King Con Brooklyn

The economic aftermath of hurricane Sandy was felt at King Con.  With most subways not running this weekend, people scrambling for gas, and the fact that it was the first really cold weekend this fall, hardly any customers showed up.  On top of that, the Lyceum had no heat!

It was hard to draw with my hands being so cold, and hard to even see the colors of my markers with little light (where my table was).  But I kept thinking of all the people who are still without power and heat, and that's what kept me going.

2 years ago the last King Con saw many tables lining the center as well as the perimeter of the Lyceum, and so many people you could barely walk the aisles.  This year with so many vendors unable to get there, some people got a table last minute for $25.  Despite difficulties of low attendance, other artists and I still made a bit of money.  During the slow times, it was super great to meet lots of creators and writers!  I talked a lot with Jason Quinones, who was at the table next to me.  I was even able (through the power of twitter!) to get my friends Sean Von Gorman and Josh Gorfain to exhibit.

I made my table money back with one sketch!  An anime called "One Piece" features a character called Luffy that can stretch his body like rubber.  The guy that wanted the sketch saw similarities between Luffy and Plastic Man.

Since many families with small kids came, I drew some of my favorite cartoon characters like Finn & Jake from Adventure Time and Sponge Bob.

After the con, I got some creators together for an after-party at The Rock Shop.  It was so nice to get to know other cartoonists and writers!  Jason said it best:  "You all helped to make what should have been a disaster of a con into something special."  It's also noteworthy that this convention still went on despite many events in Manhattan and Brooklyn being cancelled or postponed (even the New York Marathon!).  It took very passionate people to make King Con happen.  Cheers to getting NYC going again!

NYCC SUCCESS!!

WOW!  Ok I know New York Comic Con was last week, but I need to recap!  It was so intense that I had to recover for awhile.  I took those videos on Friday, and the crowds in the video got even bigger for Saturday and Sunday.

I got a tripod/easel at the 24 hour Staples Thursday night to elevate my poster for better exposure.  It worked!  More people saw my sign and looked at my table.  I also taped drawings to the poster so people could see examples of my drawing style.  Most importantly, I put a sign at the top that said "Colorist for DeadPool" and that really drew attention!  I got about 4 DeadPool commissions from that!  People were interviewing me and taking pictures - NO JOKE!  I felt like a celebrity!

I spent all of Saturday and Sunday just drawing commissions!  It was amazing!  I had a list of drawings to do and honestly took more than I could handle, but it was a great learning experience!

This pic was my first commission!  A guy dressed as Dead Pool and his girlfriend wanted their favorite characters (Dead Pool and MewTwo from Pokemon) fighting.  This became a theme of the weekend - couples wanting their favorite characters either fighting or cuddling.

He's so happy with the sketch!  Later on, I drew another Deadpool sketch (below) and put it on my poster, and he bought that one too!  Repeat customers!!

This commission was for an amazing girl, Mya Terry, who's battling cancer.  Her aunt/godmother went around getting sketches of Mya as a "super girl," because she's been through a lot and is very courageous.  Mya even wrote a book about getting an NG feeding tube.  I went for a Rainbow Brite/Sailor Moon theme for the sketch.  Her aunt was thrilled and even got me and Scott (the artist next to me) fries :)  Hope Mya likes the drawing!

One guy wanted some Avengers head shots for his niece and nephew.  I chose Scarlet Witch and Captain America.

I looked up references for characters on my smart phone.  Luckily this year Artist Alley was in a spot that had good reception!  I had kind of cramped drawing space for my little half table, and I kept knocking over the Aer Head stand and Ellen's comics next to me, but I made it work.  Here are some other sketches I did, but I didn't have the chance to take pictures of all of them:

This girl even came back the next day for a Prince Zuco sketch!

This guy heard I was a colorist (word of mouth spreading like wildfire!) and asked me to color a black & white drawing someone did of the Fraggles.  I totally had the theme song stuck in my head all day after that!

I kept seeing all these people dressed up with horns that looked like candy corn.  It's from a web comic that got pretty popular called Homestuck.  I got about 3 commissions of Homestuck characters!

This guy was a teacher who was getting sketches to show his students many different drawing styles.  My first Aer Head commission!  It's interesting to me to see the variety of people that come to comic con for different reasons :)

And ending with my favorite, Sonic!  Didn't even need a reference for that because I drew Sonic all the time as a kid :)  I love My Little Ponies too :)

The flyering worked well too - my friend Ellen passed around flyers and brought about 20 more people to the table, and of those maybe half signed up for the mailing list :)  A few bought misfortune cookie mini comics, and half just took the free cookies.

All in all, New York Comic Con was a HUGE success.  I made my table money back plus a huge profit!  This was an eye opening experience because now I see that doing the comic con circuit can be a legitimate way to make a living, if you do it right.  Next time, I'm going to do more sample sketches beforehand so they're ready to sell, and I need to practice drawing faster!

Baltimore Comic Con Success!! :D

 

The Baltimore Comic Con was a super success for mindy indy!  I made back my table money and more!  The table was $200, and I made $219, so that's pretty darn good for my first big convention :)  Especially considering lots of artists don't make their table money back.  I'm so glad people like my comics, and appreciate everyone that stopped by my table!  Special thanks to anyone that bought anything and/or signed up for the mailing list!  I loved meeting new people and talking about my artwork.  It was a pretty exhausting weekend, but it was totally worth it :)

I didn't get to see much else of the convention, but you can see a bit more of artist's alley in this picture (taken before the convention opened to the public).  I was lucky to get a table on the corner.  Oh yeah, and see that huge purple suitcase behind me?  I lugged like 70 of my new books from New York on the Megabus in that thing!

Here's my new book, "Mindy Indy's Daily Misfortune and Flip Book!"  It's 2 books in one!  On the right page is a collection thus far of all the Daily Misfortunes that I've been posting here on mindyindy.com, and on the left is a brand new quirky animation that's a flip book!  I spent most of the time for this book drawing the animation.  I wanted it to have the same look as the comic, so it's all hand drawn.  It involves a giant godzilla-like-pacman-like misfortune cookie eating a city, then trying to eat a spaceship and getting zapped by the ship.  At first I wanted it to be a simple animation, but it got more complex as I kept drawing :P  Oh and in the picture above, the artist at the table next to me cleared their table early and I took it over :)

My friend Tracy, who helped me out with the table, suggested stacking my books, because people are attracted to vertical things.  It was a super great thing to do, because if you just have flat objects, people can't see your stuff until they're already at the table.  I even stood up my mini comics too.  I think it helped!

Here's Tracy modeling another new addition to the mindy indy table:  Misfortune Cookie Charms!  My mom made these tiny cute charms BY HAND out of sculpey!  You can put them on your cell phone, key ring, rear-view mirror, and other stuff :)

I had to take a picture of the GIANT box of fortune cookies.  I stayed with Tracy in Washington D.C., and there's a super awesome China Town where I got this box of 350 cookies for $15.  I wanted to make sure we had enough to last the whole convention, and we certainly did.  I have enough left over to last like A YEAR.

Again, thanks everyone for making this convention a big success!  And more good news, a spot in artist's alley opened up for the huge New York Comic Con, and I got a half table!  Since I did well at Baltimore, I feel more comfortable spending $300 for the table at NYCC.  It's the next big step in my career and I'm super excited!  To all peeps in Baltimore, it's only a $9 Megabus ride to New York!  So please stop by and see me and other spectacular artists and cool stuff at NYCC October 11-14 at the Javits Center in NYC!

No, I won't be at SPX (Small Press Expo).  I missed the application deadline, and already have plans that weekend.  Maybe next year!

Misfortune Cookie Animation!

I've been working on a very special project - a Misfortune Cookie Animation!  I love doing hand drawn animation and use a light table to see through the drawings on paper.  It takes longer than animating on the computer, but I want the drawings to look like how I drew the comic.  The animation is part of a larger project, which I'll reveal in the next few weeks :)  Part of my plan to get stuff ready for the Baltimore Comic Con that I'm in September 8th and 9th!

Teaching Kids Comics @ Utrecht

Had a blast teaching kids how to draw and ink comics at Utrecht Brooklyn this past Saturday!  Lots of talented kids (and their parents!) came and I taught them step by step how to create their own character and three panel comic strip.  When it got to the inking part, I was a little nervous having open ink bottles around kids, but everything was ok.  We mostly inked with Micron pens :)  I did get to show them a little of how you can fill in large areas of black with a brush and ink, and how to do ink washes.  Initially I thought it would be more of an inking demo to show college students how to use the supplies (this Utrecht is right by Pratt University).  The students seemed busy buying art supplies for the back-to-school season, though.  But live events are always different and turn out great.

With each new event I do I learn something.  I usually teach on a big white board to a big class (at MoCCA), but this time I drew on a bristol board page to show how cartoonists really create their art.  I had to keep turning the page around so kids wouldn't see it upside down!  Also, it's difficult to do a linear step-by-step routine when people are jumping in at different times.  I had to keep tabs on who was at what point while I started over again with new people.  I did have some already-drawn simple comics for people who wanted to just jump in with the inking.  Maybe I'll do more of that next time.  It was a super fun experience though and I love doing this stuff!  The Utrecht manager said the event got lots of positive feedback and maybe they'd have me do another one!  It's good publicity for me and I sold a few comics, but most of all kids had tons of fun learning and drawing!

Cartooning Demo at Utrecht Brooklyn Saturday!

I'll be doing a cartooning demonstration at the Utrecht Art Supply Store in Brooklyn this Saturday August 25 from 12pm-2pm!  It's at 536 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205

"Comic Illustration Demo" Brooklyn-based professional cartoonist "mindy indy" will teach others how to create a 3 panel comic strip, focusing on character creation and story.  Join mindy indy as she delves into different ways to ink comics: try out a variety of inks and pen nibs while learning cartooning techniques such as cross-hatching and shading.  Participants can also look at finished mindy indy comics for reference and buy them if desired. All ages Free!

Hope to see you there!

East Village Arts Party Success!!

mindy indy's greatest success yet was this past weekend at the East Village Arts Party!  So many people came (like 500 people!) and it was super awesome to meet everyone and share my comics!  I made sure to get there early to get a good spot with high visibility, and my table was right when you walked in and it led into the courtyard, where all the bands and performances were playing.  It was also great to get people as they walked out too.  I'm so glad my energy lasted the whole night!  I was pretty exhausted from trying to finish up the sequel to the Misfortune Cookie.

A lot of my friends came too, and since many of them already had the first Misfortune Cookie comic, I wanted to have the next one ready to show them new stuff.  I scrambled to get it done in time, and was still drawing it Friday and inking Saturday morning!  I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I was super focused, making sure to put a time limit on filling in the blacks and typing and such on Saturday, and I was able to get The Misfortune Cookie 2 done, printed, and ready to go just moments before people arrived at the show!  I'll post the comic later this week.

It was kind of tricky setting up my table this time.  I'm usually sitting behind the table, but this time they were all up against a wall.  Oh and because it was outside, I had some sheets of plexiglass so all my comics wouldn't fly away.  It was pretty effective!

This time I actually sold a lot of Misfortune Cookie Cards!  One girl bought a lot for her friend, nicknamed "Miss Fortune."  I colored some in her favorite colors.

Notice how I put my sign on the wall instead of the table.  I wish I could've printed out a huge poster or something else to put up!  Maybe next time.

This guy wanted me to draw on his hand!  I loved the randomness!  I drew a little fortune cookie.

All in all, the party was a great success and I made like $50 profit!  Pretty good for only selling comics for $1 each :)  I need to do more events like this where they don't charge for a table!

mindy indy now working with Arlen Schumer!

Last week at Dean Haspiel's Trip City Salon, I met Arlen Schumer - a truly amazing artist!  And today I started working for him as his "Social Media Maven," meaning I'll be helping him relaunch into the social media realms of facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc.  Even if you don't know him by name, you've probably seen Arlen Schumer's work.  His career is colossal - from illustrating for major magazines like Rolling Stone (among many others), to creating "The Inner Superhero" (illustrating people as a super hero/heroine like a real comic book cover), to teaching around the country for his "VisuaLectures" (covering topics such as Jewish influence on comic art).  Today is Arlen's birthday too, so it's a brand new start to relaunching his already phenomenal artwork into new environments.

And now, The Daily Misfortune:

New Haven Comic & Collectible Spectacular

The New Haven Comic & Collectible show was indeed Spectacular!  Held at the YMCA hall, it was a cozy convention that reminded me of the ones I went to in Michigan growing up.  It was great to meet everyone who stopped by my table!  Many thanks to people who bought something - you helped me make back my table money!  Pretty good for my second convention.  Some things I learned:

1.  Be flexible with how you lay out your table.  My table wasn't facing the main route of foot traffic.  It looks like it's on a corner, but that was kind of tucked away near the exit door.  So I couldn't set up with everything at the center of the table.  Instead, I moved the attention grabbing items to the corner where the traffic was.  To maximize getting people's attention, I put a mindy indy sign on each side of the table and set up The Misfortune Cookie comics at both angles.

2.  Don't give away too much for free.  At the Bronx Heroes Con, I gave away my Aer Head stickers for free.  This time I got the table last minute, so I didn't have time to reorder stickers.  So I came up with the idea to only give a free sticker with purchase of an Aer Head mini comic.  It's a good marketing device to sell the mini comics, and I also save money on stickers because it costs about $20 for me to print 5 sheets.

3.  I may apply the same procedure in #2 to the free fortune cookies as well.  I love fortune cookies and I thought it was a good "hook" to get people's attention, but at this convention a lot of people refused the cookies and passed by.  Maybe people in New Haven are more health conscious?  I may get more buyers for The Misfortune Cookie if I lead with the comic and follow up with the free cookie.  And maybe you'll only get a free one if you buy a comic.

4.  $40 in small bills isn't enough for change.  When the first 3 people give you $20s, this is a problem.  Even asking exhibiting neighbors to exchange big bills will only go so far, because they'll be in the same boat.  It all worked out, though.

5.  Don't pack up early!  Foot traffic slowed down about half way though the con, and other exhibitors started packing up around 1:30pm, when it was supposed to end at 3pm.  I stayed until the end because I came all that way (3.5 hours) and paid for the table.  Near the very end, one guy bought almost one of each item on my table!  He even bought a tally hall comic because he was a fan of the band.  I was almost going to retire those comics because none sold at the last convention, but I sold 3 this time.

6.  Different things sell at different conventions.  See above.  I also sold 2 Aer Head prints, where I didn't sell any last time.  Also, some BRAND NEW items, The Misfortune Cookie Cards, didn't sell at all, but I have hope that they'll sell eventually.  The card is like the cover of the mini comic, but with a blank fortune, so you can create your OWN misfortune to give to someone.  I also have some examples of misfortunes if people get stuck.  It's blank on the inside, so it's versatile for any occasion:  birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, or just for fun.  I give a choice of black and white or hand colored as well, plus a free colorful envelope.  Maybe I need a bigger sign for these or something?

All in all, I'm having a ton of fun getting my work out there and learning on the way!  Talking with people, I found myself referring to my Misfortune Cookie Bites web comic as having a "daily misfortune."  So now, my friends, I bring you:  THE DAILY MISFORTUNE!

BREAKING NEWS! mindy indy @ New Haven Comic Show THIS SUNDAY!

THIS JUST IN!  mindy indy will have a table at the New Haven Comic & Collectible Spectacular this Sunday, June 3rd!  I got a table just now, and am super excited!  I've never been to Connecticut before, but I'm eager to explore more of the east coast.  Even though it'll be a 3.5 hour trip there, it's totally doable for a day trip.  Wish me luck!

More ways to use Aer Head Stickers!

I've been putting my Aer Head star stickers on the things I use most, like my phone and computer.  The sticker background blends in with my black phone, so it looks like I make custom Aer Head phones :)  If you have an Aer Head sticker, please take a picture of you using it on your favorite object and I'll post it on this blog and facebook!  I'm curious to see how people are using the stickers, and it's just fun :)  Please send pictures to mindy at mindyindy.com.  (Use @ - "at" is to prevent spam).

And, for those who missed Saturday's post, here's The Misfortune Cookie Bite 4:

Misfortune Cookie Bites!

Another semi-daily bite!  I'm changing the name from "shorts" to "bites" because it's a smaller chunk of story, applicable to eating a cookie, and it's just cuter.  The original Misfortune Cookie is a short comic in itself, with the actual story being 5 pages.  This will hopefully clear up possible confusion.  Or maybe I just made you more confused.  Anyway, more to come!

Also, mindy indy is now on Tumblr!!

Misfortune Cookie Short 1

I want to turn The Misfortune Cookie into a semi-daily strip, so you'll start to see lots of these little bits of Misfortune around.  These short comics are a quick way to get my gags out there.  Enjoy!

Also, I've been sick lately, and that's when I finally get around to reading other people's comics.  Check out Aviary and Trinadot - both have amazing artwork you can drool over, and Anecdote has the cutest most adorable characters!  All these were made by awesome independent cartoonists I met at MoCCA Fest.

THE MISFORTUNE COOKIE

I drew this short comic in two weeks, even while sick for the last week.  I took a lot of short cuts, like drawing on regular typing paper (vs. bigger bristol board), inking with micron pens (vs. pen nibs dipped in ink), filling in the blacks in Photoshop (vs. by hand with brushes), and adding text in Adobe Illustrator (vs. by hand).  But now this story is finally out in the world!  The last two pages are promotional to fill the extra pages for the 8 page mini comic, but it could stand alone without them.  ENJOY!!

Bronx Heroes Comic Con 2012! Mindy indy's Debut!!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that stopped by my table at the Bronx Heroes Comic Con!  I had SO MUCH FUN meeting everyone and was thrilled that people liked my comics!  Seriously, it's one thing when my friends and family say they like my artwork, but it's a whole other level of awesomeness when people I've just met like my work!

It was so fun that people wanted to take their picture with me!  I'm very photogenic, so I totally loved it :)  I felt like a celebrity!

Some young people also asked me to look at their portfolios.  It was great to see everyone's different artistic styles!  It was only 2 years ago that I was the one showing my portfolio around to exhibitors at comic conventions, so please keep at it, guys!

Some of my friends came to see me too!  Rachel came all the way from Park Slope (seriously, it's a long way from Brooklyn to the Bronx!)  You go, girl!

I loved when people wanted me to sign the mini comics they bought :)  I made sure to sign them as "mindy indy" instead of "Mindy Steffen" (my real name).

You may notice some people with blue bandages on their arms - there was also a blood drive at the con.  People were encouraged to donate blood and "be a hero" because it really does save lives.  The con reached their goal of a lot of donors - I forget how many.... but it was totally reached!

I also have to say how awesome it was to be sitting next to Jim Salicrup - he ended up promoting ME more than his own company, Papercutz!  When I first arrived at the con, I was put at a table outside, but all my mini comics and merchandise were flying away, it was SO hot and I was getting sunburnt, and the location wasn't getting much foot traffic.  Not an ideal situation.  I went inside and saw Jim (who I knew from before) and he offered the other half of his table, which was so much better!  Jim even helped bring people to my side of the table and was really hyping up mindy indy!  The way he talks can really draw attention!  I probably wouldn't have met half the people or sold half as much stuff if he wasn't there.  It was truly an honor to have his support.

To give back in a small way, let me say a bit about Papercutz!  Papercutz publishes comics and graphic novels for kids and tweens, featuring classic characters like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and even the Smurfs (it was a Belgian comic before the animation) and Tinker Bell (ok, I still love Tinker Bell and I just turned 28 :)  Papercutz has a team of writers and artists that create new stories but also publishes foreign comics.  Jim Salicrup is the Editor-in-Chief and always works super hard to bring these comics into the hands of young comic lovers.  He was giving out tons of FREE Papercutz comics at the table!  About half way through the con all the comics had gone, and Jim was just chatting with people about how great mindy indy is :)

Here's a close-up of my table.  I just finished my new mini comic, The Misfortune Cookie!  As you may guess from the title, it's about a fortune cookie that predicts bad things but in a comical way.  I gave away free fortune cookies (the normal kind, not misfortunate ones) which was a great way to tell people about the comic.  Last week I bought a HUGE bag of fortune cookies from a local Chinese restaurant, and it was very difficult for me to resist eating them before the big day!  I was afraid I'd run out of cookies at the con, but I even had a few left over.

I absolutely loved people's reactions to The Misfortune Cookie!  I sold 32 copies at $1 apiece, which was pretty good for the first time selling comics in my opinion.  I'll be posting The Misfortune Cookie in the next blog post!  I'm also excited to think of more misadventures of The Misfortune Cookie - I want it to become a regular web comic.

Also on the table was my Aer Head section.  I sold 6 of those (a harder sell at $2 each, but the printing was more expensive for color).  Some people were really interested for when the graphic novel comes out, and that makes me SUPER EXCITED!  I'll work even harder to finish this 45 page craziness knowing I have the support of others :)  Nobody bought the Aer Head prints (bottom left corner of the pic).  Usually prints are good sellers at cons, but for some reason they just didn't fly.  The Aer Head stickers were a big hit with the kids, though!  I was planning to sell them for 50 cents each, but it was more fun to give them away.  In the middle of the table I had my tally hall comics.  Not one sold.  Strange - fans of the band love it, but maybe "a band with musical super powers" doesn't have much universal appeal?  I also wasn't promoting that as much as the others.  The big draw was definitely The Misfortune Cookie!

Jim drew these cute signs :)  Again, I can't emphasize enough how awesome this guy is!!

All in all, the Bronx Heroes Convention was a success for mindy indy :)  I want to exhibit in more cons!  People say it's addictive, and now I know why.  I'm just glad I finally made another important step towards making my dreams come true :)  Again, many thanks to everyone that visited me at the convention, and I hope to see you again!  Feel free to leave a comment on this blog too.  I added everyone to the mailing list that signed up, but a few addresses were hard to read.  If you signed up on the list at my table and haven't gotten an email from mindy indy, you can always enter your email in the green box to the right and you'll be put on the list.  Thanks!!!

AER HEAD ***Star Stickers!!!***

I made AER HEAD STICKERS!  This is a tiny part of my dreams coming true :)  I've imagined all kinds of Aer Head merchandise for awhile, and it can happen - all I have to do is just make it.  There's this great site, zazzle.com, where you can upload your images onto anything - stickers, buttons, T-shirts, mugs, aprons, etc.  I was going to print on regular circular stickers, but when I saw the star one I was totally excited!  It fits so well with Aer Head's future/outer space theme.  I printed these to have at my booth at the Bronx Heroes Comic Con this Saturday.  Also wrapping up my new 5 page mini comic, which I'll post about later - it's a surprise!

The Tally Hall Comic

This week I'm preparing lots of material to exhibit at the Bronx Heroes Comic Con, which is THIS SATURDAY.  I just printed out some "tally hall" comics I did a few years ago.  The comic is about a band called tally hall (an actual band) that has musical super powers.  Set in the city of Ann Arbor, MI (where tally hall and I went to college), a crazy guy called Mr. Misnomer tries to take away all sound.  Will tally hall be able to stop him?  The comic is still pretty funny even if you aren't familiar with the band.  Each member has different colored ties and in the pic above I'm hand coloring each one, because it was cheaper to print in black and white.  But I forgot how LONG it took!  I colored about 7, and I think I'll do the rest on the subway to the Bronx next week.  Gotta make the best use of my time.  Here's the first part of the comic:

I'm also working hard on my new comic short - it's a surprise, though, but I can't wait to post it!

MoCCA Fest 2012

It's been such a crazy weekend!  MoCCA Fest 2012 for Saturday/Sunday and the ASIFA East Animation Festival Sunday night!  They were both super awesome, and the flames of inspiration have been rekindled in me!  I met so many wonderful people and got to reconnect with friends too.

Saturday I went to the Dare2Draw event held inside MoCCA Fest - it's figure drawing, but with models that pose dynamically like a comic character would, and they have comic-like costumes and props (Wolverine claws, for example).  These and other figure drawing events, like drink-n-draws held throughout the city, have seriously helped with how I draw Aer Head.

I came across the Bronx Heroes Comic Con booth, and later on SIGNED UP FOR A TABLE!  Yes, MINDY INDY will actually BE EXHIBITING and SELLING some Aer Head mini comics, new Aer Head stickers, and a brand new short comic I'm creating right now.  I learned from vendors at MoCCA Fest that they were pretty successful with short stories in mini comic form and in anthologies.  I need to jump on this!  I've been kicking around some shorts in my head (wow, that sounds like I'm a washing machine... or a dryer...) and will start bringing them to life!  Of course I'll still be creating Aer Head, my main epic series, but the short comics (like 6 pages or so) are great to get mindy indy's name out there!  I was also inspired to make sure I draw for at least an hour each night, even when I'm tired.  I've done it since Saturday each night to far, and it's been pretty successful.  That little bit DOES add up, and that's how I will make things happen!  GO TO the Bronx Heroes Comic Con on Saturday May 12th, from 11AM to 6PM.  It's at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse on 165St., Bronx, NY 10456.  Hope to see you there!

AER HEAD the boxer

I've just finished drawing this page!  Aeryan boxes as well as surfs.  Rocky was my main influence on this aspect of his character :)  Aeryan can predict the future sometimes in his dreams, and I wanted to balance that mental power out with physical strength.  This comes in handy for Aer later in the series ;)

I wanted to post a recent drawing in time for MoCCA Fest this weekend.  It's a smallish comic convention that focuses on more independent cartoonists and small press.  It raises money for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, the museum I teach at.  Last year, I thought "next year, when I have the first book of Aer Head all done and published, I'm gonna get a table!" ... and I'm saying the same thing this year :/  I drew a lot this past year, but I need to push myself harder.  It takes serious discipline to focus on drawing at the end of the day when I'm tired from working other jobs.  But mark my words, when this comic is finally finished, it will be totally awesome :)  Just tonight, I was at a comic book release signing at Desert Island Comics, and I told the owner, Gabe, "when I get Aer Head published, I want to have an event here" and he was cool with it :)

Gangsta

This week I've been learning a lot more about creating the 3D characters in Blender - a bit more tricky that animating them (I guess it depends who you ask!)  The above image is a character from a new 3D comic of Kyle Baker's.  He needed to make lots of gangsters, so he gave me the file of this basic gangster (above) and wanted me to change their clothes, hair, skin tone, etc so it would create many individual gangsters quickly.

You can not only change the color of a character's clothes, but "map" a texture onto it.  This was my favorite part!  Above, the black+yellow striped square was an image I found online and modified.  I picked all kinds of funky textures for the different characters, to which Kyle said "What kind of gang IS this??"  see below:

That's what happens when you put me in charge of outfits :)

Wrapping up the TNH animation.  It's in the final editing stage.  Above is a screen shot of me animating the chick, Officer Peep, driving a car.  Yes, it's a cartoon so s/he (we haven't decided it's gender) really can drive that way!  See the animation in the TNH2 link from last week's post.

In other news, drew more Aer Head yesterday (finally!) but that's for another post.  I also don't have a scanner at the moment.