NYCC Sketchbook Tags

Alright, one last post before hitting the sack and closing out the busy week.   Since I've been attending these recent shows and conventions, I've noticed fans would bring a sketchbook dedicated to getting signed ("tagged") by their favourite artists.  I, too, wanted to approach those I was interested in to contribute to my personal sketchbook, and occasionally, got to draw in theirs as a trade.  Looking back over the 3-day convention, I was surprised that I got as many beautiful drawings as I did.

I've become a HUGE Jose Lopez fan, and was totally blown away when he asked if he could draw my Sketchbot character.  What an awesome interpretation. Thanks again Jose!

You can view them in all their high-resolution glory at the following Flickr set.  Enjoy!

New York Comic Con, Day 3

Got an early start this morning and day three was as jam-packed as the previous two. Continued to make some great contacts and meet some of the big names in the vinyl community. Sam Fout has been a personal favourite, and I was fortunate to chat with him for more than a few minutes while he added a drawing to my sketchbook.  His Project:Neptoon is not to be missed.  Read Sam's blog here.

Another amazing person to finally meet is local artist and Brand Studio Press publisher Alberto Ruiz. He appreciated the fact that I help keep him in business, as I am constantly stopping by Forbidden Planet to see which new volumes he's got out - and leaving with many purchased copies each time! ;) Alberto maintains a very active blog that is an entertaining read, so check it out when you can.  Though, before you do, feast your eyes on Alberto's killer skateboard laser etchings at the bottom of this post.

His booth neighbor was none other than Stephen Silver, a very talented and prolific character designer. I first became aware of Stephen's work at Siggraph a few years ago, where I first obtained a volume of his sketches. He's also got a very thorough blog that is inspiring to visit on a regular basis.

I also met Joe Spada, who was selling his limited edition TOBOR character, which can be found here.

Final NYCC pics now up on Flickr.

Sketchbot name-checked at ToysREvil!

This afternoon I ran into Saki-Waki on the NYCC main floor and she asked me if I had seen ToysREvil's blog post from Friday. I had to confess that I did not, as I've pretty much been at Javitz straight through the weekend and have only jumped online to upload my pictures and make a post here and there. Well, I just got home after the show ended on Sunday night and was totally impressed that I got mentioned on the ToysREvil blog! Huge shout out to Andy for the mention. If you're not already familiar with the blog, please check it out.

New York Comic Con, Day 2

Day 2 was panel day for me. We hit the Indiana Jones/Star Wars panel first. Didn't see too much more from Indy, though we did see a great trailer for the all CG Clone Wars feature coming out this Fall. It looks great!

Next was director Timur Bekmambetov talking about his latest film, Wanted, starring Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy, and Angelina Joile as super assassins. Based on the comic book, the action we saw did not disappoint.

Following Wanted was the main cast for Hellboy 2! Guillermo del Toro is great to listen to in person, and we got a peak at the new, extended trailer. When the lights came back on, the stage was populated with at least 10 new characters from the movie, all life-size creature costumes with movement. The crowd went nuts.

The last panel we saw was for The Incredible Hulk. Director Louis Leterrier (Transpoter 2) and Tim Roth(!) were onstage to discuss filming. We got to see an entire sequence of the CG animated Hulk going up against Roth's Emil Blonsky (pre-Abomination stage) This finally put to rest any fears I personally had about the new version of the Hulk being anything less than totally convincing on screen. And - it's true - Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) makes an appearance. I love the fact that the cross-over from the comic book world finally makes it to the big screen! Should be interesting to see how this plays out. We were told if both The Hulk and Iron Man do well at the box office (and, honestly, I don't see how they could fail) there's always the chance that we could see an Avengers movie. Overall, this is going to be an amazing Summer for films based on comic books.

I had the honor of tagging the 20" MAD*l at the MPH booth (not to mention getting both Toy Qube and My Plastic Heart's NYCC exclusive MAD*L's!)

I also got some amazing sketches by Buff Monster, Shawnimals, Dan "Mr. Toast" Goodsell, Jose Lopez (who asked if he could do a version of my Sketchbot - "But of course!"), Scott Wegener, and my good friend and Dookie-Poo creator Manny Galan!

Hit the ever growing NYCC Flickr set for more!

New York Comic Con, Day 1

Only there half a day and we're already wiped out! This year looks to be even better than last year. I just got that vibe when we entered Javitz Center - there definitely seems to be genuine interest this year.

Hit a few of the main toy booths, primarily MPH and Toy Qube for a few signings (MAD, Tokidoki) and also got kidlew, kaNO, Andrew Bell, and Lou Pimentel to tag my sketchbook.

I also drew my first official tag in Saki-Waki's sketchbook. Quite a few people recognized my sketchbot character from this blog and my Flickr page, so that was a pleasant surprise.

The sketchbot swag we handed out is also receiving positive reactions. It's a pleasure to give something tangible to the fans. I'd like to invite everyone to check back often for progress on sketchbot's journey from initial design stage to a fully realized vinyl toy.

Jonlyn and I did catch one panel at the end of the evening - Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz were on hand for an entertaining Q&A after premiering the new X-Files movie trailer!

Hit my Flickr stream for plenty more pics. More posts coming Sat and Sun nights!

Sketchbot Sticker In Da House!

Sticky Ricks came through with a last-minute ONE WEEK TURNAROUND for me!  This is my first ever sticker run and I'm pretty happy with the outcome, with the exception that the yellow ochre of the character's body came out a bit orange-ish.  I'm still learning about how my CMYK designs on the computer translate via different printing methods.  I can live with this batch, as overall, the entire sticker just "pops."

Keep an eye out for all the Sketchbot swag as I roam the floor over the next three days at NY Comic Con!

Sketchbot Cards

Received my cards yesterday from 4by6.com.  They turned out great, with the exception of two annoying white streaks on the back of the postcard.  As expected, they will be reprinting the entire run for me, however, I'll be stuck handing out the defective ones this weekend at NYCC. The stickers are sitting in a FedEx warehouse in NJ today and should arrive tomorrow!

Robyn Hitchcock & Nick Lowe @ Grand Ballroom with special guest Elvis Costello!

Last night, I got to see my top two, all-time favourite singer/songwriters on stage together for the first time.  And, Nick Lowe too.  ;)

During the encore, Nick introduced a very special guest, Mr. Elvis Costello.  The crowd, and myself, went wild.  They sang a duet of "Indoor Fireworks", the song Elvis wrote for Nick.   I so called this surprise visit earlier during the show when I leaned over to Jonlyn and posited how cool would it be if Elvis came on stage to sing "Peace, Love & Understanding" with Nick?!  Little did I know what was in store for the encore.

Robyn then re-joined both Nick and Elvis and sang a beautiful rendition of The Beatles' "If I Fell", and the night ended with a raucous interpretation of "Mystery Train" with all three rocking the house.  Check out the youTube clips below captured by Mike Sweden and others, and some excellent observations remembered almost verbatim by Jeremy Osner!

More shots up on Flickr.

*EDIT*  There's also a torrent of the show now up on Dime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjKchngIDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eaWn6kzPZ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnvMKMKl2B0

Sketchbot Buttons!

Here's my first test run for a new batch of 1" sketchbot buttons. You'll also notice a Joe Ledbetter pin for reference. ;)

HUGE thanks to Vince over at My Plastic Heart for letting me borrow his button machine. They'll be available at NYCC next week, along with new stickers and postcards. There's still a few tweaks that need to made here and there before cranking out the lot of 'em, so let me know which ones are your faves and any tips to bring them to their fullest.  Close-ups viewable at the sketchbot Flickr set.

sketchBot Sticker Final - Version 2

Yeah, yeah, so I just had to do 2 more tweaks. First, I felt the logo needed to be centered and more "heroic" as opposed to smaller and off center (think Batman vs. Robin logo positioning). Second, after conferring with the printers, it was determined that the die cut could be tricky with such a small gap between the pencil and the left foot, so the best bet was to close off the negative space. Which doesn't bother me too much, as the extended arm now has less chance of tearing off from the body of the sticker. I also opted to put the URL on the front for this run. Better exposure for my first sticker outing I figure. Working on some cool 1" button graphics that i'll post later...