NYCC and Other Assorted Chaos

The Shakespeare Shaken book signing at Stormwatch was a moderate success. I didn't sell as many books as I was hoping to, but most of that was because there were customers who had purchased copies before the event and were bringing those in to be signed. It was a bit slow, but I managed to sell enough prints to keep me from getting too disappointed about the turn out.

By the next morning, we were back on the road again- headed out to New York this time. NYCC was absolutely wonderful for me this year! I kicked off the weekend by landing a book cover job with a legitimate publishing house! I can't say about it much yet, but I am super excited about this project and I hope it's the first of many!

Photo Credit: Robert Hoskins

The first day of the con was spent showing my portfolio to every book publisher I could find. I got a lot of positive feedback, so hopefully some of those leads will turn into new projects within the coming months. After I finished making the rounds as a professional, I was free to kick back and act like a fangirl for the rest of the weekend.

I'd been adding some extra details to my Poison Ivy costume, with the intent of turning it into a Queen Titania costume for Halloween. After I saw another Ivy wearing a velvet cape, the temptation to take my dream cloak for a test drive was too strong to resist and I unveiled it a few weeks early. I am SO proud of how this whole get up has turned out. There are a few things I'd like to add, but the area around my face (the hood and clasp and the way my wig just pours out of the cowl) is exactly the way I wanted it.

I found out about a graphic novel adaptation of the Book of Revelations, illustrated by Chris Koelle. It's GORGEOUS and it does a really good job of staying true to the original text, while at the same time, making the story as coherent as possible. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Photo Credit: Jason Torse

I must've stopped by the Jersey Jack Pinball booth at least twice a day. They had a new Wizard of Oz game that they were letting people try out for free.

As far as I know, there are only two pinball machine companies still in existence, so I'd never even seen a brand new pinball machine before! It was SO shiny! It had a gorgeous video display and surprisingly good voice acting! If I ever win the lottery, I'm definitely buying myself a pinball machine. ...And a copy of Magical Truck Adventure.

While at NYCC, I learned about Red Bubble, which enables artists to sell their work in new & interesting ways and customers to obtain some seriously cool items. I now have a brand new online store that's chock full of lovely prints, as well as some t-shirts and even iPhone cases! There's something about seeing my own work on a cell phone cover that is indescribably cool to me.

On Sunday, I worked a one-day comics show
at the International House in Philadelphia.

While there, I did this Batwoman sketch cover for a customer and reconnected with my contact from Dynamic Forces. You should definitely keep your eyes peeled for new LG sketch covers on their front page!

All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend.

 

Upcoming Events:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! This year's Punk Rock Flea Market will feature a table manned by yours truly! It'll be in Philadephia on Sunday, December 9th in the "Punk Rock Flea Market Dome", which is a fancy way of saying "the old FedEx Warehouse across the street from The Starlight Ballroom". The building is at 9th and Spring Garden and the event will be open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm.

ALMOST FORGOT! For those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's a mini-comic about the thoughts that went through my head while waiting in line at NYCC.

Baltimore Comic-Con

Baltimore Comic-Con was a blast!

Shows like this one remind me why I keep riding the con circuit... In spite of how physically exhausted I am, I'm so jazzed up that I feel ready for another two days of commerce. 

(Photo Credit: Ashley Neuhaus)

I had a great spot! My booth was right across from the Stan Lee signing area and a stone's throw from the bathrooms. I had a steady stream traffic all day long AND they were forced to come within easy reach of my booth by the cordoned-off Stan Lee area. It was like a cattle chute for business.

The Shakespeare Shaken books are finally in and they're gorgeous! The picture to the left shows the cover (by yours truly) being shown off by the extremely talented Amber Love, who contributed "No. 130 For Love" to the anthology.

While in Baltimore, I had the good fortune to eat at a place called Joe Squared. Their drinks menu was massive and reasonably priced. Even though the place was PACKED, our order arrived promptly. Their Cumin Braised Lamb Pizza was hands down the most delicious pizza I've ever had in my life.
I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Joe Squared

30 Market Place

Baltimore, MD 21220 

410.962.5566

Hours of Operation:

Sun & Mon: 11am–12am

Tues-Sat: 11am–2am

I finished a handful of show sketches down in Baltimore and I am absolutely delighted with how they turned out! I feel like I'm finally breaking out of my show-shyness! The next time I have a space in Artist's Alley, I'm going to make sure I have a sign that lists my commission prices.

Next stop, Mid-Ohio! Last year's show was one of my favorites, so I'm looking forward to visiting Columbus again. I'll be in the retailer's section, working the booth for Stormwatch Comics. Don't let my location fool you though, I will be signing Shakespeare Shaken books at the booth throughout the weekend.

Post Show Recap: X-Con

X-Con was... an interesting experience.
There were really great parts and really terrible parts and not a whole lot in between.

Let's get something out of the way-
X-Con was, hands down, the most poorly organized convention I've ever attended. There were a myriad of issues that made it incredibly difficult to do business.

For example:
On Sunday, the organizers decided to hold a concert on the show floor, which made it literally impossible to speak to customers. Even if they were standing directly in front of us and we were shouting. I shouldn't have to explain to anyone, let alone an event organizer, how unreasonable it is to expect someone to conduct business via pantomime.

Despite all that nonsense, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of really great people while I was down in Myrtle Beach. And I got to spend a lot of time with Enrica Jang from Red Stylo Media which is always fun!

I started up a conversation with a group of knights (if you walk past my booth in full plate armor, there is no way on earth I'm not going to bring it up in conversation) and learned all about The Society for Creative Anachronism! From what I understand, it's like the Renaissance Faire, but with no spectators, only participants. 

After a delightful chat, I got to sit back and watch them beat the hell out of each other with four-foot poles. And I don't mean they acted out a choreographed fight. I mean they went on stage in full armor, got some heavy wooden poles, and started whaling on each other. That's not something you get to see every day.

...Or maybe it is. I don't know how you live your life.

Our booth was right next to Giorgio Tsoukalos from Ancient Aliens, who is apparently SUPER popular. He had a line of fans waiting for him every day.
He seemed pretty nice and even came over to check out our stuff at one point.

On the other side of our booth was a guy selling a device that turns any object into a speaker. Which means he spent the whole weekend turning stuff into speakers… Speakers that played about 10 different songs (half of which were country) over and over all weekend long. Words cannot describe how fun that was… Oh wait, did I say "fun"? I meant "excruciatingly annoying".

I never want to hear any of these songs ever ever again:

Dido - Life For Rent

Sheryl Crow - The Picture (feat. Kid Rock)

Zac Brown Band - As She's Walking Away

Zac Brown Band - Toes

I only did one show sketch, capturing the softer side of Wonder Woman. It looked terrible when I first started working on it, so seeing it blossom into something lovely by the end was even more satisfying than usual.

One of the best parts of X-Con was sharing a table with Ben Fraizer, who is an extremely talented young artist and a major contributor to several Red Stylo projects. He was the artist for The After Party story in Poe Twisted anthology and is the new penciller for Azteca!

In addition to having a case of "The Madness" that makes my own creative obsessions look like a touch of the sniffles, he's an incredibly fascinating person and one of the kindest people I've ever met. I really enjoyed hanging out with him and I'm looking forward to the next time our con schedules overlap!

When the show was over and it was time to go home, Ben Fraizer and I hopped in the car for a good ol' fashioned road trip to the airport… Which is to say we got horribly lost and spent several hours cussing out other drivers while driving in the opposite direction from our desired destination. It was just that kind of week.

In the end, everyone ended up getting home safely, which is what really matters.

Fast forward to the present! I took some time off to shake the nasty cold that'd been plaguing me all month, and I'm finally back in the studio! I'm currently working on a Daredevil commission, as well as some character designs for my semi-secret comic project. There's also a chance you'll be seeing a Hit Girl sketch cover in the near future as well. I'll post updates as often as I can.

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.

C2E2 Show Sketches

I always feel "show shy" when it comes to doing commissions at comic cons. I'm fine sketching the day away in my studio, but for whatever reason, if someone asks me to do the same thing for money while I'm out at a con, I get all flustered. Which is silly, because when I actually do show sketches, they turn out just fine.

So, in an effort to end this nonsense, I decided that I was going to accept every commission that came my way in Chicago. The result of this experiment? Show sketches are slightly less scary now and I've discovered how incredibly fun Linsner's Dawn is to draw. Oh, and I now own a super cool handmade sketchbook.

 

I did two mini-sketches, one of which is pictured above. Somehow I don't have pictures of the other sketch- So if you're reading this, guy who makes tiny zebra print sketchbooks, EMAIL ME.

I have a feeling these Linsner ladies will be the first of many.

 

Also, for those of you who are curious:

The verdict on Chicago deep dish pizza - Meh. 

Put enough melted cheese on a thing and I have to like it, but it's nothing special.

The verdict on Chicago-style hotdogs - 

Weird looking, but surprisingly delicious. 

You have to eat them quickly or they'll get soggy and fall to pieces.

January Update

OKAY! I just finished an art project, so it's time for a long-overdue blog update!

Since last we spoke...

- Someone got a tattoo of my work, which is the highest compliment you can pay an artist as far as I'm concerned.

It's pretty much like saying "I love your artwork so much that I want to carry it around with me everywhere I go, forever." I can't wait to see it in person!

- My artwork has appeared on the last page of the Daddy's Little Girl, a campy horror/action story that can be described as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets The Jersey Shore. DLG is published by the fine folks at Arcana and should be available in your local comic book store.

- I just

completed

my first

full color

pet portrait.

The two lovely shar-peis to the left

are Kaia and Kona, respectively.

- I'm working on images for an anthology Red Stylo Media will be releasing later this year. Here's a sneak peek at one of my contributions to Shakespeare Shaken.

More often than not, planning out projects is a struggle. I spend more time laying out the composition of a piece than anything else. So on the rare occasions when a piece just falls together as easily as this one did, it's a blessing.

I'm SUPER excited to be a part of this project! Enrica Jang and I will be promoting Shakespeare Shaken at C2E2 this April, so if you're in the Chicago area, please swing by our table in artist's alley!

- Photographs of my Halloween costume have been published in one of my favorite comic books! For those of you who don't know, I am a HUGE Witch Doctor fan. It's cleverly written, well-drawn, and has the distinction of being the only Occult Medical Drama I've ever heard of.

I dressed as my favorite character (Penny Dreadful) from the book for Halloween and sent in some photos to Lukas Ketner and Brandon Seifert, which they promptly put in their letter's column! I honestly don't know who was more delighted- Them, to see one of their creations come to life, or me, for being their first cosplayer ever!

- I worked a one-day comics show down in Timonium, MD and drew a Harley Quinn sketch for someone! I usually tend to get show-shy when doing sketches on the spot, but I really want to start breaking myself of that habit. I've got a major convention in Chicago in a few months and I definitely want to be able to do sketches while I'm there, so I'd better start practicing now!

I'll keep you guys posted on C2E2/Shakespeare Shaken news as it develops!

Stay tuned!