ferly [noun]

(FER-lee) - something unusual, strange, or causing wonder or terror

so, it’s been a week since New York Comic Con and I’m only just now feeling like I’ve caught up on sleep and work. though it was probably one of the worst travelling experiences I’ve ever had, it was one of the best comic conventions we’ve ever done! the travelling experience had nothing to do with NYCC itself, with the exception of the convention center. carpet was coming off on everyone’s shoes, carpet stank by friday afternoon, and at the end of the whole con, they turned off ALL escalators and had only 1 working elevator. so all of us exhibitors were pretty F-ed in the B with getting our stuff outta there. we had to make multiple trips up and down the escalators to get our stuff down cuz the line for the 1 elevator was massive.

OTHER THAN THAT, the con was great! met some great new people, hung out with old friends we don’t get to see but once a year, and got some cool stuff to bring home. the artist alley was much larger than I expected but it was chock full of some of the most amazing talent in the industry. sometimes at smaller shows, there’s quite a bit of range of art skills but at this one, we were surrounded by really talented professionals. having industry pros intermingled with independent artists really helped to get everyone circulating the whole area. and our banners, though there was some crazy drama trying to even attain them, turned out looking pretty frackin fly in my humble opinion. I’ve never seen my art so huge before but I can certainly get used to it. =P it was actually the best show that ID Comics Studios has done to date. I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes from it.

for instance, I got a pretty great review of my artbook, Hot Cakes: Stacked & Ready that someone bought from me while he was there. go check it out - Focus on the Artist: Penelope Gaylord, a new gen illustrator that will leave you panting. I was very surprised and extremely flattered. I’m glad I made a good impression on at least one person there. =) I hope everyone else felt this way about me and my book.

here are the con sketches I did while I was there. I didn’t do very many, but I enjoyed every single one. these were enough to keep me busy while I was there because I really do draw slower than the other guys in the studio. I’ve gotten faster, just not that much. and yes, one of those is indeed Rainbow Brite! this one guy asked each of us to draw in his book anything that we have always wanted to draw but never have. so Rainbow Brite it was!

as far as the bad travelling experience went, well it mostly had to do with the hotel we stayed in. but I really don’t wanna bore u with the unpleasantries. so I’ll just say that we’re never staying at the Holiday Inn Midtown ever again and I just couldn’t get out of NY fast enough at the end of the trip. unfortunately that meant we weren’t able to hang out with some folks at the end of the trip at Burgers & Cupcakes (which I’m sure would’ve been just the type of place I’d have enjoyed). hopefully next year, it’ll be better and everything will work out.