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| SAL Entrance |
And as always, click the images for a larger view.
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| Badge and Frank |
First of all, Spectrum is an annual art book that showcases juried pieces of artwork from the previous year; be it for editorial, book covers, comic books, 3-dimensional, and unpublished. This book has been around for 19 years and the organizers of the book, Cathy and Arnie Fenner, figured it was time to put together a live gathering of these fantastic artists. You didn't need to be in the book to be in the show. That's a good thing. I haven't been in the book AT ALL! I've only submitted once, I believe. The book for this year though, I definitely plan to have few submissions.
Why Kansas City of all places? Well, that's where the Fenners are based out of. And after being in the city for a few days, it was a perfect location. More on that later.
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| Luggage and the 131lb box |
American Airlines is the worst airline I've ever had to deal with! Not only did the ticket counter accept a 131lb piece of luggage that was 31lbs overweight, causing me to miss my flight, they then screwed up the tickets for the rescheduled flight 10 hours later. Apparently they wanted me to catch the connecting flight BEFORE the initial departing flight. There went the buffer of time I planned. Thankfully, I had that to work with. THEN after not flying with American Airlines, they failed to refund my checked baggage fee. Now I have to fight tooth and nail to get those fees back and maybe some sort of compensation for all the idiocy THEY gave me. Their customer support line also is less than adequate. I haven't been able to get through to ANYONE! It would state that they are overloaded and then hang up. I'm livid!
I knew my one piece of luggage was going to be questionable. It needed to come. No doubt about it. It had all of my gear, merchandise, and originals in it. Not only was weight an issue, but size too as it turned out. I paid out the nose to get it there and back on the plane. I paid for the overweight, oversized, AND the regular checked fee. Each airline had different rates and flexibility. One waved a fee, while the others stuck it to me. Robbery I tell you! I intended to cargo ship it, but time didn't permit it. Next time, ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY! FedEx is NOT the way to go either. I looked up a quote... close to $600 each way. Fuuuuck that!
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| Dan strikes a Frazetta pose |
I had the best booth helper ever! My friend, Dan Hodge, assisted me all weekend. He helped diffuse the airline stress. He, artfully, was able to listen and offer engaging conversation. He was charming and was able to entertain purveyors of my work. I think the only way he could have been any better is if he had boobs. He was a kid in a candy store at the show. He knew more about the other artists than I did. Every time he left the table he'd come back with another purchase or story to tell. I don't know much about the fantasy market other than I haven't rolled a d20 in like forever.
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| The booth |
There was plans to change up my booth for this event. I had designed a new backdrop that was wider, taller... featured 8 images and was printed on matte material. However, it was stuck at the printers. I can't put the blame entirely on the printer, I didn't have the Creature Feature painting done in time anyway to submit the final piece. It'll be used for some other show. I know that for future art shows, not comic conventions, I need to have originals framed and in the show-goers face. They're there to see the paintings, not prints. How tacky of me.
Dan took the reigns of re-laying out my table. He put the Creature Feature painting on the table and staggered a few other items. He offered me some excellent suggestions for future shows. Thanks buddy!
As it turned out, the monster painting was a huge success. Anyone who walked by was halted in their tracks and had to play the "Name All the Monsters" game. I just hope they remember to buy the print online.
Kansas City
Kansas City Missouri has it together. It seemed everywhere you looked there's some impressive piece of architecture, Art Deco facade buildings, Modern Art, plenty of parking, several taxi services, a bustling metro area on the weekend, an open downtown grocery store, a unique airport layout. Perhaps KC showed me what it wanted to show off... hiding the unsightly. But you know what, KC couldn't hide the weather which was beautiful and free of the humidity that I'm use to in most places.
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Portfolio Reviews
About a month before the event, they opened up registration for portfolio reviews. The must've had 10 different editors from various avenues of the industry. Reps from Tor, Orbit, Rockstar, Disney, Blizzard, Wizards of the Coast, DC Comics to name a few. I signed up for the 3 maximum; Tor, Orbit, and Wizards of the Coast.
Tor and WotC both told me the same thing; where do I want to go with my career? Orbit gave me the impression that I was already there. It was just a matter of the right job landing on their desk. Each didn't necessarily have anything critical to say, which is a relief. It was more about direction and insight of the industry; pay, turnaround times and rights.
It was a sweet opportunity to have one-on-one face time with them. It got my name, work, and personality on their radar.
Masters of Their Craft
I knew going into the show that the collected amount of talent would be staggering. Many of the artists I've envied for the past 25 years were going to be there. Their art books line the shelves of my bookcases. It was always neat to see an original painting from my idols at a gallery... here originals were in abundance PLUS the opportunity to have dialogue and possibly have them see their influence on me.
Michael Whelan always seemed to be in close proximity during the weekend. We first chatted in the elevator at the hotel. Later, I purchased the larger prints of Lovecraft's Nightmare (a,b) from him. He and his wife briefly hung out with us at the bar... chatting about everything but art. Then, as the show was ending, he gave me some great advice on the monster painting. He's an all around really cool guy!
I could go on with each master, but honestly, it'd be much of the same. I'd stare endlessly at their originals, I'd share my appreciation of their work and how it's influenced me over the years, then we'd end with talk about the Spectrum event and how beneficial it is for our industry. I constantly wrestled to keep the inner fan boy in check all weekend.
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New Friends
As a budding professional, this was the perfect gathering to expand my network of professional artists. Some I met as fellow Spectrum presenters and others came by my table incognito. It's refreshing to be among like minds... this is my tribe, the people who truly get me. We share the same worries, struggles, aspirations, and rewards. I hope to connect more with these new acquaintances at future events. Some probably through the glorious Facebook. It was a pleasure sharing this experience with you all.
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| At the Midland |
Saturday evening they held an awards show at the majestic Midland theater announcing the nominees and presenting the Silver and Gold awards to each of the 10 categories featured in the annual book. It was really endearing hearing each of the acceptance speeches. So much passion and praise. I think I got a bit teary eyed on a couple of them. Phadroid (Android Jones and his wife) provided enchanting performance pieces through out... dancers interacting with light. You had to have been there.
So after all is said and done and artists are back in their studios toiling away, the thought of doing the Spectrum Live event again is high on everyones to do list. I definitely plan on doing it again, but most importantly, I REALLY NEED to get into the Spectrum book next year.
