Posted

Jul 1st 2008

AnthroCon '08 has come and gone, and for my first convention, I have to say it was quite an experience.
I have to admit, I was feeling a little nervous about going at all, but as the weekend unfolded, I had a real fun time with quite a few surprises.

The first surprise I got was who the first person I met was. I was on my way down to where the Art Show was setting up, since I had my own spot there, and the first person I meet was none other than Seel Kaiser. I walked past her and took a second to realize, 'Holy Crap, that' Seel' so I was able to chat with her a bit before I had to go and get my stuff together for the Art Show.

The Art Show was a big area for general and mature work, the mature section was sectioned off from the rest of the show, and I had to share a spot with some other artists, and finding out who I was sharing a spot with was my second surprise. I was sharing a spot with Hibbary, and while I was setting up, there she was. It was quite an interesting experience and a bit intimidating, but I got to meet her as well and chat a bit while she and I were busy.
While working to set up my stuff I was surprised to learn that one of the art pieces I had submitted to be put into the conbook actually made it, so I got published!

With the Art Show taken care of, the con was on. I spent most of my time in the Dealers Room; the area that had all the artists and dealers selling art and other things. There I got to meet more people, the next two I got to meet were Larathen and Dragon-Chan, both were together in the Artist Alley, an area where artists got get a spot to sell work, badges and draw in sketchbooks without needing a bigger spot in the dealer area. It was great to meet them both, I got a sketch from Larathen and I got to see them both work, I was amazed to see Dragon-Chan doing -pastel- work there, really amazing.
In the alley I got to see Seel again, and she was with some other amazing artists, Skifi, A.C., Prost, and I think LightningRyu, all together. I was able to get a spot to get a sketch from Seel next, so that was cool.

From there I went to the Dealer side of the room, this was a permanent setup for bigger those who had a lot more to sell without trying to get a spot like in Artist Alley. There I got see some bigger names Like Eric Schwartz, David Hopkins, XianJaguar, and even Stan Sakai, the artist of Usagi Yojimbo. There I saw someone I didn&'t expect to see, Kae Mantis. That was a treat I think and I got to meet her and chat a bit, and it was nice that she remembered me as well.
The next person I got to meet was someone I had wanted to see when I heard she was going to be there, Ursula Vernon. It took a while to find her table but getting a chance to meet her was really amazing, and it was funny getting to hear some of the things she talked about, from the 'Biting Pear' to her own tea.

The only time I left the Dealers Room was to go see the 'Guest of Honor', or as he put it, the 'Guest of O.K.' since he was too humble to accept the 'guest of honor' title, Floyd Norman, a Disney legend. He worked at Disney when Walt was still alive, being one of the few that got taught by Walt Disney and worked on many projects such as 'The Jungle Book' and 'Robin Hood'. It was a Question and Answer session with Uncle Kage and Floyd Norman and it was really fun listening to the stories he had. I was fortunate enough to get to meet him in person and get his autograph. He was an amazing person I think getting to talk with him and shake his hand.

I went back to the Dealers Room to look at more art before it closed and take pictures this time of some of the people I got to meet. While I went to Seel's table again, I was surprised to meet a very excitable artist, Derranged. She was surprised to see me and I think it was great to meet her as well with some other artists such as Krowy and Ryan Silverfox. First time I got asked for an autograph as well, heh.

The first day ended with 'Story Time with Uncle Kage'. Uncle Kage is the chairman of AnthroCon, essentially the one that 'runs' AC. He gets about an hour or more doing a stand-up sort of routine where e tells stories, which are really funny. After the show there was a reception for the artists and dealers in the art show, kind of a ' private viewing ' for the artists and guests to look at the art and get the chance to get first bids on the art that was for sale.

The second day went off fairly well, not as excitable as the first day was but it was pretty fun. I got another sketch from Derranged and picked up some things as gifts for some people. Then I saw Colin Mackay, a leather worker at the con that runs Larp Garb, a place to get leather stuff for show and for live action role playing. I was tempted to get something form him, but he practically pushed me into the direction of Miki Ivey, a sculpture at the con. There I asked her to make a magnet of Bahamut, and even though it was fairly pricey, when I got the finished piece I was amazed, it was fantastic.

After watching the fursuit parade and poking about the Dealers room I pretty much just relaxed a bit since my les were starting to kill me, but the second day ended with a comedy show from 2 the Ranting Gryphon, which was a lot of fun, though there was too much political stuff in there but eh, that’s part of his thing.

For the third day I decided to try something I wasn't planning on before, trying for a spot in Artist Alley. It was a big gamble since I pretty much came unprepared, but it was worth a shot I thought. I spent most of the day sitting this time, doing my own drawing, but I got to meet a few other people, I got to meet Skifi this time since he and the others were taking a break on the last day, and a few others like Plague Rat and Mikau. And I even managed to get a sketchbook done, so I earn myself ten dollars that day. At the end of the at show I found out that the two originals I had up for display sold, so that was a little more money I made. It was odd I must admit, but pleasantly surprised.
Before the end of the con I got to meet a few others, Ivy Beth and Shunjin Tribble and one last meeting with Seel before the trip home.

The con had its ups and downs, unfortunately but over all I had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people. I was sad that I couldn't meet some people that I knew were there, such as IntroducingEmy and BathroomRage, but overall, it was pretty amazing.
I would like to go next year with some other people I know, if luck is with me I like to think I can bring UnstableIceDragon and kitsubaka as well, but we will have to see. Even if you're not a furry I think that AC is a pretty amazing deal and you get to see a lot of amazing people, an it was something I think that was great to experience.

Now that the con is over I have quite a bit of work to do, back to the grind of getting art done before my classes start up again, so hopefully soon you can expect more art and maybe I can get the last of the commissions finished as well.