Wizard World Philadelphia: The Escape From Artist Alley [Archive]

paper

06-17-2007, 01:10 AM

Just back from Wizard World Philly, my first comic convention experience. I went in armed with a digital camera, video camera, and sketch book. I intended on taking in several panels and racing home to write up a report for you guys. Then I went to Artist Alley.

Plans are made to be broken. I attended no panels and only recorded about 2 minutes of video. I have very few photos, but i do have all of my sketches scanned. I'm going to start posting them momentarily, but first, here's some of what I learned.

Go for the three day pass. Wizard World Philly isn't a very large place, but there's too much to do in that small space for a single day.
Don't spread yourself too thin. I shouldn't have tried to be a one man chronicle of the convention, attempting to document it on video and with a digital SLR camera. If you have one device that handles both, go with that. You're not gonna feel like switching up your hardware. In fact, why even shoot video unless you have your own video show hosted on Rev3?
Go after big artists early. Rags Morales was turning away new sketch requests by noon.
Be very careful when indy artists start hawking their wares. It could be very cool or it could be a photocopied doodle. Either way, it takes a thick skin to turn them down when they ask for 2 bucks.
Do not go for the David Mack $20 "quick sketch." It doesn't matter if he's doing it with a brush. Buy a print or keep walking. (though he's an extremely nice guy. I bought a trade and he gave me 6 single issues free. He autographed every thing)
Brian Michael Bendis whistles while he walks. His height would almost demand that you rest a drink on him.
Do you have feet? You better be gellin' like a felon. Like Magellan. Like Abbot and Costellan.
Rodney Ramos is NOT Humberto Ramos. Read the sign!

paper

06-17-2007, 01:17 AM

First off, the regular con photos.

The black spider suit is slimming while you're web-slinging.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1225/558223314_0a42f042f7.jpg

Lou Ferrigno meditates.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1299/558223280_8dab671ccb.jpg

This one's for you, Fred.

Humberto Ramos woke up this morning only to discover he was still Humberto Ramos.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1137/558223320_4ca4bd166c.jpg

Oh, I'm just kidding. He had a huuuuuuuuuuuge line.

paper

06-17-2007, 01:33 AM

Here's Tommy Castillo (http://www.tommycastillo.com/), one of my new favorite artists.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/558223284_80aed9c282.jpg

He had some amazing prints on display, and my buddy Brian spent 20 minutes trying to decide which one to buy from him before dashing off to the ATM. I picked up this one from Batman: Black & White featuring Scarecrow: (This is a really dark photograph of a 20" x 30" print)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1433/558223278_bf1703d71a.jpg

Here's a detail shot of Batman:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1145/558223270_a390ab199b.jpg

That image of Castillo was taken while he worked on my first ever sketch. I asked for a simple headshot of Scarecrow, but when he heard it was going to be the first sketch in the book he insisted on going all out. He wanted to make sure I started off my book with something ambitious so that the next artists would really have to step up their game. The following is a two page spread (11.5" x 16").

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1041/558099688_e11546ae22.jpg

Obviously it's inked, but he also whipped out the white out pen and went to town with it. He only asked for the headshot rate, but I decided to give him a bit more just because he put so much work into it. A great start.

darron

06-17-2007, 01:39 AM

That's a really fantastic sketch. Knocked it outta the park first try. Good going, sir paper.

kwok_talk

06-17-2007, 01:42 AM

That is a really really awesome first sketch. Love the coverage so far!

paper

06-17-2007, 01:54 AM

My next move was to try for big artists like Alex Maleev, but he was really out my price range. He only offered a single $100 price point, and though I'm sure those sketches were well worth the rate, I wanted to make sure that I had enough money leftover to afford work from other artists.

Right across the aisle was David Peterson of Mouse Guard fame. I went over to shake his hand, and told him how much I liked his book. But by this point he had filled his daily quota of sketches, and was currently trying to chip away at the big pile. He suggested I come back tomorrow (Sunday), but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for this weekend. I guess my request for a David Peterson crab sketch will have to wait until the next convention.

I was also turned down by Rags Morales (Identity Crisis), but he was an extremely pleasant guy, and it was cool just to meet him. He's positioned himself at the top of my wishlist for sketches. I got to look at the pencils he was working on, and they were flat-out incredible. Go after this guy for a drawing if you ever get the chance.

paper

06-17-2007, 02:01 AM

My second sketch comes from an aspiring artist named Joe Lanch (http://goodcomics.com/). He had no backdrop to entice wayward sketch-searchers, but I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of his sensational work on the table in front of him. One particular drawing of Hawkman really stood out, and I was surprised to realize he wasn't one of the heaviest hitters from DC, but actually an independent artist looking for his big break. He was glad to do a sketch, so I left my book with him, and when I returned he handed me my second double page sketch, a completely different image of Hawkman than the one from his binder, though just as impressive. I'm in love with this:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/558099710_8bb4760329_o.jpg

Unfortunately my scanner wasn't big enough to capture the whole image. The left side actually continues to include about half of the mace.

acomicbookgirl

06-17-2007, 02:05 AM

Nice Paper! Good job! :)

fred

06-17-2007, 02:11 AM

poor humberto ramos

paper

06-17-2007, 02:12 AM

That's a really fantastic sketch. Knocked it outta the park first try. Good going, sir paper.

That is a really really awesome first sketch. Love the coverage so far!

Thanks, guys. I found out I'm a real sketch-hound, and that first sketch really got things started on the right foot.

I can't say enough about Tommy Castillo. The guy is crazy talented and fun to talk to. He dresses like Captain Jack Sparrow (there was a whole weird pirate theme going on with him and the guys next to him), has a kilt with a shrunken head dangling from the waistline. While I waited for my sketch a friend of his came up and gave me advice on getting sketches. He pulled out three big books and showed me all his favorites. Such a fun hobby.

paper

06-17-2007, 02:18 AM

My next sketch came from a Top Cow artist named Marlin Shoop. I honestly knew nothing about him, or really anything about Top Cow. But he had a good collection of work in his binder, and he was patiently waiting to do a sketch for someone. He had some cool characters from what I believe is a book he created, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings by asking for a sketch of 'the pretty girl with the gun on this page.' He had some Fantastic Four pages, but I don't really like the FF so much. Finally I found a single image of Wonder Woman. "A Wonder Woman bust?" I ask. He frowns and says okay.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/558099698_5aacb1093c.jpg

David Mack is a very nice man and a talented artist. I approached his table in hopes of an Echo sketch. But he devoted his entire table to his Kabuki property. The full color prints were extremely beautiful, so I requested the '$20 'kabuki quick sketch' advertised on his sign. He said he was going to do it with brush, and that sounded dope. I watched as he created an eye. Very pretty. I left him to his work and looked through the many Kabuki books on the table. He asked if I'd ever read it. No, I said. But I loved his work on Daredevil. I agreed to buy the first trade. He was very generous in throwing in the current Kanuki arc in singles. He autographed everything. Then he handed me the quick sketch. He is a very nice guy and a talented artist, and i feel it would be unfair to post an image of it. Especially next to the other work.

Moving on.

acomicbookgirl

06-17-2007, 02:21 AM

My next sketch came from a Top Cow artist named Mendel Shoop. I honestly knew nothing about him, or really anything about Top Cow. But he had a good collection of work in his binder, and he was patiently waiting to do a sketch for someone. He had some cool characters from what I believe is a book he created, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings by asking for a sketch of 'the pretty girl with the gun on this page.' He had some Fantastic Four pages, but I don't really like the FF so much. Finally I found a single image of Wonder Woman. "A Wonder Woman bust?" I ask. He frowns and says okay.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/558099698_5aacb1093c.jpg

Ooh.. I like it! I think i've decided to do a Wonder woman themed sketchbook this year for San Diego..

paper

06-17-2007, 02:44 AM

Since the guy who was doing Marvel Zombies covers had a huge line of appropriately possessed looking faithfuls, I breezed on over to the table of Joe Benitez (http://www.wraithborn.com/). I believe he worked on one of the earlier Paul Dini Detective Comics issues. He had a great binder with a really cool looking Hellboy. But he also had a nice Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Super Girl, and some original female characters. So I decided that this was my best opportunity to ask for a Zatanna. He worked a little bigger than my sketchbook, so I let him do it on his own paper. This took a while, so I went off in search of more sketches.

That's when I found Eric Battle (http://www.ericbattle.com/). His book was open to an incredible drawing of Green Arrow. I asked for a Green Arrow sketch, and he looked a little taken aback. He'd apparently been doing sketches of the Spectre and various demons all day. But he smiled, shook my hand, and I left my book with him.

A little while later I returned for this image of Ollie Queen:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1064/558099680_932a41d19f.jpg

At $10 bucks, the deal of the con. Yet another cool artist. Still can't get over how friendly they all were.

After that, I swung back to Joe Benitez's table just as he finished up my Zatanna (11" x 14" on cardstock, with gray tones)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1188/558099682_5fe5bb83f9.jpg

Not exactly my style, but still a very nice Zatanna. Gave him a bit of a challenge too, because she's not in his usual lineup.

paper

06-17-2007, 02:48 AM

And those are my sketches. Hope you guys like them.

Other then the Kabuki trade and comics, I actually didn't buy any books. All my money went to art.

Well....except for this purchase: :)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/polcapn/PM10020.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/polcapn/PM10020-1.jpg

Anyways, it was a great time. My feet are ruined.

Thanks for reading about my con experience, and thanks to the iFanboys for letting me know this sort of thing even existed.

kahunablair

06-17-2007, 03:33 AM

Good job on the write up Paper. Glad to hear you had a good time!

fred

06-17-2007, 04:37 AM

nice paper

paper

06-17-2007, 04:44 AM

Thanks, guys.

It occurs to me that I'm building up a little JLA here. Wasn't exactly intentional.

conorkilpatrick

06-18-2007, 04:45 AM

Great write up. I am jealous of your sketches. I miss the days of getting sketches. Kinda.

I think that you would really like HeroesCon, Paper. It was like 80% artists.

paper

06-18-2007, 05:15 AM

Thanks, Conor. I'm definitely going to look for things like WonderCon so I can round out my sketch collection.

I think my top recommendations if you ever decide to get back into it are Tommy Castillo (the Scarecrow sketch) and Eric Battle (the Green Arrow sketch). In the "Sketch" video show you mentioned the awkwardness of waiting for a sketch, and with these two it's not a problem at all. Castillo likes to talk to his fans. He talks while he sketches, and he has a lot of stuff to look at on his table (I'm talking like 5 big binders of work). And he loves Batman and the Gotham rogues.

As for Eric Battle, that GA sketch was only 10 bucks, and I just left the book with him for about 45 minutes while I looked around the rest of the con. No fuss. It's my cheapest sketch, but it might just be my favorite.

conorkilpatrick

06-18-2007, 05:18 AM

Thanks, Conor. I'm definitely going to look for things like WonderCon so I can round out my sketch collection.

Whoops. I'm an idiot. I meant HeroesCon. I was doing that all weekend. I blew a take on a bit when I called the show "WonderCon".

WonderCon is fun too, of course.

humphrey-lee

06-18-2007, 05:25 AM

Great write up. I am jealous of your sketches. I miss the days of getting sketches. Kinda.

I think that you would really like HeroesCon, Paper. It was like 80% artists.

Yeah, I think I'm going to Heroes next year instead of WWC. Three years of that con, and it's starting to become kind of repetitive artist wise. Plus, Tony Harris almost always goes to Heroes and the only artist I'm more eager to get work done by is JHW3. I'd easily pay $200 for a Tony Harris piece in my book.

That's a good starting sketch from Castillo. He did a Scarecrow for me a couple years back, a little more simplistic though cause I only gave him a twenty spot for it and because I already had two dozen pieces in the book so there was no pressure to start it off for me. Steve Lieber had already kicked off the book in style for me. In fact, it's still probably the best piece I have (though with a lot of competition).

paper

06-18-2007, 05:40 AM

I remember that Steve Lieber piece. What a great drawing.

Tony Harris is on my list too. Would you ask for a Starman or...?

jaflanagan

06-18-2007, 05:41 AM

Harris seemed quite available and rather friendly. I'm sure for $200 or less you could get something quite nice. He had a lot of Ex Machina pages available as well for sale.

humphrey-lee

06-18-2007, 06:11 AM

I remember that Steve Lieber piece. What a great drawing.

Tony Harris is on my list too. Would you ask for a Starman or...?

I dunno what I'd ask him to do right now. I kind of have this thing against asking an artist to do what they're known for just because one, I know they must get bored doing the same old thing, and two, I like to challenge them from time to time.

Honestly, off the top of my head, I think I'd probably ask him for a Silver Surfer. Since he's got the art of badassed aerial poses down, and has a great eye for the iconic, I think he'd whip out a pretty cool looking SS.

paper

06-18-2007, 07:46 PM

I was gonna ask some of the pro artists if they had any characters they'd like to draw but haven't had the chance to (at least professionally). Or just their favorite character to read. It's still work, but they might as well have fun.

mikegraham6

06-18-2007, 08:04 PM

awesome write up paper, you reminded me just how badly i need to make it out to a con. Sure i'd love to see all the crazy shit they have there but the main reason i'd want to check these out is for the sketchs, all of yours look so damn cool!
If you don't mind me asking, how much did you spend in total on those??

paper

06-18-2007, 08:12 PM

I dropped a lot on those. Let's just say the most expensive was 50, the least expensive was 10, and the rest hovered around 20. They're all pretty good though, and it's only gonna happen once or twice a year, so I don't mind.

Maleev was tops on my list going in, but I couldn't justify 100 bucks for just one sketch, and I don't think I saw him coloring anything. His original art...I think there was a page from House of M for like 2500 bucks.

There were big lines for Ramos and Angel Medina but for my money, guys like Eric Battle and Joe Lanch--who had no line and charged the least--were far better choices.

kwok_talk

06-18-2007, 08:22 PM

Did you have your artists researched and planned out, or mostly just wandered into them? I looked at the Chicago listing and I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t heard of 99% of them. I’d hate to offend them by not knowing any of their work.

paper

06-18-2007, 08:45 PM

Of all the artists I got sketches from, the only one I'd heard of before the con was David Mack and his was my least favorite sketch. Now, I generally follow comics for the writing, so I'm not well versed in the artists. But that turned out to be okay.

Generally the artists are gonna have displays of their work behind them. The bigger the artist, the bigger the spectacle I think. Except for Castillo, who is admittedly a lesser known artist but looked as if he's lived behind that table for the past 12 years. A lot of personality. That's why he was my first stop.

If Philly is any indication of other artist alleys, it was basically set up like a big flea market, with long tables set up in rows. you walk down the aisles and seek out artists you want. Hit the big ones first and then you can start exploring. Get closer to the tables and you'll see that most of them have prints for sale or at least a big book of artwork on display lying flat on the table in front of them. Try to get a look and see if they're what you're looking for. Then you can page through and see if they work on characters you like (if you don't recognize the name, this is the only way to find out). Chat them up. All the guys I talked to were very friendly. They usually have their prices displayed on a little sign. And if you don't want to spend as much, you can always ask for a print rather than an original sketch.

The one change I'm going to make next time is to bring multiple sketchbooks. At least two. Because a lot of guys will let you leave your book with them wile you look around. They do the sketches first come, first serve, so you may have to wait a couple hours. If I had two books I could have sped up the process.

One other thing. Some artists like Paolo Rivera (Mythos: Spider-Man) and Rags Morales (Identity Crisis) work with a mirror device over them so you can watch them work, even if it's not your sketch.