Cripes! I stepped on an emotional landmine!

So I finally got a new dog, I still miss my old friend so much, but was looking forward to a new super mutt!

well we picked one up from a rescue, a one year old cattle dog mix. He has been a handful, far to reactive, full of energy, but over the last 4 months he's been slowly being trained into something less like a hyper furry terrorist and more like a good buddy.

then this happens

Bad Hips.

We noticed a popping in his rear legs an had the vet check it out. Turns out he has bum hips. AHHHHHH!!!!!

so, what I'm asking, if you, or someone you know has had to do the hip surgery stuff for a dog, what was the experience? what would you do differently, what did you wish you knew?

I'm so rocked by this. gah.

I'm probably the worst at self promotion, but for what its worth, my "company" website. I love that it sounds like I have assistants and an office. lackey! get me coffee!! Prepare the jet! ho boy. getting loopy in here.

[link]

Ape 2012 has come and gone.

Friday we hit last gasp for the party. Kel saw something and commented "nice spine" I'm used to her pointing out boots, or hair or what have you on others, but never a spine....then I saw an actual bone spine hanging on the wall. oooh!!

nice spine became the go to compliment on someone that looked cool walking by SOooo creepy hey there, nice spine...

The table had a constant flow to it all Sat. If we weren't selling stuff we where at least talking with people. It was a blast, and made what is a short con day seem packed. Nothing makes things drag more than sitting at a table with no one coming by.

I saw so many people, and got so much support it really floored me. A lot of folks looking for new stuff from me which felt amazing.

I showed off my new japanese dip pen, my new favorite inking tool, to anyone that even looked vaguely like they had an interest in drawing. I'd bust out the ink and let them give it a try. At one point we had Steve Leialoha and Al Gordon messing with it and talking about how they met, and different inkers they like and what not. Randomly, there was a girl standing behind me in a latex catsuit, and I really had to decide, look at the amazing girl, or watch these guys ink. the inking won. ^__^

I walked the floor with Al, and he introduced me to Sergio Aragones. AL hummed something to Sergio, which triggered Sergio into a spanish folk song. it was pretty awesome. The girl getting her books signed began screaming in spanish and got her phone out to record it all. He sang this beautiful song right to her. I thought she was going to faint.

Sunday was slower, the niners and the giants both had games, and sunday is always slower.
still we had some good sales, and I sold a couple original pages.

A buddy from college, Mez, swung by and we got to catch up. He brought his sketchbook by, really amazing work. We also got to see a host of familiar faces from previous cons, and some old co-workers. really just so cool to catch up with people again.

Thanks to all those that came by!!!! you guys and gals rule!

-Vince

So I'll be at APE this weekend, table no 312! Swing by, keep me company, maybe buy something, maybe do a sketch trade with me. buy me a beer and I'll draw you something dirty.  I'll be listed as 17machine studios.

-Vince

So I got a note from Comic-Con in the mail, and I DID get a table! APE is my favorite con, and if I could only do one, it would be APE.

So swing by, say hi, keep me company, and I'll do you a quick sketch.  I'll try and have as much new stuff as I can (sketchbooks, prints, ashcans etc)

I'll be listed as 17machine Studios, (table 325 I think...I'll have to double check that, its an end table...I think where I was last year)

-Vince

Comic-Con 2012

Well I survived another year of the San Diego Comic-Con. I drove down a day early to LA and hung out with some friends. Even got a tour of Blizzard which was cool. I was surprised at how tight the NDA/ security was, even between teams.

Weds it was a nice ease into San Diego and I felt fresh for preview night.  In the  past couple of years I've driven down on Weds from San Francisco, and just barely made it to the table. It really sets the wrong tone for the whole con as I show up exhausted and then have to do the next 5 days.

Preview night is really more about getting everything set up for me then it is about sales. I could skip the whole preview night thing, but its so nice to have everything done before thurs morning.  I did get to see where all my booth friends had landed, and say hi, which is always cool. There is a real feeling of comradely with other small press vendors, and if you've sat next to each other in a previous year, there is a feeling of almost family.

The show went really well this year. Best sales I've ever had, and really nothing  went wrong. Each one of these shows I learn a bit more about how to set up and sell my junk. The big new thing for me this year was putting all the prints in bags and boards. It allowed people to grab the exact print they wanted and have something to carry it in with out the print destroying itself.

Square was the other big win for the show. I could take credit cards, and more importantly, the square readers have been out long enough for the customers to feel comfortable about it.

I saw several people from Deviant Art, which is really darn cool, and did quite a few free sketches. I've learned that doing commissions at the show just stresses me out, and makes me effectively absent at the table. I can't draw and pay attention at the same time. So NOT doing commissions this year, while meaning less money, made me much happier.

I had a nice visit from Kemikill and got a new favorite sweatshirt from her!

Pechan swung by twice which is always a treat. She even gave me a kick ass print from AX.

I stayed at the Hilton, which cost me an arm and a leg, but it was super nice to be that close, to be able to just walk back to the hotel room on a whim. It was also cool to hang out at the hotel bar at night and just mingle. Though I guess I could do that at any hotel and not be a guest.

I didn't get to go to any of the panels, but I did manage to get out from behind the table and get some quality time with some artists I like. Highlights,  Art Adams gave me an amazing crit, John Van Fleet talked about process and working in video games (even got to see some of his 3d work) and Steve Leialoha gave me a nice crit and a cool sketch. I think he is the most mellow guy I've ever met. I chatted with Jim Silke for a long time about Sam Peckinpah, and even got to hear a couple of cool stories about Robert Culp and Warren Oates (two of my favorite actors of all time)

I also got to see Patton Oswalt in concert, which was crazy good, and nice after picking up the Phil Noto print of him

I spent way to much money at Stuart Ng on French comics. I don't even speak French! But damn are they cool!

Well that ends rambling about SDCC 2012.

Yep, one, more, time!

I'm going to brave the crowds and the madness, and setup a table in the Small Press section of the San Diego Comic-Con. The table is in the same exact place I was in last year...which might mean something to you...but maybe not.. heck. I'm not sure I can find it again, and I spent days there. It's in the center of the show floor but towards the back wall.

I'll be listed as 17machine Studios, as if there are a bunch of people in a "studio" or as if I have need of 17machines to produce work ^___^ the name is from a machine shop off of route 17 in Va...and now that is just useless knowledge, and I'm babbling....


anyways


L-10


come by,
tell me you know me from DA.
bring a sketchbook, I'll do a sketch trade with ya.

[link]

Well I finally got off my rear and submitted the first issue to Graphicly. They have been really great and it's freakin cool to see my book on the iPhone iPad and Android through the Graphicly app.  one more step into the future! I'll be putting up the rest of the issues soon.

[link]

....and it shipped today! woot!  I normally keep my DA account and my work separate, but now that I work for an Indy developer (as in, we have no money) instead of the 800lb gorilla (as in Activision)
I think its probably ok for me to post.  It's a small team amazing team, and I'm proud with what we managed to do with our first mobile game. Its called SummitX done by Free Range Games.


iphone
[link]
If you have an 3gs/ipad one you'll want to reboot to free up memory. anyways...


android
[link]

well end of my marketing pitch ^___^ now I got to get back to work

SOOoooo I thought I wasn't going to do it again. Last year Comic-Con was long, expensive, and mainly, I was feeling down after I didn't have as much stuff done for it as I wanted.

...and yet Kelly filled out an application and submitted it for me on the last day of the con "just in case"

...and I sent samples in to the con "for the heck of it"

...and I got approved!!!

...and paid for the table because the deadline to pay was like, in 3 days

...and now I signed up for a hotel




HOLY SMOKES! I'm going to Comic-Con again with a table in Small Press!!!

I'm pretty excited about it,  like Charlie Brown and that football, I'm going to try it ...one...more...time!! O____o

Hey gang,
   Well I'll be at APE this year (listed as 17machine studios) at table 634. This might be the last con I do for a little while, as Wondercon has moved out of the area for next year and I'm thinkingI might not make comic-con next year.

I love APE though, so I could see doing it again next year, and if I can remember fanime before the tables sell out I'd love to do that gig.

in any case, I'll bring art books and what not, prints, t-shirts, etc. I've never been one to do the "buy something and I'll draw you a commission for free" gig as I've seen that tactic make huge sales for friends, and almost kill them with work.  (here's 5 bucks for the book, can you draw the x-men fighting the JLA for me? eesh) but....I think this year I might bring a stack of watercolor paper and just bang out doodles on them and give them to who ever wants them with a purchase. that way I can pre-load a bunch of em before I even sit down

swing by, say hi, buy me a beer, and tell me what cool stuff you've found!


-Vince

So maybe to much info, but I've got this crazy eye twitch thing going on. Its been 2 weeks now and it just comes and goes. Its almost comical if it weren't so annoying. its totally timed like an anime react.

"we have any coffee?"
"no, we are out of coffee"

que eye twitch.

gah.


I think its just stress, but damn it! drawing is hard when one of your eyes is just doing its own thing.

end of rant.

comic-con 2011

well comic-con came and went and I somehow survived it all. Sales were smaller per item for me from last year, but I had more stuff and somehow made more money. go figure. still not going to quite my day job

It was a long drive down, 10 hours, but I left like 4 in the morning and avoided most of the traffic. I actually got diner before preview night instead of after (which last year left me with few food options) Preview night is a mixed bag for me. It allows me to get set up without the crowds, but then its always slow sales wise as people tend to be looking to see what they might buy in the coming days.

Thats always an odd bit to. People see something they like, decide that they have days to come back for it, probably intend to come back for it, and then as the days go on, they forget and/or just can't find me again. It doesn't help that the small press tables are numbered separate from the isle number system. (isle 1500, but table L10, having just the "L10" part wouldn't help you one bit as you look up and only see isle numbers and most people cover over the signs that have the table Letters)

The tables are compressed together tighter than at Wondercon. at Wondercon you can actually get in and out of your booth without having to move behind your neighbor. Comic-Con they had the tables tight so the guys in the middle of the row have to do the bugs bunny routine (pardon me, scuse me, etc) as they crawl over and around all of the adjacent booths.

This year they had the exhibitors wear wristbands that you weren't supposed to remove for the entire con(and they were made in such a way that you couldn't pull them off without destroying them). I think it was to cut down on the fake exhibitor badges, or to prevent exhibitors from swapping badges with a normal badge and going to the exclusive line up stuff before others could get onto the show floor.

Highlights

-Seeing the building rogues gallery of con friends I seem to be amassing.
-talking to Terry Dodson
-talking to Phil Noto
-having Terry Moore look at my stuff (he didn't buy anything, but he looked for awhile. thats got to be good sign right??)
-seeing the rifftrack guys perform
-having cool neighbors

weird moments

-"did you name your company 17machine because my favorite number is 17?"
-"do you have any watchman stuff?"


overall it went well and gave me a lot of inspiration to get off my rear and do more drawing!

-Vince

Well its that time of year again. I got a table at Comic-Con in San Diego and will be selling prints, comics, and other stuff.

This will be my third year doing the show, and it is always crazy. I've had close friends attend the show and not see me even though
they went through the small press area. So I figure I'd mention my attendance, might increase the chances

Swing by and say hi....that is if you can actually find my ninja like table.

I'll be at :

Table L10
listed as 17machinestudios.

Well I got back from India on Thursday, sick as a dog, and managed to stumble into Wondercon on Friday. I hit the doctor at 7am that morning for blood tests and what not to try and figure out what alien life form was trying to eat my intestines. Imagine the worst hangover ever. Now try and go to a con with that for three days. eeesh.

It was the least prepared I've ever been for a con, and yet the fact that I packed up from APE and just unpacked that same gear onto the table at Wondercon actually almost worked out.

I was out of business cards, sold out of several books and prints(as I had pretty much only the inventory left from APE, and really underestimated the demand) and found myself at the kitchen table stapling ashcans at 5am. that's about as "Indy" as it gets.

If you met me and I seemed out of it, I was on this crazy jet lag and the food in India, while amazing, was out to kill me. If ya missed me at the table, it was either because I foolishly thought I could get portfolio review from Boom Studios at 1pm and not line up at at 8am, or it was when we ran out of all the books, and I realized I had left what inventory I had at the house 30 minutes away. eeesh.

Overall the con this year had some of the nicest customers I've met yet. much less radioactive people, or maybe I just was to out of it to notice. I did have one guy go on and on about how much like tin tin my work is. no really. ...yeah, I don't see it either....

I got to see a lot of familiar faces. Doing the Ca Cons over and over you tend to slowly build of friends list of form table neighbors and customers.

I actually did a couple of commissions this year which was actually really fun. (and helped pay for the table) We had an end cap which was super nice, and they gave small press a lot more room behind the table then years previous.

My standing banner with agent was at the end of the table, and we had at least a dozen people stop and pose with it for photos. I was kind of floored by that. really blew my mind that someone would want to have their photo taken with her

Friday we had a cool agent come up from LA and hang out for an hour or so patiently explaining IP licensing and what not while I worked the booth. learn something new every day

Saturday I stumbled on Brian Stelfreeze, one of my favorite artists whom I had no idea was going to be at the show. He was nice enough to give crits to not only myself but a couple of other artists. I spent 2 hours listening to crits and watching him draw. I couldn't believe the stuff that I learned, and how he made it all seem easy and fun. I had taken classes over a decade ago at SCAD from him, Cully Hamner (green lantern mosaic...best, book, ever) Allen Nunnis, Mike Mignola, Scott McCloud, Will Eisner, Dave Dorman (who paints really small! )and I would swear Terry Dodson was there as a student, but I could be wrong on that point. but any ways....

Sunday I got go to dinner with a bunch of cool cats from DC that we had met earlier in the day. It felt like some sort of hazy jet lagged exhaustion induced dream as I sat at a table of amazingly warm and talented people as they reminisced about the early Wildstorm days and what not.

So while I was the least prepared, sick as a dog, exhausted, and only barely awake, I somehow managed to have record sales, learn more in 2 hours than I had in 2 years, meet a cool IP rep, and have and amazing entertaining dinner filled with new contacts and neat people.... just...wow.

Hey Gang,
   I'll be at Wondercon this year in the small press section (as 17machine studios) I don't know how awake I'll be, as I just got back from India and my clock is all sorts of messed up on jetlag from hell. If you see me sleeping just poke me.

I'll have some new prints, original pages, an ashcan, and some older stuff. I'll even do sketches if you bring me a beer.

I'll post a sketchbook dump here shortly, as I had a bunch o time in the last three weeks to doodle.

-Vince

I'm headed to India for a few weeks. Any must see things for an artist to hit?

I'm also going to be back just in time to man my table at wondercon. yikes.
not sure how I timed that. I'm in a mad dash to get everything done for it before I go.

latest sketchbook I did for APE 2010 is up on the indy planet store. woot.
[link]

Well I made it through another APE. This year went pretty well, Poseur Ink [link] crashed at the homestead which made the whole thing a lot more fun.

Saturday was huge, lot more people than normal, 50 more tables than usual, sales were really strong as well. I've done enough shows now that there is a great feeling of reunion getting to see artists and writers from previous events.

Sunday it rained, which is a killer for anything in san francisco. The show seemed a  lot slower, sales where down, but it gave me a rare chance to do a commission. ( I usually don't do them, they take a lot of time and I'm not real good at watching the table and drawing at the same time. )

I got to geek older movies with a few people which was great. Finding someone who knows who Warren Oates or Ernest Borgnine is I find to be a treat. The amazing artist across the way that looked like Ali Macgraw circa the getaway made it even better ^___^

I had a few people come back for issue 2 on the second day which was a great feeling. Issue one I feel is a bit rough, so the fact that someone would stick with it for another issue is amazing.

all in all a damn good time.