Post Show Recap: Wizard World Philly

I have my post show recap for X-Con ready to go, but I'm still waiting on some photographs 

before I can publish it... So, while we're waiting for that- Here's what happened in Philly!

I had less than a week after X-Con (just enough time to complete that Luna commission and catch a nasty head cold) to get my stuff together for Wizard World. It was the first time I've ever had an Artist's Alley table all to myself and it ended up being the most financially successful con I've ever attended!

I had a great spot in Artist's Alley, right across from Red Stylo Media and down the aisle from my friends Ken Haeser (of Living Corpse fame) and Mike Capprotti (cover artist extraordinaire).

Rough Sketch Studios was there in force as well, with Steve, Brielle, and Andy all taking up residence just one aisle away.




Directly across from my table was a talented young artist I've never seen before. Her name is Sasha Yosselani and her work is incredible. Take a moment to check out her website, you'll be glad you did.

I also had the pleasure of running into Alex Saviuk!
I'd been looking forward to showing him my work ever since meeting him in Chicago, but I wasn't expecting to see him in Philly! He did me the honor of looking through my portfolio and was a joy to chat with. I'm looking forward to the next time we cross paths.

I was assisted by my own personal booth babe, Thomas Mitchell. He spent the weekend dressed as Doctor Strange and was, dare I say it, the belle of the ball. If Tom hadn't taken time off from work to help me run the booth, there's no way I would've made it through the weekend. He is the best show partner anyone could ask for, and I suspect he likes to rave about my artwork even more than I do.

Having Tom nearby to take care of customers also freed me up to work on more show sketches than I would've otherwise been able to do. Almost a third of my income from Wizard World this year came from show sketches. I've never done so many at a single event... They haven't gotten easier or quicker, but they have gotten a little bit better.

<-- The first was Black Widow for a
customer who liked Marvel redheads.

The guy who gave
me a tiny zebra print
sketch book in Chicago
made an appearance!
His name is Chris
apparently and he was the recipient of this
(somewhat mannish)
Wonder Woman.

                                                                                                                                                                             Emma Frost as The White Queen of The Hellfire Club, complete with condescending bitch face.

This Octopus Mermaid is my personal favorite from the show! I LOVE how she turned out! I'm planning on coloring her sometime in the future. It's fortuitous that this sketch turned out so awesome, since the customer is planning on getting this tattooed on his body!

And last, but not least, is this drawing of Wonder Woman having a tea party with X-23.
I get the feeling it's some kind of inside joke between the customer and a friend, but she was absolutely delighted when she saw the finished piece and announced that I'd "made at least two people very happy"

Those four days sapped a LOT of energy out of me... I definitely learned how exhausting it is to work a convention when you're sick. I returned home on Monday with a bone-deep weariness that I have yet to fully recover from and had to keep on truckin' since the RAW cosplay fashion show was only a few days away... I'll blog about that eventually when they post the photos/video.

Now, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to go collapse in a corner for a few days.

Daily Special #6 - Invisible Woman

Sue Storm made it to the DF front page last week, but I wasn't speedy enough to post about it before it expired. Here's the screencap if you're interested in reading about it anyway.

This image might be the first of a set of covers featuring the Fantastic Four in their new white outfits, or it may end up being the only one- we'll see. I have 50 of these to draw and 50 Dominos that are on backorder until we get more X-Force books in, so I'll have plenty of sketch cover work waiting for me when I get back from Pittsburgh.

Speaking of- I'm leaving tomorrow for the Pittsburgh Comic Con! I'm super excited, since this'll be the first con of the year for me. I've been gearing up for it all week, putting my portfolio together and finishing up the missing pieces of my Black Widow costume. I will return with photographs, stories, and hopefully a few new business contacts. Wish me luck!

Daily Special #5 - Domino

The Domino image I posted about previously has just made it's way onto the Dynamic Forces front page. She's the first in a series of covers I'll be doing soon depicting "The Women of X-Force"

Daily Specials only remain on the Dynamic Forces website for 24 hours, so go check it out now! And if you're reading this blog in the future, follow the link below to recreate what it was like for us primitive homo sapiens from the past, man.

(click here to read the article after it has expired)

Domino

Just finished working on an image of Domino from X-Force. This'll probably be the next sketch cover I do for Dynamic Forces, but I'd like to work out some of the kinks first.

I can't decide if I like it better when her bodysuit is matte or glossy. Usually I enjoy making the costumes shine, but I kind of like the silhouette effect that occurs when I take out all the highlights.

Daily Special #4 - Spiderman/Deadpool

Brian had requested that I draw Spiderman or Deadpool next, since they're extremely popular characters (and probably because they wanted to check that I could actually draw male characters). So, rather than doing one or the other, I decided to go with a silly sort of image that uses both.

I don't feel that it's a very strong piece, but Brian seemed to like it and he's the client. In any case, you should go take a look and decide for yourself.

Daily Specials only remain on the Dynamic Forces website for 24 hours, so go check it out now! And if you're reading this blog in the future, follow the link below to recreate what it was like for us primitive homo sapiens from the past, man.

(click here to read the article after it has expired)

Let me state for the record that I hated drawing Deadpool. You can tell he's been reproduced too many times, because trying to figure out just what's going on with his costume is like playing a game of Whisper-Down-The-Lane.

Sometimes the dark thing around his neck is some kind of collar.

Sometimes it's like a turtleneck.

Sometimes he has ankle cuffs and sometimes they look more like leg warmers.

It's not that his costume is constantly changing, it's more like no one can quite agree on what he's wearing.

Things like that are really frustrating when I'm trying to pin down just what to include so that the character will be recognizable. Spidey was a piece of cake by comparison.