Wonder Con has ended.
What was once my most successful and most anticipated show ended up being my biggest failure of this year so far. So one big lesson learned here is; What once was your best show could end up being your worst. And what was once the worst could end up being a gold mine. You also can't take for granted what other people say about certain shows because each show is different for everyone. One thing you CAN take for granted at every event is the networking, you always learn something new. So if you're not selling, go and talk to people and learn as much as you can.
A lot of times I focus too much on how much money I think I will make at an event when the goal should be to enjoy what I do, to have fun with what I do. I am personally guilty of expecting too much sometimes. And my wife constantly reminds me of that. I need to change my mindset in this game. And for anyone who is interested in stepping into this game, that is the one piece of advice I can give you. Do it for the love of it. Do it because creating art is what makes you happy. Stick around long enough and the money will eventually come (and if it doesn't, well, I can say I died trying, lol)
It is hard to figure out what went wrong at Wonder Con. All I know is that it was a huge shot to the ego. But these are the moments that count the most. These are the moments that can make you or break you. These are the moments when you need to stand back up, brush the bullshit that you tell yourself after a failure off and keep moving forward. So, instead of banging my head against the wall dwelling on what could've been or what went wrong I am now focusing on this upcoming weekend. This weekend I will face a completely new crowd and hope to captivate a whole new audience. This weekend is Days of the Dead in Burbank, CA. A Horror Convention with a nationwide following. So it's something to look forward to. And if I don't achieve financial goals, I know that I will at least learn something new about myself and about this new crowd. It is always fun to test new waters.
For the next few months Comic Conventions will pretty much be on ice until September when I go to Portland for Rose City Comic Con. So I have a series of Night Market events to look forward to. This will give me some time to recover from the comics crowd and truly focus on my original content and personal projects.
That's it for today. Enjoy some Alfred knowledge and my latest YouTube video below.
This isn't news news, but I'm now officially on YouTube, I'm just a week late on blogging about it.
Most of the stuff on the Tube will be progress videos of me sketching. I still haven't decided if I want to personally jump on air. Not unless I develop some sort of presentable on camera personality. I may however film some action from Conventions and events. I may also do little voice-overs of me explaining the process of some of my pieces. I will inform you more on YouTube once I have more videos going and I figure out editing and all that stuff some more. But for now you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3xFqsNPyDMClb0bkj4AXxQ to enjoy the first couple of videos I've put up.
In other news, I've decided to take down my Storenvy Store. With the growing rumors of the big companies going after bootlegger and copyright violator and also a story about a guy who's store actually got shut down by WB/DC, I just don't wanna risk the bad rep. Right or Wrong, I will continue to do fan art on the down-low because I enjoy it so much and people want more. But the quantities for prints will be very small runs. Maybe 20 copies per print tops. And I will make an effort to carry more original content than fan art. Plus, I'm finally working on piecing my sketchbook together as well as a comic project on the side with Wannabe Press.
Maybe all this is just a sign of change and evolution. I personally wanna make a living off my own brand anyways.
Ok, I need to get back to prepping for Wonder Con which will take place this weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I'll be set up at Table E30 in Artist Alley.
Hope to see you there.
Also, TeePublic is having a SALE for the next couple of days. 60 hours I believe. All Tees are $14 compared to $20. Link is on the sidebar to the right.
For those who don't know what TeePublic is. It's a Graphic T-Shirt print-on-demand site sort of like TeeFury, Threadless and TeeVillain. Except my shirt designs don't stay on there for only 24-48 hour or a week. They stay on there for as long as I'd like to sell them. The cool thing is, for the initial few days the shirts are only $14 plus shipping and then they go up to $20, occasionally dropping back down to $14 from time to time. So it's a matter of going back and checking the prices or subscribe to their email list. I personally do my best to update people on sales through my social media outlets, mainly instagram and facebook. I have ordered a few of the shirts myself and I can vouch that they are good quality for a print-on-demand service.
I started offering my art on apparel through TeePublic because at this point it's easy and your shirt is guaranteed to be on there. Unlike TeeFury or similar sites where the design has to be voted on or selected to be available. Plus, they deal with printing, packing, shipping and returns. Basically all the business aspects that I don't have time nor finances for. The only downside is that my designs aren't publicly advertised on their site due to overwhelming submissions. So I'm on my own in that department. This is why I'm always asking you guys to help spread the word. And I'm very thankful to those of you who do so. Please continue....
Along with TeePublic came the creation of my new Horror Dolls (best generic name I could come up with at this point), like it? The initial reason for me to draw these was to find a cool, original way to promote my crazy Teddy Bear at an upcoming Horror convention called Days Of the Dead, which will take place in Burbank the first weekend of April. The idea was to do Pin Ups with my Bear. But regular Pin Ups are just too......regular. So I wanted to bring a creepy factor into it to fit the theme. Thus, the Horror Doll was born. Now I plan on doing a whole series that will be available on both shirts and prints. Plug in feedback in comments below......
And to conclude today's Episode, a public announcement....
I will be in Granada Hills this coming Sunday the 13th for San Fernando Valley Comic Con. Held at 11128 Balboa Blvd, in Granada Hills. So if you're in the neighborhood, swing by.
This Episode will not be all too much art related. But just something to get off my chest. It is sort of a Letter to all of us. A letter to America, and it goes a little something like this....
Dear America,
I have been obsessed with you since I was a child growing up in Germany. I loved your Saturday morning cartoons and comics, which are big reasons for who I am and what I do today. I used to listen to American music although I didn't understand the lyrics. Yes, back then I listened to David Hasselhoff's music, watched Knight Rider and Baywatch, he was all the rage. Let's not forget about Star Wars. Had to have the toys and watched the movies hours on end. Pretty much everything I did except for Soccer and speak english was American at heart. Yes, I supported the Troops back during the Gulf War (fuck, I'm old). And I never once imagined that one day I would actually end up in you (yeah, I just wrote that).
Now, you have been my home for nearly 21 years, more than half my life. I moved into you in 1995, the beginning of my high school years. Clinton was President (yes, Bill), who in my opinion was the man. The economy was amazing. America was great. Not only did I move to America, but I moved to LA. I was close to every major studio that produced the awesomeness that I call my childhood. I used to prank call WB and Disney to give me a job (hehe, yes that was me). I ended up visiting the Disney Animation studio during Career Class in High School. But I don't work there, so you could guess what happened.
In America I watched the internet flourish and watched the iPhone be born and.....flourish. I found my creative calling. I made many great friends. And most importantly, I built or am building my family here. America, my home, my family, my life.
After 9/11 I have witnessed this great country slowly crumble. Now, I am not writing the following as a government or political expert, I'm far from it. Politics and Government have become so complex and confusing, I'm not even sure politicians know what the hell they're doing anymore. I'm writing this as a human being with some common sense and basic life knowledge.
This country is crumbling and the great vision and admiration I had of this country as a child growing up across the ocean is crumbling with it. I've already witnessed one complete idiot take power in this country. Followed by a guy who I think had the right idea at the wrong time. I have no beef with Obama, he was dealt a dirty hand when he took office. He was left with a huge mess. I don't think any other candidate could've done much better, maybe worst. I dunno, has he made mistakes? Sure, who hasn't? No matter who the people vote for, four years later they're not happy, yet they vote for the same person again. Who's the real idiot here? Voters? yes, that's the right answer. It is us, America, that put these people in charge. And it is us, America, who then sit on our couch and get pissed when we watch the News. Then we do what? We go on the internet and troll around, we complain (like I'm doing right now, but this doesn't count cause this is a heartfelt letter and I don't vote) and then four years later we put another asshole in power. So how many times does this lesson need to be learned? I dunno, I don't think there is a cure for Stupid. When you do find the answer, let me know.
So this brings me to the NOW. I personally don't know many of the Candidates. I know Trump and I know Clinton (yes, Hillary), which at this point seem to be the only ones we need to know cause they're leaving all the other ones in the dust. Personally, I don't like one or the other. So it appears to be a choice of the lesser of two evils. I personally don't vote. Not because I don't want to, but because I'm still not naturalized. I'm still what people would call an Alien or immigrant (legal that is). And according to Trump I may end up getting microchipped or some shit. At his point, even if I could vote, I don't think that I would. And If I did, I would vote for Hillary just to not give a vote to Trump.
To finalize this. I'm not writing this to tell anyone what to do. People will be people and we all have free will (for now) and our own opinions. But come on, has America really dropped so low that a person like Donald Trump is actually in the top two for President? Donald Trump guys. Now, I'm not even gonna bash Trump. Good for him and his own personal goals in life to get this far. We should all aspire to greatness. And that is the foundation of this great country. The land of opportunity. But he isn't just taking charge of a Company. He's gonna take charge of this country, not as a president, but as a business man. And he will run it like a business and we're all gonna be employees.
Anyways. I needed to get this off my chest and mind so that my creativity can kick back in. It won't make a difference, I know. Had I not turned on the News this morning I probably wouldn't even be writing this. Maybe this country hasn't changed, maybe I have. Just wish I could look at America the way I did as a child from a distance.
Hope I didn't offend anyone.
P.S. I did end up meeting David Hasselhoff when I worked at Starbucks and again at another job I had where he gave me a completely unsolicited autographed picture, lol.
