MCM Expo May 2011

So this MCM was me and Stacey's first crack at having a table at the comic village as opposed to just visiting, and we had a great (and knackering) time! Being there for the entire three days from beginning to end was a first, and while we didn't get to mooch about as much (at least one of us was at the table at a time) we still did a bit of shopping and checked some stuff out.

(Yes the exclusive print was a Manga-Gaga related one, will upload online soon)

Sales wise it was pretty good and we've learned a lot about what we can do to improve our tables presentation for next time and what other kind of bits we could sell. Friday was pretty much dead quiet (as pretty much expected) seeing as only people with a full weekend pass and the day off to go went. Saturday was crazy busy (again as expected) with crowds flooding the aisles, while Sunday was slightly less busy but still plenty of people buzzing about. We were just in front of the ever popular Simon's cat store and opposite Jess Bradley's table so we were in good company. :)

Aside from selling prints (Meerkats with Mini-Guns being by far the most popular) badges (the big make Tea Not War one was bought the most) and DVDs, we also both did a few on the spot commissions for people which is another first for us in a way. Stacey did a painting of a Pokemon for a friend of hers and an anime character for someone, and I drew Wonchop's Monkey character for him and someone else asked me to draw Tintin riding the wolf from Okami, of all things! I kind of struggled at drawing the latter as drawing wolf characters, especially with only a small iphone screen reference is not something I do often but I think he liked it (I hope!). We also both an art trade with Euan, who drew me this great art of the Fuji's while I drew his character.

One of the highlights was getting this Stimpy toy signed (on it's butt, I might add!) by the characters voice actor Billy West. Stacey took it for me along with a DVD of the Rayman TV series he also voiced for so i didn't get to meet him myself, but still happy with this though as usual it was a bit pricey at £15 an item so I could only justify getting one thing done, as I also had a Samurai Jack toy to get signed from Phil Lamarr but decided not to.

I also bought Philippa Rice's A Cardboard Life book and a Simon's cat dinner tray my parents wanted while Stacey bought some French imported rabbids toys and Destiny Blue's magic Sticky Toffee Pudding lip balm! It's the best smell in the world.

Cosplay wise we didn't really see as many as usual because we were at the table most of the time but we did get a few walk past like an amazing Pan's Labyrinth one, Gum from Jet Set Radio, a Lemming (Amiga represent!), Edward Scissorhands, Earthworm Jim and a rather good Sonic costume. Stacey came in her Ly costume for just the Saturday with her new improved tail though it kept falling out which led to me having to help her shove back in again quite a few times! Master Jakeman popped over dressed as the Riddler and many other friends of ours from College and people we know from the Internet popped over for a chat, so all in all fun was had by all!

Been posting quite a few bits and bobs over at my Tumblr of the event including some short videos and more so go to it!

MCM Expo is this weekend! Comic Village details

Just received an e-mail letting me know that our table at the MCM Expo's Comic Village is B-10, which is on a corner near where Simon's Cat is, next to Liam Shalloo and opposite Jess Bradley!

What I will be selling:

Large badges (Lucy lolly and make Tea Not war designs): £1
Small badges (10 designs in total): 50p or 12 for £5
Lucy Lolly DVD: £5 (£4 if you spend £5 or more)
A4 prints: 70p or 5 for £3
7 X 5" prints: 50p or 12 for £5
8 X6" Exclusive print (not yet online): £1

 A teaser of the exclusive print.

Will also be offering on the spot sketches for £3 or an art trade.

Commissions will also be open, order them on the day and I'll work on them after the expo and e-mail them your way.

Commission rates:

Sketch £3
Inked £6
Inked + Photoshop colour £10
Vectored (Illustrator) and Photoshop Colour £15

and if you want more than one character on a picture each character will cost you less.

Hope to see you lot there!

Bats with Bats

So here we are, number 12 of the Animals Packing Heat series. Yeah, this one is rather daft but then so are the others so why not? Although 12 was my minimum target for these I'm still going to continue making more when I get ideas for them. The intention was to get some calenders printed up to sell at MCM Expo but so far I haven't found a cheap enough place or way to do them, so for now I'm doing prints in 7 X 5".

Also check out my Tumblr for a WIP GIF showing before and after the clean up.

Oh god now he's on Tumblr.

So yeah.

Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on this blog, I will still be using this for my main long articles and my latest art and animations. The Tumblr is mainly going to be used for quick and daft stuff. So far I've slapped a bunch of concept sketches from the Film festival ident on there. If you're a tumble-ler (?) please pop on over and follow if you like!

More Film Festival 2011Promo bits

 

So yeah there were some other bonuses to the Film festival this year in terms of exposure. For starters, there was these free bookmarks that were scattered all over the screening locations. One side had a screenshot of the animation and the other has three. Very cool.

Best of all though there were t-shirts! They were selling them at £10 a pop though from what I heard they didn't sell many so I guess they won't be doing that idea again. Still, look at that it has a screenshot from the animation on the back of it! Ooh!

..and here's the front with the festival logo. Ooh.

Busy working on getting stuff together for the MCM Expo at the end of the month, had some new badges arrive in the post on Friday and I'm working on some new art to add to the big order of prints i will be sorting out soon. Keep an eye on my Twitter for the latest about it when I'm not rambling about other things.