I'm going to break this re-cap into a couple pieces. First off, awesome convention! WW:TX rocked my socks off! We started off Friday pretty slowly as can be expected, but had a lot of fun. Did a few sketches, the usual format, but had a lot of people telling me they'd be back, and in the past I wouldn't take much from that, but the people REALLY CAME BACK!!!! I was psyched, so by day two, I started painting commissions.
Luan started it off, and it really drew in a lot of interested people. We're so used to live arting at this point that we really love painting in front of people.
More than anything, I'm happy that all of the Space Gun Kru had a great time, respect-wise and financially as well. I met a lot of great people that were into my style, and more importantly understood what I was going for. I think that's why I went so crazy with the commissions. When I'm around nice people with interesting conversation, I'm really motivated to go that extra mile.
Day 2 I barely stood up, I was constantly working on commissions and making sales. This is evidenced by the fact that Luan couldn't make it out walking the convention floor except once on Saturday heh heh!
I was extremely excited by seeing friends actually make it out. My best friend from all the way back in middle school made it out to the show, and hopefully I was able to show him a good time. It's been years since he made it to a convention. Some friends (Russell and
Laura) I met through my brother made it out as well, not only to the show but the charity auction (to be spoken about in the next post) as well. Also my friend Jamel made it to both shows and even got to do some live art. He's really talented peeps, and he got to do the critique circuit at the show and I hope feels like he got some good advice. I know that's how I started off.
On day one I was sad guys like
Kody and
Kristian (the esteemed Mr. Donaldson was busy at SCAD...so I can excuse it ;) didn't make it out, but I got to talk for a few hours on Sunday with
Nick Derington. I'm not going to even front...I RESPECT AND ADMIRE THIS MAN!!! I've made some friends over the past year that have a mix of a retro style with European sensibilities and a vast understanding of storytelling, and Nick is among the best! I spent a ton of time pouring over his work, out of respect, I won't mention anything, but I will say that the future of comics looks great as long as Nick's working!
I also was super happy that Paul made it out and I saw him on Saturday. We got to talk about things, and really it hit home, because he's been through the things I'm just going through now, and has always been really supportive and helpful to me.
I know it may sound corny, but following the ridiculous pagentry of Zuda you can strip things down to what is most important in your life, and the people that are most important. I talked to so many people that make me feel blessed, because they were so supportive about the whole Zuda process. They were there for me the whole time, and I can't thank them enough! Number one on my list is
David Hopkins. He is a fantastic friend and so amazingly giving. He even gave us a great meal of home grilled burgers on the first night, but he was such a great supporter of Hammer Sound.
Joe Eisma as well, one of the funniest men I know in
Paul Milligan, David Rodriguez and Mike Lagocki from
ArtLoveMagic,
Josh Boulet, and what I found to be a TON of folks. I have to say thanks again to all of you!!!
Okay, enough for part one, I'll put together part two a little later, with more art and pictures!!! Sorry for all the links, but it helps you understand who I'm talking about, and why I love these folks so much!!!!
