Anyone have art-related plans for Comic Con?
By
Bayani,
Posted on: 2009-07-14 20:21 in Multi-Media Fan Creations
Pish-posh! Old lady? Yeah right 
I wish I could go, but that's definitely on the list of things to do before I die. I hope you have fun while you're there though! And if you see a person there dressed as Gray Huntress, well...that's an imposter! And must be eliminated promptly!
Enjoy yourself and take pictures for those who can't be there...maybe we can savor the image.
Happy B-Day Shrike! i would love to go to one some day. (guess first i need to get my car working But thats a different story.) Like Gray said take pictures i always look for as many pictures as i can and then im like awww i wish i could have gone. One of these days though one of these days.
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I have art waiting to be picked up for me at SDCC. A friend is playing courier for me there.
I was hoping to get there this year, but alas some expenses came up and i couldn't raise the funding. I'm thinking I'll get there for sure next year though 
hopefully airfare is as cheap next year as it's been lately. enjoy yourself a little bit more then usual for me!
I'd sorta like to go to that, but sorta not. I don't know if I could tolerate that many people who are at least as annoyingly nerdy as me, and many who are vastly moreso.
They scare me.
If they'd move San Diego about half way across the country, I may well go.
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There's the Chicago Comic Con formerly known as the Wizard World: Chicago convention isn't there? I might be mistaken, but I think the people who run SDCC and NYCC also run Chicago's convention, so there's something going on roughly every 4 months.
I plan to vicariously live through you Shrike. But God willing, next year I'd like to be at NYCC because I have a friend trying to break "back" into the industry. He use to draw for Marvel in the 90s, but has been doing storyboards for advertising ever since Shooter left... or about that time.
Anyhoo, he's been to Adam Hughes studio, so I am gonna try to fanagle a meet and greet... 
Oh yeah? I'm planning on NYCC next year too. It's the weekend before my birthday.
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There's the Chicago Comic Con formerly known as the Wizard World: Chicago convention isn't there? I might be mistaken, but I think the people who run SDCC and NYCC also run Chicago's convention, so there's something going on roughly every 4 months.
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This I might actually make it to this year... the other, no way. 
have fun Shrike! I've been to a few SDCC's in the past few years and wish I could go back. Going to another con instead this year. Take pics and completely enjoy yourself, that sketchbook will get a lot of use!
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I can only go to the SDCC on thursday, but im going to try to get as many sketches done as possible. I'm going to try to enter Mr. Nakayama's drawing for... a drawing! I'm also going to have to hunt down Mr. Paul Adam (who was sitting in for David on the first day last year while he was stuck in traffic to get to the Con) for doing such an awesome job on Fallen Rayvyn and Jala. I will also have to hunt down David K. Wong, he does some pretty awesome stuff too, like this odd amalgam character. Tom Hodges is also on the list for THE HUNT!
I'm also gonna bug a few people at the Antarctic Press Booth, like Fred Perry and Ryan Kinnaird.
If you see a guy wearing a Venom hoodie, pushing kids out of the way to hug the giant pikachu walking around... yea... I apologize for you seeing that... 
(No, I never pushed kids, but yush I did hug a giant pikachu!)
Have fun and maybe i'll see a Shrike there! Just remember, bring your own drinks/food if possible because the stuff there is kinda pricey, and maybe a mini-fan, The place holds alot of people, and the combined body heat turns the place into a sauna after a while. Some booth's actually give out paper fan's, usually in the form of a character's head (last year i got a homer simpson, and a spider-man fan! weee!) to promote some product, so don't hesitate to take one.
Too far away for me *tears* I don't think I'll make the one in Chicago this year, hopefully next year though.
We're going to San Diego.
...At the end of the month. They were sold out of passes for Comic Con when we checked.
I plan to go as well. I have the luxury of having family in San Diego so I get to kill two birds with one stone (technically three since it's also my birthday), and I don't have to worry about getting a hotel.
I plan on seeing what sort of artwork I can get out of everyone while I'm down there.
P.S. you can still buy tickets on e-bay, and I'm not talking about scalpers (though there's that too) The actual Comic Con organizers are selling any leftover / refunded tickets they might scrounge up on e-bay. They sell out super fast though but they're on twitter to let people know as soon as they make tickets available.
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Have your references down to a single page (2 tops), and have several copies (I ussualy run with 3-5 sets) so that you can have multiple folks working at the same time. Be very clear on when you are leaving if you plan to pick up finished pieces at the show, or be ready to have folks mail you their work. Set that up at the time of purchse. Some artists want all or half up front (I ussually pay all up front just so I don't have to remember). A few will have you pay after they are done - generally because they have taken on enough projects that they may or may not finish them all at the show. Have a piece of paper or use the back of your badge to write down who, when, how much, and very importantly what table they are at so you can find them again. Its a -big- show. don't count on being able to find your way back without a table/booth number.
My two critical stops in artist alley are the Moy brothers, who do fabulous work quite cheap and often have openings through the third day (but go early) and John Watkins-Chow. I've gone to them year after year with great results. Ron Limm is also a powerhouse for the price. After that the prices start to climb steadily for big names, but you can also find a lot of talented folks who will do fine work at or below the $50 mark. Seval artists also have booths well away from the artist alley. If they are there as a painter, feel free to politely ask if they are doing sketches at the show. I've picked up some remarkable pieces that way from artists that are better known for their fantasy art. Keep in mind you're getting sketches - sometimes you'll get stuff that looks very different from the materials that they display. There can be a big difference between what an hour and a week of a person's time looks like. Painters often give you pieces that look less finished, but show amazing attention to composition, which can add nice variety to your collection.
Be clear - if you have any directions for a particular piece, try to keep them to 3 sentences or less that accompany your style sheet. I see artists -cringe- when someone drops half a novel on their table and wants 1 picture to capture the "essence" of 15 pages of tightly packed hand writing. Trust me - they don't care. Clear, concise instruction about a single image or moment.
Be sensitive - its a work environment for the artists. Be pleasant and polite even before the first words are spoken. Don't crowd in if they have lots of folks looking at their work. Try not to overly monopolize an artist's time once you've made your deal. If you want to check on a project, it's not hard to look over their shoulder discreetly from a distance, leaving the space in front of their booth clear to attract additional customers. Make no mistake, even if they aren't working on your piece, they are working, and ussually really hard for the entire duration of the show. many artists only get a couple hours a sleep each night all week because they leave the show and keep on working.
And the secret weapon - snacks 
. Most artists are stuck at their booths for long stretchs. A sliced loaf of banna bread or other easily shared semi-substantial food won't necessarily change the price, but it can go a long way towards building good will and simple recognition when you come back around to check on your project.
Have a great show!
(pssst, It's Ron Lim. One "m." Don't mess up their names!)
Thank you so much for all the hints and tips (Nike IX, that was great stuff!) which I've printed out to take along. The artist recommendations are especially helpful since there are just so many.
I just wish all the Art Forum gang could be there. Then again, that would mean longer lines for art Nah, it'd be worth it. I'll be looking out for those who are attending, and missing those who aren't.
Busting heads since 1938
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(pssst, It's Ron Lim. One "m." Don't mess up their names!)
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You are correct, sir. My bad!
(Bayani's got my back )
friend of mine will be there, but don't know if he'll be in any booths.
dyemooch
he's done some handy color work on the Transformers comics that link to the movies and a pretty good artist himself.
Advanced tips:
Now is the time to splurge on good photo paper - print your references on the best paper you can get. if you are spending potentially a few hundred dollars on art over the weekend, dropping $10-15 on the best references you can make is a very good investment. After the show I ussually keep one packet from each year with my collection so I can show people what I gave the artist vs. what they created.
Look closely at the artist's display pieces. Get a feel for their style and what you might want for them to do. A lot of the long time pros you can go with minimal instruction. For Nike IX, I ussualy just indicate that she should be flying, and that the mood/expreson tends to be playful. That's all the guidance they need. Some I'm completely hands off - their work is so consistenly good I just let them use their judgement. But if I see some quality in their other pieces that I particularly want to see applied to my character, ussually I can just point at 2-3 of their pieces and say "I like how you did these." and they'll know exactly what I'm hoping for from them.
If you are getting multiple pieces of the same character, bring finished pieces (that you like) with you from artist to artist. Many of them are competive folk and will get fired up to bring their best game when they see what else you've received at the show. They also get intrigued if you manage to land a big name to work on your character (when I finally hooked a slot with Terry Dodsen after 3 years, some of the other artists really felt they had to step up their creations ).
If you have a particular big name artist you want to get a piece from, go to their booth first thing, first day. Mr. Dodsen, for example, typically has five slots for the entire show and those slots are day 1, front of the line, or forget about it. Adam Hughes is there, but frankly anyone getting art from him at the show seems to be an urban myth . Most of the currently published comic artist have full schedules outside the show, so they will not take any more commissions than they can accomplish that weekend.
Head shots are tircky business. The in-game models are pretty limited in the amount of detail. You might try to add additional refenece from the face it you want headshots. I have used morphthing.com to good effect in creating some celebrity-based but still unique faces to include in my references.
Torso/bust prices can be an excellent value. Artists often offer then at a slightly lower priece than their full figure art.
As a personal note on pricing for the last 3 years: I look for $40, will happily pay $60 if they have really nice stuff on their table, think very hard about $80, and usually buy exactly one piece a year for $100-150. And that last one only from a major, repeatedly published star. I mostly prefer to collect variety, seeing how different artists interpret my character.
Quite a few of the pieces on this page are from the SDCC, so the names might be of help to you. Dean Zachary and Foust shared a booth last year away from the artist alley. On this page John Watkins-Chow, David Nakayama, and Sharylin Encabo were all artist ally folk.
I love this thread, it's like I'm there... can't wait till next year.
Now you've done it! I love that Morphing.com site!
AJ as LJ
... though I think she looks more like Charlotte from Sex in the City.
(pssst part two, I covered alot of this in a guide to commissioning art awhile back too. =P )
Hmm. It's quite possible I'll be going this year after all.
I'm attending SDCC for the first time and I am so excited! Are any of you Arty folks going to be there too?
If so, what art-related plans have you made? Any particular artists in Artists' Alley you are going to see? What characters are you going to have drawn? Or perhaps some of our artists are going to be setting up shop? Any panels on your agenda? I'd love to hear what other folks are looking forward to--I know some of you have gotten gorgeous pieces at the con in the past.
I'm going to try and enter the drawing for a David Nakayama character sketch. Otherwise I will probably just sort of drift around and see what's what. So many artists, I feel overwhelmed already. I'll have a sketchbook and some screenshots just in case. Probably will bring references for Shrike, PinUp, and maybe one or two others.
Of course I hope to attend the CoH panel.
I'd love to see some of the forumites in person. If you see an old lady dressed like the Shrike walking around, it might be me
Busting heads since 1938
Character references * My DeviantArt gallery * I am an altoholic