A Funny Thing Happened at WizCon Toronto...

[Matt Erkhart]

While everyone else was off at C2E2, I went to the other comic convention going on last weekend: Wizard Con Toronto. It’s a lot closer to home, and I was pretty keen to try out Tommy Castillo’s Wizard Drink & Draw with some comics pros. There were 2 categories: Amateur & Professional. Being unplublished, I entered as an amateur. After seeing what I was working on, they bumped me up to Pro.

And damned if I didn’t win the thing! I will have my own table at Artists Alley at the Wizardworld Chicago Comic Con August 9-12, 2012.

Frankly I'm stunned, and mildly terrified since I'm COMPLETELY unprepared. I have no prints, no portfolio to speak of, no real understanding of copyright law or international commerce, no funds left after the TO Con, and I have until August to sort it all out.

However! I'm also thrilled and excited beyond my ability adequately convey without sounding like a squee'ing fangirl.

As an interesting aside, Amy Acker (of Angel, Dollhouse, etc. fame) happened into the bar where we were doing our Drink & Draw and she came over and sat down with me for a minute, watching me draw. She liked my work, too. She was so nice! Very sweet person, absolutely fantastic. My wife and I stopped in at her booth the next day before leaving the Con and she recognized us, commented on my drawings. It was really great.

Weeeeird night for a small-town Georgia-boy. But a damn good one!

[Susan Hillwig]

"Don't look now, but guess who hit the big time..."

Congrats to you, Matt! Best advice I can give is spend the next 4 months talking to anyone who's done any time in Artist's Alley before (I presume you'll be able to drop in on at least one other, more loacl con before Chigago hits). Ask how copyright law works regarding print sales, as well as what's a fair price for such work. Also, check with printers in your area and see what sort of deals you can swing regarding copies of what you're going to be selling (how much those prints cost you will also be a factor in how much you sell them for...you want to at least break even).

Of course, you could go the simple route: buy a bunch of blank Bristol boards and set up a lil' "Drawings by request" table, just crank the stuff out right then and there. And if you do that, I advise keeping some refs nearby (better yet, a laptop or other device with Internet access) in case your brain freezes up and you can't remember, say, the difference between Iron Man's armor and War Machine's. I've seen some artists tell fans they'll only draw certain characters if refs are provided.

Most important: get some cards or flyers made up with your contact info so interested parties can grab 'em. Include any websites that host your work, be they personal or DeviantArt. Aaaand that's all I can think of. Good luck, m'boy!

[Admin]

Congratulations, Matt.