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When one thinks of Dragon Con usually, it’s typically related to inventive costuming and the talent that goes into the craft of cosplay. We saw a ton of great fans bringing their favorite characters to life this weekend and while our friend Spencer Perry over SuperHeroHype has the motherload of all Dragon Con galleries, here are […]

Dragon Con 2015 has come and gone, and for those keeping track at home (surely, none of you) this was my 18th appearance at the show. It was the first convention I ever went to as a much younger person, and while the number of days in each succeeding year I’ve attended has varied, I’ve […]

My second dip into the HeroesCon pool saw that my thoughts regarding today’s possible increased attendance did indeed come to fruition, as the crowds around me intensified fairly significantly from the day previous.

The pre-registration line remained very long throughout the entire day, and those who were purchasing their badge on-site found that they were able to slip in much quicker. Though the big advantage to having an advance 3-day badge for the show is that it provides you with access to the show floor 30 minutes earlier than anyone else, and if your goal is to get on commission and sketch lists, that 30 minutes might make all the difference. For example, Evan Shaner‘s sketch list filled up today before general admission even opened.

For my part, I spent the early part of today taking cosplay photos of anything that caught my eye:

After wandering the floor like someone who clearly should be finding something better to do with their time, I dropped in on the Michel Fiffe–Klaus Janson panel, which was terrific.

For those interested in some of the notable quotes, I live tweeted some very select details at the ComicsBeatLive twitter feed. I had never seen Janson speak before, but I was thoroughly entertained throughout, and he and Fiffe had a great rapport.

In between panels, I got to chat with Tom King, one of the writers of Grayson, the solo writer of Omega Men, and all around nice guy! I also finally purchased a copy of his prose book A Once Crowded Sky. A word of advice, jump on the Tom King bandwagon now if you haven’t already. DC has something really special here, the same goes for Brenden Fletcher.

Just before bunking down for the afternoon in the Ben Towle-led Mega-Panel celebrating the Center for Cartoon Studies’ tenth anniversary, I nabbed a couple of other quick sketches that I’m rather proud of as Ben Caldwell (artist of Prez) and Chuck Forsman (the creator of Revenger) drew me a Ray Dominguez and a Maggie Chascarillo. I guess you can tell what my favorite comic of all time is, right?

The Mega-Panel was amazing, by the way. Towle gave lecture on Cartooning “How-To” books that existed as the sole source of comics education for aspiring creators before the days of institutions like CCS. I again described all of this in some detail on the ComicsBeatLive twitter. I was able to jot down a full list of all the titles he referenced, and for those curious, it’s quite comprehensive, especially given the 20 minute time constraint he gave himself.

Those in attendance then got a chance to view a screening of Cartoon College, a documentary that focuses on a group of students and their progress through the rigors of the CCS curriculum. Given that I have little to no experience (or interest, quite frankly) in being on the creative side of comics, the film gave me a valuable new perspective in the struggles both creatively and financially that are a part of the independent side of the industry.

While Harper covered the Milkfed Criminal Masterminds panel in great detail, a few of my traveling companions were kind enough to share some additional information that was relayed in the panels they attended today:

– During Evan Dorkin‘s panel, he revealed to the crowd that he will be working on a 12 page Peanuts story for Boom! Studios. In a hilariously awesome twist, Dorkin has stated that he has found a way to combine the Peanuts gang with the Lovecraft universe.

– Jason Latour stated in their Southern Bastards panel, that he will write an upcoming issue of the book solo, in order to give Jason Aaron a break. The next arc of the series will also be six issues in length. The team (he and Aaron) also made mention that they will be executive producers of the television adaptation, while noted producer Scott Rudin is developing it.

And with those two additional tid-bits, that’s a wrap for me on HeroesCon today. It’s been a great weekend, and be on the lookout for a number of our interviews with a few notable creators in the coming days. A huge thanks goes out to Shelton Drum, Rico Renzi, and the entire HeroesCon staff for another great show.

We started off May with one of our best shows, Texas Frightmare Weekend in Dallas, Fort Worth. One of my all time favorite Horror Conventions, Frightmare did not disappoint. Sales were a little down from last year, but still above average.

2 Weeks later, we were off on our 2 week long trip to the Midwest. Denver Comic Con and Phoenix Comicon. Driving through Utah to Colorado was beautiful trip. I love to show rather than tell, so here are a bunch of photos from the road:

And our table and booth Setups at both shows:

At Phoenix Comicon I got to work on quite a bit of commissions. These were drawings of some of the TV actors that were guests at the show. Summer Glau as River Tam from Serenity, Lexa Doig from Andromeda , Alyson Hannigan as Willow from Buffy, Katee Sackhoff as Sarbuck from Battlestar Galectica, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase from Buffy and Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow from The Flash:

The post May Shows Recap appeared first on Diana Levin Art.

With so many shows to prep, art to make and projects to work on, it has been a challenge to keep up with blogging. But I wanted to jump back in here and post a recap of all the shenanigans that has been going on with our business and the many things to expect from us in the future. So here goes:

Following a prosperous if somewhat grueling marathon run of Knott’s Berry Farm Holiday Village that took up all of December, Shawn and I took a much needed hiatus from the business for a couple weeks. We took a road trip to Denver to visit Shawn’s family. After we returned, it was back to prepping for the first show of the year, Salt Lake Comic Expo. This was a much smaller event in relation to Salt Lake City Comic Con in September but our sales were only down by a little. Still, we had fun, ate great food and made some new friends.

Long Beach Comic Expo, I will have to admit, was a bit disappointing. I always try to be open and honest about my experiences at various cons. Many times I hesitate to publicly talk about the shortcomings of a given Con and will debate with myself as to the best way to describe an unsuccessful show without bashing it. But because I strive to be more transparent about my experiences running an art business, I will go ahead and share my experience. Long Beach has always been a tough area for me to cultivate a following. I am not sure why that is. My first Comic Convention was Long Beach Comic Con. That was 3 years ago. While in most shows my sales and fan base expends every year, in LB it seems to stay at the beginning level of that very first show. Last years LBCE was surprisingly good for us and that gave me a glimmer of hope it would improve for many years to come. However, I think that the show expended too quickly, adding significantly more vendors without bringing the attendance that would justify that expansion.  Again, I can only speak from my own experience. Although I spoke to many friends at the show who also saw a significant drop in sales.

Spookshow at the Halloween Club in La Mirada 

This was a fun, free one-day pop-up Halloween themed event that took place in the costume store parking lot. This has definitely become one of my favorites and I hope they continue to bring this show back every year. Despite the warm temperature that day, the turnout was pretty damn good and everyone was having a great time. Our sales were up from last year. It’s free for vendors with a $25 deposit that got returned to us a week later. The crowd was just really great and enthusiastic.

Emerald City Comic Con and Mosnterpalooza

Double show weekend for Shawn and I. I fly out to Seattle for ECCC, while Shawn tables at Monsterpalooza in Burbank. Like last year, this was one incredible weekend of sales for both of us. What can I say… Emerald City Comic Con is really great show for both vendors and attendees. The people Pacific Northwest seems to have a healthy appetite for unique and original art. Monsterpalooza is more of an industry show. It feels a lot more like a trade show that has evolved to include a healthy mixture of artists, writers and horror themed artisans.

Next Up: WonderCon in Anaheim. Dealers Table DSL- 10. Hope to See you there!

And now for more great news:

1. You might have already heard, Shawn and I are changing the business name to “Ghoulish Bunny Studios”. This new business will include my artwork, plus Shawn’s writing and videos.

2. We are working on a picture book. Me illustrating and Shawn writing. We will be setting up a kickstarter for it.

3. More new art. I am trying really hard to finish work that I have started a while back. And I try to produce at least one new piece for each show.

4. We are phasing out certain products to make room for more. Many of the mini prints we offer will be retired so that we can make room for…

5. Sketchbooks. I already put my first one out this year. my next one will have more pages, more drawings and a better quality print.

6. Spooky stores from Shawn. He as been working on his writing and coming up with some great little short horror stories. We are going to put together a book of his work that will also include illustrations from me.

7. New website and online store “Ghoulish Bunny Studios” where you can shop directly from us. More products will be added, more artwork available and Shawn’s stories and videos.

So far this is as much as I can share at this time. We are always expending, changing and evolving. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years. We strive to produce quality work and products for our fiendish friends.Thanks for reading!

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