(no subject)
San Diego was infinitely more awesome this year, since this year's pre-con disaster was a whole lot less problematic (seriously, one happens every year if I go to SDCC), I got actual sleep (we learned the hard way last year to stay somewhere quiet), and more productive. All of the art directors I talked to had positive things to say, and a few had useful critiques, so hopefully good things will come of that. I'll probably have to wait until Jan. to really start getting work from most of the people I talked to, since most companies seemed to have their work wrapped up until then, but that should dovetail neatly with when my regular magazine gig wraps up.
The con as a whole was, I think, even more insane than last year. The crowds are just immense - it's hard to describe the close quarters that the whole thing produces unless you've been there, especially around any of the media booths. In most places, you can't hear anything unless someone's right next to you; it's pretty common for people to call and you won't hear the phone ring over the noise. The plague of viral marketing means there's someone trying to hand you a flyer for something about every ten minutes. Since I'm a complete introvert, after a day and a half, I seem to be quite thoroughly done. I don't know how anyone stays sane if they're there for the whole weekend.
Still, it's pretty incredible to see the sheer amount of talent that shows up - Greg Manchess, my artistic hero, did a lovely demo, and most of the artists around dropped everything to come watch, from the newbies to Jon Foster and Donato. It's a lot of fun to just go hang out with other artists; you meet a lot of like-minded people around the portfolio reviews and so on, so it makes for a fun contrast to most of the year when I'm pretty much slaving away in front of my computer (thankfully with my roommate chrissydelk these days, instead of being alone) and it's a rarity when I get to see a group of other artists. I also got the last free copy of Snake Agent, which made me happy.
I'll probably put up pictures of the Manchess demo later, and link the video if/when it goes up.
The con as a whole was, I think, even more insane than last year. The crowds are just immense - it's hard to describe the close quarters that the whole thing produces unless you've been there, especially around any of the media booths. In most places, you can't hear anything unless someone's right next to you; it's pretty common for people to call and you won't hear the phone ring over the noise. The plague of viral marketing means there's someone trying to hand you a flyer for something about every ten minutes. Since I'm a complete introvert, after a day and a half, I seem to be quite thoroughly done. I don't know how anyone stays sane if they're there for the whole weekend.
Still, it's pretty incredible to see the sheer amount of talent that shows up - Greg Manchess, my artistic hero, did a lovely demo, and most of the artists around dropped everything to come watch, from the newbies to Jon Foster and Donato. It's a lot of fun to just go hang out with other artists; you meet a lot of like-minded people around the portfolio reviews and so on, so it makes for a fun contrast to most of the year when I'm pretty much slaving away in front of my computer (thankfully with my roommate chrissydelk these days, instead of being alone) and it's a rarity when I get to see a group of other artists. I also got the last free copy of Snake Agent, which made me happy.
I'll probably put up pictures of the Manchess demo later, and link the video if/when it goes up.