Last weekend I went to my first Comic-Con and I was not quite sure what to expect. I had two pieces up in the art show so I wanted to make sure I was there. I had my portfolio ready and plenty of cards to pass out, my goal was to make connections. I arrived at the San Diego convention center and it was HUGE!!!! I heard the con was big, but actually seeing the size of the convention center and how many vendors there were was overwhelming. I went and hit the ground running, going to as many publishers as I could find. I hit up the Del Rey booth, expecting an art director to be there that I could show my work to. Unfortunately none was there, but I gave the editor my card anyway, hoping he would pass it along to the art director (kinda doubt it). I did that to several other publishers, and then went to pay a visit to my old boss, Eric Joyner. It was good to see him again and catch up. I learned that he met Matt Groening and had a small talk with him, very cool! After my visit with Eric I went to go visit one of my favorite artists, Donato Giancola. He is easily one of the nicest guys to meet, very open to give feedback on my portfolio. I learned a lot just from talking to him and getting feedback from a grand master. I might go visit his studio when I take a trip to New York in September. Next stop was Todd Lockwood, who was also very open to give feedback on my portfolio. He laid down a lot of faults in my work, which was actually very helpful and that I will use. Next up was my portfolio review with Wizards of the Coast, which actually went really well. They loved my work but want to see what I can do when I push my work even more, through color and dynamic composition. I talked to the senior art director of D&D and the game designer which really helped and gave insight to what they were looking for. I came out of it with the art directors card and already started an e-mail thread, which was golden. That's all I could ever wish for, a direct contact within Wizards that I could send work to as they come along and eventually come to the point of getting work from them. My paintings didn't sell, but getting that portfolio review and contact info from Wizards was worth more than my paintings.
