It was a time to be had by all - in so many ways. If you are a professional illustrator, writer, designer, film maker - with a penchant for the world of comics/scifi/fantasy - then you MUST attend the International Comic Convention that is held in San Diego, CA once a year. I have yet to attend the SCBWI Conference (in less than two weeks), and I am sure that Comic Con is probably one of the best experiences for networking and absorbing information regarding the industry. There were tons of books to be had as well as seminars and panels from some of the most prominent figures in the industry. I was priviledged to have heard a living legend speak, a panel of Master artists of Disney share their sentiments on days gone by, and even got to shake the hand of one of my inspirations!
The news has already been out, but Archaia Comics has teamed up with Jim Henson Company to produce master works of graphic novels to be released within the next year. I had personally approached one of their directors before the panel on Friday afternoon and they had informed me that they were only currently working with artists already within the company. This sounded a little odd to me at first, but at the panel they let the cat out of the bag. None other than Brian Froud himself will be working on creating the upcoming series of "The Dark Crystal" and possibly "Labyrinth" as the artist. Tough for little guys like me, but also very cool since I am such a fan of his work! I can't wait to see it when it finally does come out!
There were several instructional panels/seminars that I attended. Some were truly informative, but some were solely there to sell their new product. Which is fine, but can be annoying when you are trying to ask questions and they retort with "well you don't have to worry about that if you buy {insert product here}." Another thing that I realized after going to several of these, is that if you already are a professional you probably won't learn too much from the instruction demos as say an amatuer. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it's nice to get that kind of self evaluation down in such a large setting of individuals.
Everything though, from the talks, to the exhibition hall was inspiring!! Absolutely a paradise for someone such as myself. There were thousands upon thousands of people there, but I felt that I had made a few connections - however fletting they may have been. Listening to Ray Bradbury on my last day there reconfirmed the growing feeling that I had the day before when I shook Ciruelo's hand. That I belong in this industry, that I am an artist, and that I am doing what I love. That there is nothing more important in life than being able to do what it is you love no matter how hard it might be to acheive some goals. Perservering through the difficulties and to master the skills before throwing them away to create anew.
sounds amazing
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