned-in. They gather, organize, and send entertainment material such as comic books, DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, MP3 players, and game systems to our Heroes. This is a great organization that is doing their part to support the troops without having a political agenda. The live art is a free event with cash bars; what more do you need? So come on out, support out troops, and watch some wicked art get done live!

Fanboy Video Recap


Slideshow


Wizard World Texas
Arlington Convention Center
November 7-9, 2008
Tables 2520 and 2530

Heroes4Heroes Live Art Show
Saturday, November 8th
7pm Free Admission
Sheraton Hotel @ Arlington Ball Park