Late, as usual. Some day I'll get the hang of this blog thing.
Recently - last weekend - there was a comic and horror convention here in Nash-vegas. Desperado was to be doing a portfolio review so I made plans to get mine together and check it out. Me and my buddy, Eric, went to the thing and wandered in. We found our way to the Desperado booth only to find that the head guy, Joe Pruett, wouldn't be in until late that afternoon. Not a big deal. We did get the Production Assistant, also a Joe, to check out my portfolio. Joe seemed to really dig upon it - even Phil Hester had a peek. Then they asked if I had a card. Oops! I was unprepared. I had to write my name, address, e-mail etc on a pad that Joe had. All was okay and we then went on to bug the other artists in attendance besides Phil Hester.
Just about one table away from Desperado sat Tony Moore and his girlfriend. Rude as a bastard, I admit I never officially asked her name. After returning and perusing the 'net, I believe that her name is Kara. Anywho, we talked to them at length about The Walking Dead and, specifically, his inking on said book. Here's where I was edumicated and stupefied. When I asked him what he inked the pages with (he had the originals there for sale) he held up the sketching pen he was using. Are you ready for this? It was a Pilot Precise V roller ball pen. How's that for a kick to the head? All of this time, I'd been making myself use the 'proper' tools and work that looked that tight and clean was being inked with a Pilot pen?!? The mind boggles. Needless to say, I'm not abandoning my brush any time soon but I will, more than likely, procure a couple of these pens and give 'em a try on something. I went on to get a sketch of The Crow done by Tony and then, after he arrived, Eric got Eric Powell (we all went to Mt Juliet High School - Eric, my buddy, graduated with him and I was three years ahead of them both) to do him a sketch of The Hulk. Yes, our ages did come up. Tony called Eric Powell old and said that the age thing was probably why Eric was so much better an artist than him. I was exasperated as I am older than both of them. I said as much and commented on the fact that I was still on the other side of the table.
Anyway, we talked to/hung out with these great guys for quite a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We talked about comics, movies, other convention experiences, high school etc for a good long while. Basically, once again, I made a nuisance of myself but I did learn a few things. All was well.
That night, I went and got some business card paper for my printer and made up cards. The next morning, I got up and went back to the convention and handed a card paper clipped to five pages of my inks to Joe Pruett. We talked for a few moments and he said that he'd probably be 'keeping me on file' as it was hard to place inkers. I told him that I understood, shook his and younger Joe's hands and wandered on out. All in all, I really enjoyed the small convention but hope that a few more artists make it to next year's event. I hope that the ones who were here this time enjoyed it enough to make a return but I'd like to, hopefully, see some more. Maybe even some primarily inkers?
