Of Beetles and Busy-ness
If you've been following me the last couple months, you know that I've been doing an epic amount of conventions. And by "epic" I mean "crazy". I just did a two-fer of New York Comic-Con and then GeekGirlCon back to back. But, because I'm living life on the road, I haven't been posting as much stuff here as I'd like. It's a little clunkier to post from my iPhone, plus, you know, general busy-ness.
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Whew! Five shows in five weeks! Toronto, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Columbus. It sure seemed like a good idea at the time, and they were certainly fun. But man, that's a lot of travel. At the most recent Wizard show, I did a panel on body language and expressions. I recommended a couple of books, and I wanted to link to them. The Drawn to Life books are absolutely fantastic. They are the best art books I've read post-art school. I'm also linking to the Kuratake brush pen that's become a staple of my convention toolbox. It has a great tip, holds it well, and doesn't bleed when you hit it with a Copic marker.
Sunday Love and Capes Coupon Deal #sdcc #please RT
This year I’ve decided to do special deal coupons for Comic-Con International. Each of these coupons is good for one day only. Unfortunately, there's been a bit of a glitch and the PDFs of the coupons didn't upload. So we're going to switch to Words of the Day. Say the Word of the Day and get the deal.
And please retweet the deal!
Today's deal is on Love and Capes: What to Expect issues. I sell the individual issues of the books for $4.00, but for today, I'll be selling them for $2.00. (Offer not valid on the What to Expect Con Exclusive from last year, nor on the Love and Capes: What to Expect trade paperback collections.) That means, if you're a floppy comic kind of guy, you can get all six issues for just $12.00!
Today's word of the day is YOU ARE A VERY HANDSOME MAN.
Remember, we’re at Booth 2000!
Saturday Love and Capes Coupon Deal #sdcc #please RT
This year I’ve decided to do special deal coupons for Comic-Con International. Each of these coupons is good for one day only. Unfortunately, there's been a bit of a glitch and the PDFs of the coupons didn't upload. So we're going to switch to Words of the Day. Say the Word of the Day and get the deal.
And please retweet the deal!
Today's deal is half off the Rhinos Bowling books! These are my Kickstarter project from last year, a book collecting selected art I've done over my freelance career, a lot of things never seen before. The hardcover is $20 (save $20) and the softcover is $12. (Technically, that's 52% off, but I just don't want to handle quarters at the booth. My laziess is your gain.)
Today's word of the day is GIPSY DANGER.
Remember, we’re at Booth 2000!
Friday Love and Capes Coupon Deal #sdcc #please RT
This year I’ve decided to do special deal coupons for Comic-Con International. Each of these coupons is good for one day only. Unfortunately, there's been a bit of a glitch and the PDFs of the coupons didn't upload. So we're going to switch to Words of the Day. Say the Word of the Day and get the deal.
And please retweet the deal!
Today's deal is $99 off the Con Portfolio package! For every show I go to, I do a series of convention prints featuring the Love and Capes characters in the city I'm visiting. Each print is limited to 25 copies. The San Diego one is usually displayed largely at the Kansas City Barbecue, in fact! These prints run $25 apiece, and the portfolio has sixteen different locations. I usually charge $199 for these collections, but today only, it's just $100.
Today's word of the day is SHARKNADO.
Remember, we’re at Booth 2000!
Thursday Love and Capes Coupon Deal #sdcc #please RT
This year I’ve decided to do special deal coupons for Comic-Con International. Each of these coupons is good for one day only. To use the coupon, either print out the attached PDF, or download it to your phone and bring it to my booth. And please retweet the deal!
Today's deal is $10 off a full color commission! I do lots of sketches at my tabel. These usually run $25/black and white and $50/color per character. (So, three characters in color is 3 x $50 = $150). But now, the one-character color commissions will be $40. You're saving 20% Download this coupon here!
Remember, we’re at Booth 2000!
Me and Comic-Con 2013
Comic-Con is this week. You may have heard, it's been in all the papers. So this will probably be my last post before the craziness of the con sweeps me away. So, first, don't bother trying to reach me this week unless you're about to offer me a boatload of money to do something for you, or your house is on fire. And if your house is on fire, it had better be totally on fire, not just a couple of rooms. Sorry, but that's just the way these things go. I'll be back on the grid next week for everything else.
Second, I'll be on the Kids' Comics Panel on Sunday at Noon in Room 30CDE. Come on by and watch me say something funny.
Past that, I'll be at my booth, #2000, the rest of the show. Please bring coffee. I'll have all four trades of Love and Capes there, more than I can possibly sell during the show. I mean, there's no way you could swarm me and wipe out my stock. Go ahead, I dare you to try!
I'll also have copies of my issue of My Little Pony, the original art from that book, pre-drawn commissions and sketchcards, my Rhinos Bowling book in both hardcover and softcover, my San Diego print, the Print Portfolio, and sets of postcards. I'll also be taking commission requests. And, if you want to make sure things don't sell out, order it from my site and I'll make sure to put it aside.
Also, I'll have a limited number of my new print collaboration with justJENN Recipes! Definitely come by and get one of those.
Edit: I'll also have Deal of the Day coupons every day. They'll appear here and on my Twitter feed at 8:00am Thursday-Sunday!
Of course, I'll be signing anything you've got and looking forward to meeting some new people and old friends and having great conversations.
For all the hassles and expense and effort, I love doing Comic-Con. I hope to see you there.
Comic-Con International Coupons Coming Soon!
Last year I tried doing "Deal of the Day" coupons for San Diego. Well, I'm going to try it again.
Here's the deal: Every day (Thursday-Sunday) at 8:00am, the new coupon will be unveiled. The coupon will be good only for that day. Either bring a printout of the coupon or download the coupon PDF to your phone. Cleverly, the coupons are iPhone sized. Show me the coupon on the screen and get the deal.
So keep watching this space!>
Twinkie Ads for the Next Generation
This thing called Comic-Con is coming up, and I feel like I should have something new for it. I mean, it's not like the complete run of Love and Capes isn't enough, right? Not to mention the chance to meet me. But yeah, I think we need something new, too.
Today, all you get to see is this preview image. On Wednesday, head over to justJenn's site and see even more details. We'll both have them for sale at our booths at Comic-Con, so drop on by!
Comicpalooza 2013 Wrap-up
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a guest at Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas. Comicpalooza, and patron of the arts Alex Johnson, know how to treat a guy. I was met at the airport by four lovely volunteers and had a limo ride to the airport. Okay, maaaaaybe that had something to do with a quirk of timing and a lot of luggage. Still, the bar has been raised for other conventions.
I was a guest last year, and had a lot of fun. This year was no different. My friend Jesse Jackson made it up from Dallas, and Bill Williams of Lone Star Press was there for the show, too. Being able to hang out with friends I don’t see is one of the big joys of this event.
I got to meet Avery Brooks, which was a personal joy. He, for my money, is the best captain of the modern Treks, and Deep Space Nine is the best of the modern franchise. A large part of that was his portrayal of Captain Benjamin Sisko.
His line had a break in it, and I went over to him and told him how much I appreciated his work. I may have even mentioned his awesome “Where are my flying cars?” commercial from years back. He shook my hand, asked my name, and said “thank you.”
I’ve hit the point where I need very few photos with actors and less autographs. I just want that where, for one brief moment, the actors who have been so much a part of my world know that I exist. It’s not always possible. Patrick Stewart’s line was completely impenetrable. But every once in a while, I’d like to have the gush line, where you don’t have to pay anything, you just get 60 seconds to say something to the actor. Not practical, I know, but it’d be cool.
My friend Jesse had me do a new commission for his Doctor Who sketchbook. He wanted Winston Churchill as portrayed by Ian McNeice, who was at the show. I drew a picture of Winston with a sonic screwdriver in place of a cigar. Jesse went to get it signed.
When he came back, he informed me that Ian loved the drawing and wanted to meet me. Well, who am I to refuse an audience with the Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill? I spent a few delightful moments talking to him. That was pretty cool.
I also met Tabitha St. Germaine who was wandering the show floor. Tabitha is the voice of Rarity on My Little Pony, a show and a franchise with which I have a passing familiarity. She was incredibly sweet, and we even got a picture together.
I did a couple panels, a digital comics panel and a diversity in comics panel (I represented people of height, I suppose). Both had some pretty good discussions. And I did a piece for the charity auction. The piece was a little rushed, as I had to get to that diversity panel, but I think the speed helped give a nice sense of energy to the piece, too.
Commissions were way up at this show, too. It’s one of the very few times I’ve had to take artwork back to the room at night. It was just Friday night, but I was still up until almost three keeping current on my commission list.
It also showed a definite progression in my career. There was a point, years ago, when I could tell you everything that was on TV from 11:00pm to 2:00am. I knew which channels had what reruns, who hosted what late night show, and the names of all the late night news newscasters.
Now, I don’t.
I don’t want more work, I want better paying work. And I want to manage my time well enough that I can keep a decent sleep schedule and even take a couple hours off here and there. And if I don’t know when Fraiser reruns late at night anymore, I’m making progress.
Below are a bunch of photos from the show. Click and embiggen any (or all) of them. It was a good time, and I hope I can come back next year. But there’s no time to sit and bask in the memories… I’m at the Denver Comic Con at booth F-22 this weekend! And HeroesCon after that.
Maybe I should rethink that sleep thing.