Decompressing from Anime Central 2009

Yo! Finally getting around to putting up the pics and sketches from Acen in Rosemont this last weekend. Had a blast, got alot of multiple character/color commissions which can take alot of time. That means I can't get to as many ppl who would want one. Fortunately (or unfortunately for me) I didn't have to turn away too many ppl since my list was filled by early Saturday. I still have a couple to finish up at home, but it worked out well. I was planning on getting them done Saturday night in the Guest Green Room, but I got distracted by Rock Band. Yes, yes, woe is me. :P So here we got a couple of CoH characters (always fun to do), a swimwear ad featuring Christy, Etna, and Matoko, lastly a PPG sketch featuring MojoBubbles from Los Dos Mojos (might make a good print...hmm). I did do some other sketches, but they're NSFW.

Speaking of PPG, I was amazed at seeing not one set of PPG cosplayers but at least 4 different groups! And one of them a Him (always creepy ;P ). Maybe it's because PPG is back on Boomerang, CN's premium cartoon channel. Also suprising is that I sold more PPG prints and comics at this show than I have in a long time. Perhaps it's because ppl who used to watch the show now have some disposible income of their own and have a bit of nostalgia tugging at the pursestrings, it's welcome nevertheless. Guess I gotta make some new PPG prints. :p

Of course there were some other nice costumes, Elektra and Jessica Rabbit were some, along with a very sexy Haruhi Bunny, and alot of Gurren Lagaan cosplayers (these 3 just happened to be friends with cousin Stephanie attending her first con, ah start the corruption now. :P) Ryan Zanfei of her very own Tasty Peach Studios showed off her loli side and made a killing in Artist Alley selling all sorts of extremely cute prints and stickers. Nice design sense, she'll go far.

All in all, had alot of fun. Bought more than I should have, guess I'll have to hold off on that dining room table I wanna get. But at least I have another couple figures to decorate my studio and collect tons of dust, and I've increased my book collection by a little bit more. :) I did see Star Trek on Monday, I'll have to blog/gripe about that in another post, I'll just say for now that it isn't my Star Trek.

Freee! (and Shameless Plug #12)

Yay! Finally finished off a Samurai Jack story that I've been putting off for a couple months due to one distraction after another. It was very unprofessional of me, and I should straighten out my priorities. I think it did turn out well enough though and the inks were done in 4 days.

Hopefully I can get more work from DC. More inking work on WoW has dried up though because of a change in art direction, doing the Pencils to Painted Color route. Hope they pull it off though, I'm naturally not a big fan of the style. ;P Russell Lissau, another Chicago Local writing for DC says he's got a couple Batman: Brave and Bold stories in line, one with The Question which peaked my interest. We'll see what goes on with that. I'll most likely hang with him next week at Acen.

What? Acen? Anime Central?? Yes, I finally got word from their Chairperson that Jeff and I do have tables for the Exhibit Hall, so we'll be able to meet peeps and do some sketching. Jeff says though that he'll be dropping down from Madison on Saturday and Sunday. Raven is probably taking them out to see Star Trek.

And for peeps hitting the comic shop, World of Warcraft #18 came out a couple weeks ago. I inked the first 14 pages out of that.

Way Late Post Acen Report

Acen was way back in May, so things are a bit fuzzy now, but it was a great time as usual, thanks to the fine people that run Anime Central. Did some sketching as you can see above, alot more naughty sketches than normal, don't know how much of that I can take. :P The most interesting one for me was the Creature from the Black Lagoon commission, I normally don't draw monsters so it was a good challenge. The others are assorted CoH characters, and some naughty pics of Rune Soldier Louie, Gold Digger, and Soul Calibur 3. Naughty Pics somewhat censored, sorry.

This year the con also had a lot more Japanese artists that I've seen in previous years of late. Kenichi Sonoda made a return visit to Chicago, but he was kinda under the weather the first couple days. Also showing up was Susumu Sakurai, a former producer for the translated Raijin Manga Anthology, and big Powerpuff Girl fan. He was instrumental in flying me out to Anime Expo Tokyo back in 2004. Sakurai, and Hiroshi Tada (I think it was), an associate editor at Afternoon (a monthly manga anthology) bought a few PPG and other original pages from me as mementos. Jeff was lucky enough to trade sketches with Mamoru Yokota, an extraordinary artist who just sketches out pretty much anything he wants to without laying it out first. He also sat down and folded up some paper, then cut little sections out of them, unfolded it to reveal a Gundam head. Craaazy!
Mamoru also works in the hentai (adult) game industry, an inspiration to be sure ;p. To twist the knife even more, Jeff got a Yoko (Gurren Lagaan) sketch in trade, one the latests anime series I've enjoyed. Lucky guy!

After the con was over, I was invited to join some of the Japanese guests (no Sonoda) for dinner at the Rosemont Hooters, where they proceeded to eat Mass Quantities(!), sampling wings, oysters, and hamburgers. It was really a lot of food. I humbly nibbled on my chicken breast sandwich... Before we left, they got alot of photos with the waitresses and hostesses (really cute), which I thought they normally didn't allow, but you know, those wacky Japanese tourists get away with anything. ;p

We then returned to the hotel for the Dead Dog Party, a get together for the staff to unwind and get toasty. Mamoru did a bucketload of sketches that ppl just grabbed up, and even I was pressed into service, doing some PPG sketches for some of the staff and the Japanese guests. One I did for Hiroshi Tada, said was going up in the lobby of Kodansha. I hope it turned out okay, because I was kinda tipsy at the time when I did it.

So all in all, a really great time. Many thanks to Mike for inviting us. Great seeing Taka and his ukulele again. I'd have more pics of this con, Hooters and the Dead Dog Party, but I found out that my camera didn't work anymore right before the show.