Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Comic-con

Back from Comic-con! Happy to be home, but once again, I seem to have caught my yearly summer-convention-cold. Such large crowds of people seem to make it inevitable for me. It's a rather sniffly/sneezy homecoming as a result.

Shared booth space with my artist friend Sandra Santara. I have to say that the nice booth setup was entirely thanks to her, as she brought all the carpet panels for hanging our art up on, as well as all the lighting. My usual convention setup is more sparse than this. It was one of the few occasions I had to bring framed originals with me as well, since I drove the 8 hours south to San Diego with my brother this time, rather than flying as I normally do for Gencon and Dragoncon.




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A snapshot of a quick drawing I did one evening in a friend's sketchbook while hanging out at the Westin. I had left my own notebooks and things back at the hotel room, and with a room full of artists sketching away, I needed something to do to keep my hands busy. And since Allen is a goober and takes 3 years ever to scan any drawings I ever give him at shows, I took a bad photo of it.

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At every show, there's always busy times when I can't seem to pull prints out fast enough or answer the 4 questions that are shot my way at once; and then there are the quiet lulls where you wonder where everyone suddenly vanished off to and whether those garlic pita chips were perhaps perfuming the air around you.

I like to dig out my pens and work on ink drawings during the quiet spells. Once upon a time when I first started going to conventions I would actually bring paintings to work on, but I find now that those are too distracting to start and stop constantly. And having to worry about not spilling the water cup is an extra annoyance (especially so in a situation like Sandra and I had at this show where we were crowded so close we were practically in each others' laps!) Ink is nice and easy to pick up when I have the time, and set aside when necessary.

Inspired by a banyan tree I saw recently on my Maui trip whose roots were tangled around a large boulder (which we dubbed "the big ole' tree ball") I scribbled a quick sketch and worked on this for the first couple of days. There's almost a meditative quality about working on detailed line textures.
"Offerings"
7x11 inches
brown hi-tec-c gel pen on bristol board

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And then when that was done and I got tired of twiddling my fingers, I pulled out another sheet and started with some random lines. They quickly resolved into nautiluses, a few photos of which I found floating in my digital camera, which conveniently was on hand. Perhaps a bit of Cthulu inspiration as well. Hard to go to a con and not see something Cthulu. Or perhaps it was just spirals on the mind.

"Nautilus"
7x11 inches
black hi-tec-c gel pen on bristol board

9 comments:

  1. amazed at how easy sketching comes to you - was wondering if you'd share what type of ink pen you use ... ? I absolutely love your images above (esp. the banyan one) and now I'm remembering I've forgotten to purchase your newest inklings book - AHHHH !!! how could I forget ?!?! Ugh - must make myself a note for tomorrow ...

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  2. They're called hi-tec-c, and you can get them either at Japanese stationary stores (Kinokuniya), or at http://www.jetpens.com/hi-tec-c.php

    I've not ever seen them at normal art stores.

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  3. It was great seeing you at the con, if only briefly! We still must get you on the Ninja Mountain show one of these days - I know you will be brilliant. Also: I loved your booth! Even with the two of you sharing it, it still seemed spacious and inviting. Hope you had fun!

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  4. Sure I'd love to one day Patrick! Sorry I was a bit out of it when you stopped by the booth. That was when I was just starting to come down with the cold. Aside from the sniffles though, I had a great time.

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  5. Did you get to visit with many other artists? So many of my favorites were there. I so want to go sometime. *sigh*

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  6. Yeah it's a wonderful opportunity to chat with fellow artists. Gets to feel kind of isolating sometimes working at home all the time. Conventions are a nice change from that.

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  7. Glad you had a good time at the con, though sorry you've caught a summer cold! At least there's hopefully a lull where you can heal up some before the next thing comes along.

    I'm loving that big ol tree ball. It's classic! So awesome to see something as passive as a plant's roots overtaking something as solid as stone. Your ink work is so delicious, I could eat it with some tea and jelly.

    What a lovely booth setup! The carpet walls are the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm still pricing around to buy my own. They really look ever so much better than gridwalls.

    PS
    Please do come on NM sometime! I'm sure you'd have tons of helpful info and experience to share and it'd be great to see how you can add to the witty banter.:)

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  8. I actually really like how the grids look too. Ruth Thompson had an awesome setup with them. But they're -really- heavy. The carpet walls are extremely lightweight.

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  9. Ah yes, lightweightness is a plus, for my arm cheese is untoned and untested XD

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