"See ya' next year, Heroes Con!"

Well, Heroes Con was great, as usual. This year saw an even more impressive array of artists and creators -- I spent too much time walking around and browsing (sometimes buying), and not quite enough time at the booth, but it was great to meet everybody.
Special mention to (in no particular order): Joe Quinones, Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi, Team Eight, Dan & Dawna Davis (of Steam Crow), Renae De Liz, Ray Dillon, Chris Grine, Dennis Hopeless, Kevin Mellon, Jim Mahfood, Dave Crosland, Alberto Ruiz, Derek Ballard, Mark Brooks, Erik Jones and the others I might have forgotten.

Special thanks to Kyle Cross and Nick Black of GORILLA RIOT for having me aboard this weekend. It was a blast (though tiring). Also to Shelton Drum and all who helped him put on the convention -- super job, as always!

For now, I've got a lot of (paying) work to catch up on and a lot of prints to mail out. Thanks to everyone who dropped by and said hi, even if you didn't buy a print. See you soon!

RETURN FROM ... HEROES CON '07!!

Well, I'm finally back from my trip to NC. After HEROES CON, the wife and I took a tour around NC visiting family. The con was great, and was a wonderful experience for my first time on the other side of the table at a comic convention! It was very nice meeting folks who happened to stop by the booth to look at my stuff, and I thank everyone who I met, whether you bought a shirt, sticker, button or print, or just said hi! The best part of the con, however, was the social aspect -- hanging out after the show with fellow table-mates ERIC and SEAN, and new freinds and industry pros DENNIS HOPELESS and KEVIN MELLON was a blast, and it was great to meet (and in some cases impress) some super-talented and very kind and generous industry artists and writers.

It's hard to stay behind your table when there's so much cool stuff to go out and look at and so many cool people to meet! There are so many other talented folks who are fun to talk to and very approachable and interesting as long as you take the time to talk to them for a bit. I got several trade paperbacks and comics signed by some of my favorite creators, and I got to meet a few idols of mine (like ERIC POWELL) for the first time ever!


I'd like to thank the following pros and attendees for their kindness and generosity, and for just taking the time to talk for a bit: RICK REMENDER, TONY MOORE, MATT FRACTION, JOHN LUCAS, DANIELLE CORSETTO, LIZ GREENFIELD, J. CHRIS CAMPBELL, ED MCGUINNESS, ERIC POWELL, KERON GRANT, CHAD THOMAS, KEVIN MELLON, DENNIS HOPELESS, ROBIN FURTH, PETER DAVID, MISS DANIKA, and a few others who are escaping my memory's grasp right now. Special thanks to ALBERTO RUIZ for his continued support, encouragement, and generosity! He's always a joy to see and talk to at these cons, and he's got such a postive and enthusiastic attitude for what he does... plus he produces some high-quality books! Also, it was awesome meeting a few of the hosts of one of my favorite comics podcasts, COMIC GEEK SPEAK! I introduced myself to BRYAN DEEMER, PETER RIOS, and JAMIE D at one of the after-parties and talked with each of them for a bit -- great guys, and I wish I'd spent more time with them... maybe at the next con!

Anyway, back to the grind... time to get ready for the SAN DIEGO COMIC CON!! This will be my first time attending the show, and I want to beef up my portfolio to get some decent jobs! I've wanted to go to this con for a LONG time, and I can't wait!!

"It Ain't Over 'Till the Student Loans're Paid Off..."

Well, it's finally over -- my long, strenuous trudge through the gauntlet of Art School is at an end. I successfully graduated (with honors) from the Ringling School of Art and Design (now the Ringling COLLEGE of Art and Design) on May 11th. I took a few weeks off for a much-deserved (and needed) vacation and general unwinding, but now I'm ready to get back to real life. Was 4 more years of schooling worth it? I'd say yes and no, for a variety of reasons I'm not going to get into here -- I would encourage anyone to do the whole higher educatiohttp://www.blogger.com/n thing BEFORE getting married and starting a family... it only makes it much more difficult and stressful.

What will I be doing from here? Well, my wonderful freelance career is going to take up the bulk of my time, though I'll desperately be trying to get a well-paying steady job (with sweet benefits) at someplace I can actually flex my artistic muscles. I'll also be making the rounds at a few comic conventions to http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifpimp my skills and sell a few buttons/ t-shirts/ stickers while I'm at it. First stop on the POP-MONKEY U.S. TOUR is HEROES CONVENTION in Charlotte, NC!! I'll be appearing there at the Pop-Monkey Illustration tables with my good friends and super-talented fellow Ringling graduates , and EMILY GROSS!! Right now, I'm finalizing the designs for the shirts and stuff I'm going to have to sell, so I'll post those once I get them finished. Heroes Con will certainly nohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift be the first comic convention I've attended (I've been to at least one, sometimes 2 or 3 a year since I was 13), but it will be the first show I've actually had a table at! This will be sort of a trial run for me, to get a real feel for it, and if all goes well, I'm also planning on hitting the BALTIMORE COMIC CONVENTION later in the year (September, I think).

The image accompanying this post is the final design for one of the buttons. His name is JIM-JIM THE DANCING PINK BULLY. So, stop by Heroes Con and say hi to us, and buy some cool stuff!