X Comicpalooza X

Ah, here we are...the tenth annual Comicpalooza! And of course, my yearly rundown of how it went.

Honestly, this is my best year yet. They must have taken into consideration my concern for a decent space from last year's show cuz they stuck me on the end of an aisle on a very prominent side of the event. Which I turned into a corner space by bringing in an extra smaller table and flinging the big one to the side. So, I was able to layout much more colorful, eye-catching original art that did it's job and caught eyes. Lots of repeat customers as well. People who have bought art years past have returned to rummage through the new ranks to see what's in store. And there was plenty. 

BTW, add me, watch my stories, comment on my posts, talk shit etc.

Every year I add a fresh stack of new original art, and it's very interesting (if I do say so) thanks to the Inktober prompts and various other online sketch prompt accounts. I even lugged the Voldemort Vet painting to hang behind me and that drew it's own share of gawkers. Made lots of new fans too. All ya'll new peeps who copped original pieces, thank you very much. And you folks who copped some adult art as well (yes, folks, I take my adult art with me to shows to sell, and it sells!). 

Didn't do too many original sketches, but what I did is as follows:

Father and son doing a convention for the first time. Not sure how but people always assume correctly that I do caricatures.

A Nick Swardson commish.

A tricky expression to capture but the client loved it.

And then came the live art auction, which I thoroughly destroyed! Check out my "Groot Anything" piece.

working.

and then finished. Before I left the price was in the hundreds. I never find out what my pieces go for, but someone paid a pretty penny for this one.

And of course the debut of two new single issue comics:

Rock in Time, number 001, Pulp 21 Comics. Get one HERE.

and my stack of printed True Voodoo comics.

 Iva Dawn / TOONzDAY collabo, get it HERE. 

I'll have it up in my store soon enough. Gotta expand my shelf space.

And there you have it, my best Comicpalooza yet. If you missed it this year, well, just gotta wait around til next. It's the only show I'll lug all my art to, so far, and I have so much original stuff it's too much to catalog and put it online. So, getting my art in person is the only way to go. 

Stay tuned for my upcoming show announcements, and of course, new comics!

Palooza Seventeen

My hometown show, Comicpalooza, blew thru earlier this month. I must say while I was looking forward to it, I don't think it was looking forward to me. I think there may have been a change in management since last year, there seemed to be less communication down to the Artists, at least this artist. Don't get me wrong, loading in and out and all that was butter and there were no problems on the technical level whatsoever. It just seemed a tad less personal this year, if that makes sense. That and I realized I was in a strange spot at the peak of the day Saturday. I was sandwiched by fan tables all around which some people told me is a veritable con death sentence.

There I was, Klingons to the left of me and Cosplayers to the right. I was scrambling for an hour looking for someone to give me a green light to move to a better spot, indeed I had one picked out. On the next row was a corner table ripe for the picking but I didn't want to just jump at it. So i stuck it out at my spot and made the best of it, and sure enough other people claimed it, including a table of squatters hawking shitty USB cables.

It was definitely a slower con than previous years. I asked around and other artists concurred, so it wasn't just me and my weak position. Also, the con didn't quite have huge names like it did last year (um, how can you compete with the entire cast of Aliens?). A few even speculated the election and new president was affecting the economy. I don't know, a lot of factors. And for some reason my name was left out of the list of exhibiting artists in the printed program, even though I booked my table well in advance. 

 But I'm not tripping. I still sold quite a bit of things and whenever I make new fans they're always stoked to buy my stuff. I also ran into a quite a few old friends who also kopped stuff. So at the end the show was still a good time. Hell, I didn't even have any new books or prints for this show either, so we'll call it even.

The piece at this years live art show. Whoever got it could get it signed by all 3 of the actors depicted cuz they were at this year's show. Thanks for the idea, Ms. Cornpoppy. 

A couple of commissions:

But the highlight of this Mother's Day weekend has to be my own mother coming out to help. I showed her the ropes, whats what and way to talk about and sell it and she was off! 

Love ya, Ma!

Newcomer "Macabre Ross" showing out at the live art auction. Did this guy have a table? Cuz I missed it.

Super dope Samus cosplay, complete with a blonde girl inside. I wanna dress up like Samus.

Read Wolf Puppy comix!

And that's my round up on Comicpalooza 2017. It was kinda skimpy but that's how my experience was this year. But don't worry, I'm workin round the clock to get Screw Comics! #4 out by this Autumn, and I may have a pending show in Cali. Stay tuned. Also, peep the Grand Phillie Mansion post if you're not ready to leave yet!

Con Iption

It's once again time for my yearly Comicpalooza run down.

This year I decided to expand inventory so I bought a handy canvas rack to hold the 50 or so original pieces I recently excavated. Yup, I went thru my archives and dug up 50+ illustrations, drawing, and sketches, bagged'em up, priced 'em and put them up for sale. So much to dig thru you're bound to find something you like. 

Here are some of the sketches/commissions I did for folks:

 Goku and a caricature

 Caricature of a toddler

Here's my piece for the live art auction, it's a helluva mash-up

Just Inks League.

Been reading the Mask Ominbuses. Such an interesting character; anybody who wears the mask is virtually indestructible, and he can summon any accessory needed at a change of a panel. Who wouldn't wanna see him goof off and slaughter hoards of acid-blooded xenomorphs? And it helps that their published by the same label.

My folks that brought over the Batman vs. Jason sketchbook a few years back also came around with their Wolverine vs. Freddy sketchbook for one more round! Loved this iconic scene, but I think I made it cuter than I remember.

 

And of course a new piece for a big fan of mine who comes and hangs out ever year.

 I also debuted those new Bruce Lee styled Symbiote Pride screen-printed posters. They were well received. I'll have them up for sale on here real soon, and I'll throw up some process shots as well. 

This year's show went off without a hitch, and although the convention center was under a bit of construction everybody had a swell time. To wrap up the weekend the handle to the hatchback door on my van cracked in the tiniest spot rendering it useless. I had to load and unload all my stuff through the passenger side door in the sweltering heat. You won't believe how much fun that was!  

Next show for sure is Zine Fest Houston in November. Unless I can snag a table or two before then...

Got some comic projects in the works, not to mention I've been polishing up some developed stories of mine. It's been an exciting if not draining summer. Now starts the last third. Hope ya brought sunscreen!

Con Flikted

Comicpalooza blasted through this year even bigger than the year before spanning from one wall of the convention center to the other, and it was a buffet for the senses. So much to see, look, and gawk at. Somehow I felt more distracted at this show than ever, and it didn't help that half the people were in costume. But don't get me wrong, that's not a complaint. The dealers room was pretty, pretty gnarly in sprawl, so much so I didn't come close to making it to the other wall. That and I didn't make it past the light saber booth. Still, Comicpalooza is always a fun show, and I'm so glad it's grown so big so fast. Goes to show how much a demand we have for geeking out here in the H.
Meeting fans and plugging my new book is always a cool time. This year's commissions were all pretty diverse and had to flex some nuts on a few. As the yearly tradition goes here are my favorite:

 

Jedi selfie with my apprentice Lenin Roman, who's shaping up to be a righteous comic artist in his own right.

"Geez whiz, Master! What are you gonna teach me today?"

"Today, Padawan? Sheeit, how to roll a proper death stick."

 

You know who, and if you don't I envy you.

 

Space Rogue, upcoming concept for Shotgun Blast.

 

My live art auction piece, something outta Cadillacs & Dinosaurs or Xenozic Tales if you're hip like me.

 

a couple wanted a commission with their faces, bodies and/or setting was Artists' Choice. I was stumped with this one, and after wracking my brain on what to do I did this for 24 hours I decided to go with  futuristic android characters. But I thought the android/glass helmet bodies would be too dull on their own so I wrote in a scenario. This commission is also a veritable comic page.

 

Tyler Durden

 

for an all Chucky sketchbook, a memorable scene from the series. 

 What. They're dolls. Stop trippin.

 

from the TV show Lost, these two guys are creating a distraction.

Action packed right?

Well, soak it all in. Between work and all the other stuff I'm into it's tricky to constantly keep creating post-worthy stuff.  I know I don't post a much as I should, and keep in mind I do keep doing work that is client confidential. But I do strive to keep this site up and entertaining.

 Good news is I'm beginning new work for Screw Comics 4. Just possible story concepts, and playing around with characters. The ball is rolling on that. I've been developing other stories and series as well. Extensive, long-comic-series-stories. I've also rummaging through  my archive of unpublished stuff, such as the Enchanted by Darkness one-issue off-shoot. It's my first comic I drew with the brush technique I currently use so I'm debating going through and reworking some of the panels (which is strange cuz usually when I'm done I'm done).

So plenty is in the works. Get ready for a long hot summer.

flail

Comicpalooza came and went, four days, quite a blur. Of all the con sketches I did I only flicked two for them (I know, lame). Well, one is a sketch, the other was my piece from the live art auction from that Saturday.

 

End of the line for Obi Wan?

Shaky pic. In hindsight, I shoulda busted out my gouaches and whipped this out in color. It's time I step my game up. 

 

Freddy Krueger vs. Wolverine

Returning fans looking to fill a new theme-book. They requested that Batman vs. Jason sketch I posted a few years back.

Other sketches included a Hunter S. Thompson piece, and a color piece of "Psycho Gorilla", a gorilla with a transplanted human brain that makes him psychotic. I know I know, lame how I didn't flick'em.

[UPDATE] Here's the Hunter S. Thompson sketch!