Jodie Whittaker

Jodie Whittaker with couple of my Doctor Who fan art all the way on the right side.  :)

Blue Trees

Don't adjust your monitor... the trees are blue.  If you live around Seattle area, you might have seen them.  I thought its some sort of tree fungus treatment or some kids did it as a prank.  Well, I walked by these tree tonight and got the official answer from this sign below.  Mystery solved.  

Conventions

Two weekends, two great conventions. First was the 10th Emerald City ComiCon. I didn't get a table at the show but did show up on Sunday to walk the floor.
The word is on Saturday, the attendance was WAY UP. People couldn't get into the show at some point because there was too many people on the floor. Next year, we might see the show floor expanded. I'm so glad this con is doing so well and its right in my back yard. It's all about comics and I hope it stay that way. With so much to see and friends to talk to... I only took one cosplay pic. Harley, you just makes everyone laugh. :)

This weekend was Sakura Con, their 15th year in Seattle. This con have a different crowd. Younger perhaps, but most fans dressed up as their favorite anime or manga characters. Below are just the tiniest sample of cosplayers at the show.

Occupy Seattle

I took a trip to Seattle and suddenly this came around the corner... Occupy Seattle marched from West Lake through Pike Place Market. Pretty surreal seeing so many protesters... and everyone else with their smart phones taking photos and videos.

Bellevue Art Fair

I went to Bellevue Art Fair yesterday. Lots of interesting things to look at. A big section of the Bellevue Mall garage was set up with the booths as well as a street was shut down only a block away.

Here are some pics from the event. If you're in the area, might worth checking out.

That's how you do it.

Me: 1

Big cork board: 0

"It should be a easy fit.", as I said to myself carry a large size cork board to my car. I opened the back door and quickly realized how 2 inches could make a big difference. Long story short... I dropped the front seats all the way back, slide the board in to the backseats, then upright the driver seat. Done!

You might be thinking what a odd thing to post on a art blog. If you ever get a huge cork board from the art store and you only have a small sedan to carry it back with... then this post will come in handy. ;)

Sakura Con 2011

Today, I went to Sakura Con in Seattle, Washington Convention and Trade Center. A big event for all things manga and anime. Got there at 10:15 AM to wait in line to get register and didn't get the badge to get in till 12:30. That will teach me to pre-register for the show next year!

The show was very crowded and I score some Copic makers. There were lots of people cosplay for the event. Check out the photo parade below. It's a fun show if this is your thing.

ECCC Report Part 2

Let the cosplay parade begin!










These guys just grab the Betsy Mae books and posed with them. Cool!

After I got this pic of this rad Chewie costume, he lift the mask... he's actually one of my art pal from the artist alley! What a surprise!
Even Real Life Superheroes made it to the comic con. It was really cool to see Phoenix Jones and Pitch Black there.
This is just a small samples of cosplayer at the con. Thanks for all the people above for letting me take their pictures. They're all AWESOME!

San Diego ComiCon

On Thursday, I flew down to attend SDCC. It was work related and I stay only one night. Friday afternoon, I left the con and made it back to Seattle by 8 PM. So I only spent about 6 to 7 hours at the show. It was just enough time to walk from one side of the convention to the other. I still managed to miss about 10% of the booth on the floor! With my not so awesome camera, here are some photos from the show.

SDCC has become a mainstream pop culture media convention.... and not just focus on comics. There are toys, video games, movies, TV shows, and other properties competing for your attention on the show room floor.


Movie prop from Tron and the Green Hornet car. One of the biggest movie prop was the throne of Odin from the Thor movie... unfortunately, the pic didn't really turn out.


There are also celebrities doing signings to promote their shows. On the left is Alaina Huffman from Stargate Universe. Going to the right is Lake Bell and Rob Corddry from Children Hospital. I also saw J. J. Abrams. That was pretty surreal.
I had a really fun time... even get to see some of my comic pals at the shows. SDCC is still going on through this weekend.

ECCC report part 4

Here are the shwag I got from the con! A) Color sketchbook and print by Jenny Frison. The paintings are fantastic.
B) Sinbad, Rogue of Mars. Got this comic at the freebie table.
C) Soft foam heart. This is a promo item for the Repomen movie. Also got this on the freebie table.
D) Plush bunny with a switch blade. This is a character from a web comic, Sluggy Freelance.
E) A panda t-shirt by Pandaline.
F) A print and full color art book by Memo Diaz! Good stuff!!
G) Monsters & Dames, artbook put out by ECCC. Got bunch of autographs from the show.
H) Pockey and rice cracker snacks from Karin Madan. They are yummy... thanks, Karin!
I) Last Kiss comic was a trade with John Lustig.
J) Super Real graphic novel by Jason Martin. I did art for a short story in the book and got some comp copies.
K) Dallas McCoy comic. I did the cover art for this issue zero. :)

I think I got a pretty good haul from the show. Probably a good thing that I stay behind the table most of the time cuz I would've spend tons of money buying more art.

I single this cosplayer out cause she actually said she might dress up as Betsy Mae for next year. How cool would that be! Hearing that really made my day. Fingers crossed for next year.

Closing thought... This is a great con and it's going to expand to a 3 day show for 2011. I'm thinking long and hard about if I should get a table again. The quality bar in the art alley has being going up and each time I'm not bring too many new things to the table. So if I'm doing it next year, I really need to focus... get a new issue of Betsy Mae out and make some new prints.

Thanks everyone that stop by my table. You are the reason why I come back year after year and what makes going to the con so much fun. Hope to see you all again next year!

ECCC report part 3

There were lots of people dressed up for the con. Most of them stayed in the exhibitor section of the show. Only a small portion of the cosplay folks came by the artist alley. Here are a few of them.

If you can name most of them... then you might be a comic geek. ;)

Next post.... final report of ECCC 2010.

ECCC report part 1

Whew... just finished two days at Emerald City ComiCon. Here's the view from my table.
Looking straight ahead, I see the yellow balloons. (I think that booth is for the unofficial Big Trouble in Little China comic sequel.) Turning right, are the guest comic artists tables. The artists alley is pretty big and the other exhibitors are in the middle of the convention hall. It's pretty packed during most of the show. On the opposite side of the hall are the media guests. Only celebrity I saw were Lou Ferrigno, Erin Gray, and Thomas Jane. Didn't see Stan Lee or Spock... uh, I mean Leonard Nimoy. :( Ninty percent of the time, I was behind my table.

Here's all my stuff on the table. I only have couple of new things so I focused on doing convention sketches. My table was right next to a group of art buddies which made it easier to chat with.

Memo and Kristin, his finacee were on my right. They really help me out by reminding me to take pictures for my con sketches and to point out the cosplay folks when they're near us so I can take pictures. :)

Suzanne and Karin were on my left. Thanks for the pockey and rice cracker snacks! You rock!

EGO and Augie around the corner next to Memo. And finally....

Scott and Lawrence! This is Lawrence first time behind the table. Hooray!

There were other folks I know all over the artist alley. That's one of the fun things about doing the cons... you get to see all your art friends and chat with everyone!

Next post will be my con sketches. Oh boy!