alright so for a week or so I've been slightly off the grid getting some mad hours of work in. here's what I've been up to..
I went to San Diego!! after mad preparation and hustle, i got myself squared away and me and Rabbit hopped on the road to Cali. Comic Con was in full effect BUT--I did not go for Comic Con. I went to something FAR better. a little event called Tr!ckster. for the last five years or so, for those who do not follow, Comic Con has become less and less about comics and more and more about Hollywood. many artists have even dubbed it Culture Con. Artists' Alley (the area where all the comic artists invited set up for signings and selling) has become a pathetic, tucked away little corner of the mass event. a few artists got together to make a change and thus, Tr!ckster was born. Tr!ckster is a creator-owned place where artists (predominantly of the comic book realm) can come together and reconnect with what the true meaning of Comic Con WAS. they are allowed to sell their own products, projects, and art that stays off the mainstream radar, with enough space and comfort to make it an enjoiable experience.
but Tr!ckster is much more as well!! during the day, fans were able to sit in on symposia to learn many different techniques on anything needed to start your own book. character design, storytelling, transition into film--all taught by artists who have been in the field for quite some time. artists like Scott Morse (Pixar), Skottie Young (Marvel, Oz), Food One (Clerks, Grrl Scouts), King Gum (Scarface, Puffed), Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and many others were the teachers here. and yes I am totally name-dropping. but it's THAT important to understand how meaningful all this is. big names in the industry came thru EVERYDAY for this event. @ any moment, you could be sitting outside enjoiing the cool San Diego breeze with any number of artists.
as for every evening, the retail shop basically turned into a full out bar where artists and fans alike can hang out, have some drinks, and converse more closely with each other. sounds dope right? it got better. every night the venue also turned into a drawing class complete with live models who knew what they were doing and posing in true comic form; dynamic cover art type stuff. themed nights kept these models in lingerie, toting guns, and even donning barbaric wardrobe. and if that wasn't enough, you could easily find yourself drawing alongside artists like dancing machine David Mack (Kabuki, Dexter's Dark Echo webisodes) and cucumber cool Dave Crosland on a nightly basis or even catching Mike Allred's (Madmen) band The Gear or a DJ set from Jim Mahfood and his homie Sven (both whom KILLED it). oh and did I mention Tom Morello stopped in for an intimate acoustic set? yeah. THE Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame, in promotions of his new book Orchid published by Dark Horse, came out and ROCKED a sic sic set. and have i mentioned all but the symposia was FREE!!?? THIS is Tr!ckster yall.
I cannot begin to express how wonderful the entire trip was. when we weren't @ Tr!ckster we were wandering around the area scoping out Comic Con flavor outside of the event. we came up on so much free junk on the streets alone. we visited a pizza place turned Adventure Time, played some Street Fighter vs. Tekken outside, visited the Chuck Jones art gallery (where I saw I super sic JIM LEE x ALEX ROSS piece as well as Dr. Seuss and Peanuts art). there was an Art of Conan exhibit, a Sega Arcade, a South Park themed Dragon Dance, there was even an intersection of downtown that was transformed into South Park!! complete with an Art of South Park gallery that had original cells with construction paper!! crazy. so many awesome costumes as well. i even caught a glimpse of this cat wit silver paint, hed to toe, and a massive silver surfboard. and the beach was fantaaaastic!!
there's so much to tell but i think i can stop there. i will let the photos and video tell the rest and believe me i got MAD flavor on this one. and unfortunately, Rabbit and i had to miss ArtSlam! for this one but best BELIEVE we STILL rocked it out there!! we had our own little ArtSlam! session and yeah we kept with the Pixels vs. Panels theme. it wasn't the same without all the homies and new talent, and we were both kinda down, but we still got some great work out of it. so be ready. i also got a ton of illustrations done i will upload all of that art soon. oh, and i came up on a GRIP of free books from the symposia and bought a little bit of thangs from the retail shop. all in all, everyone i met was so humble but truly stood by there work 100%--a difficult combination to balance.
lastly, i wanna give some shout outs.. first to my new writer homie Krys for letting us crash with him and for being such a great person all around. we all got mad drunk @ the Marriot and the Hyatt and weren't even staying @ either one!! next i wanna send a HUMONGOUS thanks to Scott Morse for being the face of Tr!ckster and making it such an incredible experience. to Tom Morello for blessing me with something way more rare than any Rage Against The Machine concert. then of course Food, Gum, Jane Dope and their whole crew including new friends Sven, Man-Chunk, Steven, Heather, and Carlos. they were some great people to hang with. oh and Penguino!!--she was cool as fuck. also thanks to David Mack for the free autographed books and a Dexter sketch i wasn't able to pick up. so bummed for that one but these things happen. a BIG props to the symposia panels i attended featuring Scott Morse, Skottie Young, Scott C., Brian McDonald, Food, Gum, Fabio Moon, Jill Thompson, and others. there was so much going on, as i remember i will add to a separate post. thanks to anyone who bought any of my art within tha last month or so, i stacked it all up as much as possible for this trip. THANK YOU. a SUPER big thanks to the homie LaLa who is residing in Arizona and let us shower & sleep there on our road trip; your family is so incredible, i wish we coulda stayed longer, and yo bring Billy out here to SATX already!! lastly a big thanks to the City of San Diego.. you are such a BEAUTIFUL city with super fly hunnies and mad healthy people. it was so hard to leave, i cannot wait to be there again. oh!!--and shout outs to Little Italy for some INCREEEDIBLE food and service @ Landini's and Fillipi's. i will miss your food the most of all the places we were fortunate enough to eat @ while we were there.
stay in tune cuz i got some footage and fliks coming out real soon!! thanks to everyone who came out to Tr!ckster and for making my first trip to Cali the most memorable experience of my life. i will see a lot of you real soon.
Stay Creative,
Bluzilla One
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