Spectrum 2017 - The return.

I'm back to enjoy the show and see if the magic is still there.

A wave of familiarity washed over me seeing the marquee and then the entryway graphics for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live.

Immediately, memories of all kinds were rolling around in my head like marbles pouring into a basin.

I consider myself very lucky that I've been able to if not participate, then at the very least attend SFAL for every year that it has been active (2016 having been the only year that the show did not go on). If you want to see my reviews from the previous years, I finally got them restored and put back up online. You can find the links at the end of this entry, and I'll also be adding it to the show schedule archive.

Welcome home SFAL.

I'm not going to say that I didn't have a slight bit of apprehension in what the show would be like this year. It once again, migrated to another venue, the KC Municipal Auditorium. I had only been in the building once before, and was not sure where or how the layout was going to work for it.

It actually was pretty unique in how it ended up. You can see from the photos below which are from the two days I was at the show, once inside, you come into the area where the upper level artists were located. All of the Flesk promoted artists were up there from Brom to Cho, to Richard and Wendy Pini.

I actually never got a chance to meet the Pinis, which was a bit disappointing, having grown up reading the Elfquest graphic novels. But hopefully, I'll get to someday down the line.

This is what I saw upon entering.

So right after that, you could look over the edge of the walkway down onto the rest of the display booth areas below.

Looking good so far SFAL!

I saw a few familiar faces and friends all around over the two days. The second day, I spent promoting ICWXP and handing out my own business card, as well as doing a bit of consulting work with my buddy Ryan.

About to go down and get down with the low down... downstairs.

There were a few panels this year, I was only able to attend the James Gurney (of Dinotopia fame). This was where the auditorium's hall failed a bit. The panel was held over on a side area on the ground floor.

First issue was seating had been limited to about 10 rows of six to seven chairs each, so a bunch of us ran and grabbed extra chairs to have seating to listen to James speak.

The attendance was great, but the acoustics were terrible, and someone told me that there was a screen to look at up there.

Gurney did a great job talking about industry stuff from toy lines to promotion, to art in general, marketing, all of that. I will admit from where I was sitting, it was difficult to hear him. I think maybe having set this up in an upper central area on the ground floor with pipe and drape around that may have been a better set up, but SFAL made it work.

Lot of new artists, many having done this show for the first time.

As I walked the floor, I realized that there were a few artists that I'd seen in previous years that weren't present. Unfortunately, the Chicago based show, C2E2 was going on (and it was one I had looked into doing this year myself), and as the weekend wore on, I saw twitter updates from both SFAL and C2E2 occasionally across my twitter feed.

Frank Cho dropping some Venom action on the page.

SFAL did have a cool set up on the upper floor where a few illustrators were doing live art demos. This had always been something that I really loved about this show, and it was nice to see this back again.

There was an inkling of the intimacy from year one that permeated this year's return. SFAL has not hit a large crowd scale yet, though year four was one where a lot of people finally were able to attend and had made it a destination to get to it.

The superbly skilled and gentlemanly Mr. Scott Gustafson.

Now don't get me wrong, I may have pointed out some issues with this show so far, but understand, you'd be hard pressed to find a greater gathering of history and skill in the world of commercial fantasy art, shy of GenCon or DragonCon.

For people attending this show, you can't lose. The variety and prices of much of the art and items available will fit the spending needs of anyone. You'll find anything from sculptures to original paintings, sketchbooks (my personal favorite) to art reproductions, and books to dvds and more.

The show is very much one set up to network, connect with old friends, and make new ones. Never in a million years would I ever have felt I would have been able to talk to, much less joke with and talk to the likes of Brom, Bonner, Donato, and Gustafson, just to name a few.

This shot was from Friday, the crowd was a bit denser throughout Saturday.

It's interesting to spend time speaking to so many of the artists about personal aspects about their artwork, their creative process and what shows they do and do not do.

Ryan chatting with Paul Bonner.

Paul Bonner is a familiar name to anyone who has played Warhammer, but his work spans well over twenty years and when you get a chance to talk to the man, he's got an accent from England that brings a tinge of almost Monty Pythonesque dry humor to his already very funny wit. I have genuinely always looked forward to reconnecting with Paul, and the few original works I have from him are priceless to me.

A bit of context for the photo above comes from Ryan and what he was thinking while speaking to Paul...

"Yes indeed, that is Paul Bonner looking at me with a look of disgust for the book I placed in his hands, and also me bumbling through his ire, desperately hoping we can someday still be friends." - Ryan Johnson, Spectrum 2017

Every time I've ever spoken to Paul, I have laughed at a number of his very funny stories.

Not a lot of people know that SFAL is the only show that Paul does, at least as far as I know here in the united states.

Also, if you've not checked out the blog, Muddy Colors, he's a contributing writer on there.

Dan Dos Santos working on a painting at the live demo table.

Of course, the guy that from my early days of playing Dungeons and Dragons that left an impression of what "bad ass art" could be, it's Brom. Any of you that have been reading this blog and it's previous incarnation over the years can attest to how much I talk about this guy.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that even when I first introduced myself to him, I was taken aback by how genuine and just soft spoken he was. This is a guy whose artwork is dark, exorbitant in excellence, and a Grand Master of illustration, and yet disarmingly humble and has a look in his eyes of a man still in his early 20s. I cannot explain it, but especially after talking some to him this past weekend, I find inspiration in his new art direction and how he spoke about it. He's made it to great heights in his career, and yet, he sees only more possibility and horizons to reach for.

Do you know what kind of head trip this is to know this guy and be this close to his artwork?

Before Ryan and I left on Saturday, we did stop by Donato's booth, and we struck up a conversation about Tolkien (at a fantasy art convention, imagine that...). But we were speaking about a work he had done depicting the Balrog fighting Gandalf, and how in my opinion, only two artists had managed to capture the "darkness, shadow and flame" of this particular Maiar, Donato himself, and John Howe.

Which led to us trading stories and mutual admiration about the impeccable illustration legend, John Howe, Donato's story being of course, first hand. If any of you get a chance to speak with Donato, ask him how it was that he got to meet John Howe, it's a pretty fun little story.

So, with that, I wish SFAL a fond farewell, and a hope that it will return once again. The fantasy art community I believe, is embracing this show, and although it's run has had it's tumult and fair share of snags, SFAL, like the art and artists that breath life into it, is a tenacious and enduring event with seeds sown to bloom into something we've never seen before, unto horizons we've never traversed.  As the world of illustration and art evolves, a show like this is necessary to keep the lifeblood of literally generations of professional and aspiring artists flowing.

My thanks to the Fenners and Flesk for once again bringing this show to life.

You can see the previous year's reviews here:

2012 SFAL 1

2013 SFAL 2

2014 SFAL 3

2015 SFAL 4


Until next time, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and always take the path less traveled!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Podcaster, Writer, Toy Collector, and Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com

SFAL leaves on the the first day of fall.

*sigh*

So today, this was announced.

"We don't talk too much about all the behind-the-scenes stuff in organizing SFAL, but there were a lot of challenges and this year's show was particularly difficult. It's really a matter of available dates and venues and it has become increasingly hard in KC to get exhibit space at the same time a theater is available and there are enough hotel rooms for exhibitors and attendees. This year we were forced to change our exhibit space AND our dates, which put us opposite the city's long-running ConQuesT in the same hotel; they were gracious and we worked well together, but we felt like we were intruding on their territory, so to speak.

Spring has always been surprisingly crowded for events downtown—we've never been able to rent the Music Hall, for example, for the awards ceremony because it's booked solid with recitals and graduations in May—and with the pending construction of the Hyatt and the completion of the street cars, more and more conventions have been squeezing our dates. The addition of the KCComicon to the city in August along with the annual anime and horror cons—not to mention the World SF Convention in 2016—have made for a crowded genre landscape.

When we learned just before SFAL4 that the organizer of the local Planet Comicon had decided on the sly to move his 2016 show dates from March and secured our traditional dates for the convention center in May, the decision was sort of made for us. Competing for essentially much of the same audience in the same narrow time frame doesn't make any sense: moving to March in THEIR original spot wasn't an option for us because of a lack of hotel rooms (the Big 12 Basketball Tournement happens at that time; it didn't affect the comicon because they draw very few overnight attendees whereas SFAL accounts for over 1000 hotel room nights). Moving to Fall in KC would have brought higher rental prices for a theater and fewer date options (the convention center is a busy place). Because of Planet Comicon's tactic, the negative financial impact on the city, downtown hotels, restaurants, and businesses will be significant, but…that's the way things are."
(Fenners quoted from Facebook entry, 9/23/2015)

Kansas City at one point and time or another, has always had a myriad number of shows, both big and small, with both niche and mass appeal, that wove into each other here and there, only on occasion tripping over each other. Right about the time I really got into doing shows some seven or eight years back, the first rumblings of growth started coming through. Some might say it was also hand in hand with the rise of the popularity of shows like Mythbusters and Big Bang Theory that started the now current nerd/geek culture craze and brought a lot of casual fans along for the ride. It's no coincidence that the rise of Marvel blockbusters, and cross over fandoms from Dr. Who, assorted Anime, and toy collecting started to rise all over again like it was 1985...

Planet Comicon is certainly the current dominant powerhouse draw in the city for all access comic/pop culture, alongside the ever fantastic and growing Anime show NakaKon which has been around for some years now. SFAL was to enter it's fifth year in KC, and KCCC debuted with a strong entrance earlier this year.

Other shows, stalwart, focused, and feisty like ConQuest, FanCon/FreeState, Crypticon, KantCon, Motaku, KC ZineCon and some of the further out recent bretheren like Air Capital Comicon, TopCon, G.A.M.E., and more, have managed to thrive and keep on going because they fill needs that the other bigger shows do not.

Many of the shows moved venues as they grew, as prices changed, and as demand grew. Chances were, it was going to come to a head at some point, and to be honest, over the years recording and writing about many of the shows that I had attended, which include the majority of the aforementioned, it seemed like we were running out of space in more ways than one, but more importantly with the sudden appearance of World Con entering the scene for 2016,... into an area of burnout.

Convention burnout.

Here's why I say this. Chances are, that if you're an artist, writer, cosplayer or a vendor, more shows means more exposure, more chances to network and meet new people, and find new readers and gain customers. If you're an attendee, it means more media stars, more events that allow you to plan for or choose from, more art, toys, books, videos, etc and so on that one could look forward to. Sounds great right? I mean what could be bad about that?

Well, it could lead to the events, as diverse as they are, to be taken for granted, or maybe overlooked as larger shows outmaneuver and attempt to out advertise each other. Or maybe it can lead to lax shows, and dwindling performance. It can happen. It happened to last year's Wizard show in St. Louis. It's happened from time to time to some of the smaller shows here in KC.

But here is why I think I am wrong.

The greater Kansas City (both sides of the state line) area alone has a population of 1,737,025 people. This part of the midwest has a city that ranks around number 24 in the list of the most populated metropolitan areas. That is not taking into account people that come from the far out towns in the two states, or even from other states nearby like Iowa, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and Arkansas, that come to the shows we have here in Kansas City.

Now, you're probably asking why am I going on about this? What point do I have?

Well, it's one that beckons hope that many of us can sit back and realize just how lucky, blessed really, we are to have a fundamentally huge array of shows that allow us to celebrate our own unique fandoms and ways of rejoicing in them. I know that today, a fair amount of responses to the above post on Facebook were laced with disappointment, derision, and maybe even frustration, while people out on the West Coast were seemingly the ones most excited, and rightfully so that SFAL was moving.

But it brought out something that made me upset, and truthfully, a bit sad. I know that ultimately, comic or art shows of any kind are attempting to turn a profit, grow, and possibly become career ventures for those that run them if they become successful enough. But, from my own humble place, in helping out with KC FanCon and FreeState, I believe that a passion and love of the genres, the art, and just the overall experience of living in the fandoms, if only for a few hours on a given weekend, is just as important of a service to provide those that attend your shows, as it is to make money putting on that show.

Will the shows that vie for the top spots, or room in a crowded market, remember what makes a show special? Or is the call of the day to push out the competition and winner take all?

I hope not. I'd like to think that if all of the shows were able to work together, maybe SFAL would not have had the inclination to leave, maybe it would not have made a difference. Maybe there's far more to the story than any of us will ever know, and some years down the road, all of this will be an urban legend tale of sorts of when KC was on the verge of becoming what it was grooming to be. A mecca of sorts, for a hell of a lot of pop culture themed events and shows, that put the word "heart" back in the term "heartland".

I wish the Fenners and SFAL 5, much luck, I was a champion of that show ever since a comment was made years ago on the I believe now defunct conceptart.org site, about a show like this happening. I was always truthful in my reviews about the shows on my blog, and have many friends and acquaintances that line my memories from the SFAL shows. I will miss it, and I'd be lying if I said I was not a bit sad and maybe a bit angry. A KC show should stay in KC, but like they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Who knows what the future holds?

Well, I'll tell you. It holds a lot of other shows, that will keep on growing. That will bring new fans, new memories, new friendships, and new shows along. You see, it's not the shows that make the fandoms, its the people on both sides of the tables that make the shows.

Here's to 2016, and future friends, untold stories, and new memories to be forged in the heart of KC.

I bid you farewell SFAL, hello to you WorldCon, and welcome back to all the rest of the shows.

Until next time! - Mario, the Artisan Rogue

Spectrum 2015

(Left) Banners up along the streetways in downtown KC. (Right) Unloading stuff in the front of Bartle Hall.

I don't even know where to begin.

Seriously. Where does one begin with a show like Spectrum Fantastic Art Live that moved into it's fourth year and came out swinging with it's usual visual majesty and band of incredibly skilled artisans in one hand, and in the other, a seemingly new found scrappiness and almost intimately profound round of punkish attitude brought on by new faces, a host of new far traveling and local attendees, and future show hopefuls.

I know last year I was worried. I am an idiot.

It appeared to me that last year, maybe some of the magic, some of the electricity had started to lower. That the show might not come back for a fourth year. I only know the Fenners marginally, but I do not doubt that they do all they can to pull out all the stops to get this show on track. I and so many others that attend and display at this show know how just monumental putting on a show like this can be logistically and how taxing it can be on one's well being and sanity. Thank you both, Mr. and Mrs. Fenner (I know I thanked you after the show in person when we spoke about the geographic variety of people that came to the show), and I hope that KC continues to be host to SFAL for many many more years to come.

Show set up in the main display area, Friday midday.

I was set up in artist alley, which was one room over from the larger booth display room. The show was now in another area of Bartle Hall, and while the setup at first really a bit of a surprise to me, it turned out in my opinion to have been not only one of the most efficient floor layouts, but it also increased the sense of community and was a bit more welcoming.

I'm getting this down to a science, but still working to make sure I don't come off looking like a flea market. This next year, I will be only doing a few sizes to make my display function better.

The crowds were great all three days, with the apex being on Saturday. I got to catch up with so many old friends and colleagues, meet a lot of new people, and just live in the element I love most. Being at shows. This beats about most any other aspect of day to day happenings for me. Almost.

You see, I was informed that Brom had passed by my table (when I was visiting with Paul Bonner) and had taken a closer view of Tank Girl. As I made my way back to my table, I was told of it, and I rushed out of Artist Alley to say hello to both he and Laurie Lee (and congratulate her on her winning the silver in the Institutional Works category at the awards Saturday night).

I want to state now, that between the three of them, Bonner, Laurie, and Brom, I had more than a mild sense of...

"my god..., what the hell am I doing at this show..."

But then I remembered. I'm trying to be the kind of artists that they and so many others at the show are, as I evolve and grow in my career as an illustrator.

After that, my mood was just as high as it could be, I was joking and speaking to people, wheeling and dealing, and letting my inner Billy Mayes out on the people that would come by my table. I was pleasantly surprised that my sales turned out as good as they did, but what the best part was, was connecting with new people, telling road stories about meeting/encountering big name players like Eric Basaldua and Tommy Castillo early in my con experiences, or talking to people about my creative processes, that Copic markers are reusable, and getting to see some really great portfolios from so many of you all that just graduated and came to SFAL from,... geez, you all came from Hawaii, Canada, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Chicago... so soooo many places.

Worked on some personal sketches during the show, for inclusion in a sketchbook compilation for next year.

This year SFAL had worked out a deal with Conquest (the other convention that was going on in town, that was having it's 46 year in running) and was playing host to George R. R. Martin (of Game of Thrones fame). I think it worked out really well, and new interest was kindled across the two sets of attendees.

The only cosplay I saw all weekend from my table and it was stunning. I didn't get good video of this cosplay, but her acting, and animatronic head were stunning.

Rain hit all weekend long, which might have been a bit of a downer for some. But it kept temperatures down, and personally, I love how saturated the cityscape of KC looked covered by a blanket of moody gray clouds.

Sitting out side across from the Alamo cinema house, enjoying some food and watching it rain.

This year the SFAL awards were held at the Folly Theatre right next to Bartle Hall.

Nice place, but oh man, the incline on the seating was STEEP!

The audience was treated to some great acts that did Cirque de Soleil sort of routines.

I really love the Midland, and I think this theatre was smaller, but I liked it because I felt a lot closer to the stage.

The high hanging ones were my personal favorite.

The show as a whole had this vibe, this electricity that harkened back to the first year. Maybe my mood was just off last year, maybe I just needed a refresher course in appreciation. It will rarely get as awe inspiring or just talent and skill laden as it does at Spectrum. If you've not been to this show. Go. Next year. You won't regret it. I promise.

Now, I can also show you some sweet items I picked up and some incredible creative people I got to know while at the show.

Bruce D Mitchell's card and sticker. This man makes killer art in the form of  helmets and masks... just do yourself a favor and keep an eye on this guy. Seriously one of the coolest dudes at the show.

Matt Tisdale makes some just surreal and haunting imagery. I was glad I was able to catch up to him at show's end and get these four art reproductions. Such a humble fellow whose enormous talent just keeps getting better.

D. Ryan Allen I met some years back and became fast friends with. This guy loves art. I mean loves it, all aspects about it, and brings this appreciation of underground zines and old school D&D aesthetics to his work.

Newly added SFAL Grand Master (congrats man, seriously!) Scott Gustafson work here. Some bookmarks, and an original from him of a top hat wearing beagle! This man is everything that is right about art, and bringing children's stories to life.

Paul Bonner is a gem of a man, and an artisan of a caliber that defies definition. One could take hours to look at his renderings, and never be bored. Paul, if you are reading this (hope you had safe travels back home), thank you again for the stunning original in my book, and to answer your question, yes, I'll be back at SFAL next year indeed.

Now that's just a small small offering off all of the cool and impressive offerings that were at the show. So much I didn't have money for. If I win the lottery between now and next year, I will make a lot of artists very very happy people next year.

Finally, as the show drew to a close on a damp and drizzly Sunday evening, and I went for a walk at a park afterwards to reflect and collect my thoughts and experiences.

Is it just me, or is Missouri looking a bit more like something out of Jurassic Park more and more everyday?

I sincerely hope this show keeps happening. That it keeps growing exponentially. That more and more people hear about it. And that more and more come out to it, and talk, learn, absorb, and create.

We have a huge number of conventions coming up in 2016... NakaKon and Planet are on two different weekends again, KCCC will hopefully be in it's second year, Crypticon and possibly KC FanCon will be going strong, Conquest will have a companion sci fi fest in the Hugo Award bearing World Con coming to KC as well. And there are rumors of a large Star Trek show happening as well.

SFAL4 "Class of" 2015 photo. I am the face in the red circle.

That's all next year. For now, I'm really, really still stoked about this not nearly long enough weekend and all that transpired during it.

But Memorial weekend heralds a special place in my heart coming from a military family. And today, my thoughts went to that, with many military friends and family lost in the line of duty, and many of the creative people we'd lost this past year.

I'm sure I'll bring up more later in other posts. I'll be adding art repros of Tank Girl to my store very soon, and where and what show I'll be doing coming up. See ya next time!

 - Mario, the Artisan Rogue

---

Allen Williams is a formidable and incredible artist, a colleague, and is dealing with a health issue of frightening proportions.

On February 23rd, 2015, Award-winning Illustrator, Concept Artist, Writer, Husband and Father of two Allen Williams posted on Facebook:

"I feel a little like I'm naming Voldemort here but...I need to say I have recently been diagnosed with HPV related squamous cell carcinoma.  The two-month cure will surely be hard, but it will be the cure that causes difficulty, not the actual disease...somehow, I just have to get through this gate of fire."

Physically, Allen is hanging in there.  But as he predicted, it's the cure that is causing difficulty.  As well as fighting cancer, he and his wife Vicki are having to battle insurance companies to pay their hospital bills.  And it is not a fight they are winning.

The price tag for surviving the cancer lodged in his neck is $50,000.  It includes a tonsilectomy, radiation and chemotherapy.  An ER visit for an unexpected fever and a dangerously low white blood cell count. Out-of-pocket expenses for a speech therapist for Allen's 'swallow exercises' so he doesn't lose the ability to eat.  The list goes on and on.




In his Facebook posting, Allen said, "I spend most of my days drawing and painting and I've included everyone in that aspect of my life.  I would feel somehow dishonest if I didn't share this as well."

Now, Allen needs your help to get him through this ordeal and back to his drawing board, without his having to haul a debt the size of a small house with him.

As an artist and human being, Allen Williams is beloved.  He has given so much of his art, inspiration, friendship, and time to us all.  Let's return the favor and help him now when he and his family need it most.

Strength and honor,
Iain McCaig, Karla Ortiz, Christian and Andrea Alzmann.
http://www.gofundme.com/gateoffire?fb_action_ids=10206151596924614&fb_action_types=og.shares&fb_ref=m_d_ty

Spectrum 2014 - Third time’s a (c)harm?

This year's event guide. Very helpful and was easy to read (it also helped that whoever did the floor planning, hit on an almost perfect format for organization)

The third year of Spectrum has come and gone.

A room full of immensely talented and very hard working artisans of all calibers, backgrounds, and geographical areas ranging from France, Canada, Germany, and Japan, to stateside coastal cities and the Midwest, were in attendance, showcasing, demonstrating, selling, and connecting or revisiting.

Ian McCaig is the newest Grand Master, so every bit of congratulations his way. Truly an honor well deserved.

As you’ll see, in some of the rather cool things I picked up from many of my colleagues in this nutty world of commercial illustration, there was no shortage of incredible work on display, and so much industry talk permeated each conversation that I was privy to or part of.

The death of the art school structures in the face of online school academic learning, the odd over developed sense of self worth and accomplishment that hangs like a noose around the necks of (in my experience) a huge amount of aspiring artists under the age of 25 or thereabouts. What shows were good, what shows were bad, what shows were not living up to the hype, and in a huge part, a lot of this was fueled by what I found to be a powerful ground effort independent film that debuted this past weekend called “Making It.”

“Making It” was the proverbial foot to the crotch I needed.

At first I thought it was because I was going through a very rough time with my art. I lost focus, lost meaning behind it, and lost a lot of drive to want to believe that things I make,… well, actually MATTER.

That’s a stupid thing to say really, they matter even if I was not lucky enough… no blessed enough, to have people that ask me about my work, ask me if I am still working on stuff even when I drop so far off the radar, that it’s not healthy.

I didn’t have a booth or table this year at the show. That was a conscious choice of healing (<— actual real talk reason: I was unemployed at the time when payment was due, so I could not afford it, and freelance had dried up, AND I was feeling just maniacally out of whack and uncreative as hell).

But many people I know and am close to, DID have booths and tables at the show this year, and hey, elephant in the room, the show, as fundamentally robust in reason to go as it is, drew about as many people in attendance as an evening of Bingo at the Elk’s lodge. Some artists didn’t do well, a few thankfully saved it in the home stretch (crap you know I am not in my right head when I make baseball comparisons…), and some did very well.

Sure it could be stated that the threat of tornado like weird weather storms kept people at bay and at home. But Power and Light was busy (being Mother’s Day and a weekend). I mean our waiter, had never heard of Spectrum, much less that it was going on 2 blocks up the street from his venue. It could be argued that the ticket prices for attending the show are too high for daily rates, and for people to want to go when you have to pay for parking, food provided by the convention hall that is WAY overpriced (That’s not Spectrum’s fault, I hear that Bartle Hall imports all ingredients in daily, and serves food on plates lined with gold. I’m going on second hand info here as I didn’t want to take out a loan to get 1/4 of a quesadilla for $7, and I was blinded by a release of doves when I got my $4 20 oz. pepsi. What? No one ELSE got the doves?!), and you by this point may not have bought anything cool for yourself just yet? Where is the fun and affordability in any of this?

All that said, for attendees that are really into art, it’s a great place to go. The panels were informative, the exposure of art, and the fact that the creators are there with their work cannot, CANNOT be stressed enough for the amazing thing that it is. So before we get to my final thoughts on all of this, here are a multitude of pictures I took and put together for those of you that were not able to make it, or have no idea what the show is about.

(left) The banner leading into the sculpture area at SFAL. (right) One of Virginie Ropars' most stunning works to date.

(left) Another of Virginie's dolls. (right) I'm still going back through my notes to identify whose work this was. I lost quite a few business cards by accident this year, unfortunately, as well as the floor layout from the first image.

Anthony Kossar's work is always just on the edge of this bizarre uncanny valley sort of feel for me. Perhaps it's my overactive imagination that brings these guys to life in my mind, or perhaps it's because Kossar is just formidably bad ass in his work output.

If I was independently wealthy, I would pay much money to have Kossar do ALL of the universal monsters like this.

I had to include this booth, not because I was a fan of the work (it's good and well executed just not my thing), but because the overall aesthetic was so damn creepy.

If I had two that I really liked, the looks of these two sculptures were the ones that drew me in.

The live sculpting that was going on during the show was utterly cool to watch come together. I have rarely messed with armatures or sculpted as much as I would like to, but seeing this sort of thing on the show room floor, got me pumped up to try it again.

Out of the three, this was my favorite. Sort of reminded me of the Devil, as drawn by Johan Vasquez in his Johnny the Homicidal Maniac stories.

Back view.

Now, of course what show is ever complete without being able to meet your inspirations and fellow artists and strike up new friendships and rekindle old ones? If anything, including this year, and the two prior, that has been the one thing I’ve looked forward to more than anything. The following is by no means representative of all of the cool people I know there and got to talk to, but it is the stuff that rocks my socks enough to want to pick up this year.

Tiffany Turrill is insanely talented, very friendly, and funny as hell in person. She also did this very cool Bayonetta (and you all know how cuckoo for Coco Puffs I go over anything Sega related). Her Sketchbook is a fantastic menagerie of creature concepts and sketches, which also set the motive for me this year to grab every sketchbook I could. I can see this is going to be a new thing for me.

Matt Tisdale is one of those illustrators that gets exponentially better everytime I see new work come out from him. I was uber excited to see these shirts he had done up. He's still got some, so if you come across him at Illuxcon, GRAB one, and give this very talented man your money.

The more I evolve in my work the more I am drawn to art work like David Thierree's. It is at the same time beautiful and strangely familiar to me, even though this was the first time I'd ever seen it. I was also privileged to get some fantastic pointers from him in my pursuit to learn more languages (currently I am focusing on French and Icelandic). Thank you so much for the wonderful conversation and the quick history lesson on language.

(left) Terry Dodson's book is filled with beautiful women, great pin up sort of inspired layouts, and knowledge of how to use line ink work that makes you weak in the knees. The ONLY sketchbook this year that I did not manage to get signed. Dammit. (center) Paul Bonner is one of my two favorite artists that has worked in the Warhammer world's wide range of art. His "scribbles and sketches" as he calls them, are a sight to behold. Paul if anything is humble and polite, and way too reserved in his description of his own talented work in graphite that is showcased within this book. (right) Brian Ewing. This fellow is probably one of the people at the show that I wonder how in the hell I missed out on his kick ass art for so long. The themes and mindset he has about art are refreshing, powerful, and fairly uncompromising. I had many conversations with artists, but I immediately felt at ease with Brian and his easy going and unassuming manner.

Dave Dorman. I was so glad I finally got the nerve to go up and talk to Dave this year. I was able to watch him do a sketchcard for a young man... I was just... man there are no words for how poetry of line came out of that mechanical pencil and Dave just OWNED that card within like 4 minutes. I did pick up Dave's great second compilation of artwork he had done for the G.I.Joe toy line, and finally got his signature to accompany Ray Park's (the actor that portrayed Darth Maul) autograph on my comic. This is probably my most cherished bit of Darth Maul memorabilia shy of the photo with Ray Park I took at Planet Comicon 2013.

I have to share this, because Brian's sketch in my book still has me laughing.

(left) Felipe Echevarria is a good friend of mine, and hellaciously talented. I think I spent more time talking to him than any of the others at the show this year. I always learn something new and constantly marvel at his work. I'm glad I managed to pick this Wonder Woman up when I did, I think it was the last one he had. (right) Travis Lewis had this reproduction last year, and I kicked myself for not picking it up then. His work is dark, and beguiling all at the same time.

The first bit of sculpture I picked up at an SFAL show "the oppressor" (I think, THINK that was the name...) was created by Andrew Martin. I love this design so damn much. I actually wish I had bought two so I could paint one up.

Final Thoughts

Why was it that there were not more people there? What is the factor that is missing here? This is my third year being at the show, the first two as an artist with display and this year as an attendee/helper. I remember when this was just an idea WAYYYYYY back, when it was mentioned on ConceptArt.org. This show has been on my mind for 5 years now, and hopefully it will still be next year, and for many more years to come.

Spectrum has the potential to be a mega show… a mammoth destination sort of event. And that first year… it was. Sure, there was a mis-step here or there. But something seemed… off this year. More than just low attendance. More than overpriced convention food.

I am sure over the next few months, much will be said, much will be talked about, and changes and options will be discussed. Or maybe not. I don’t know. And the part that really get’s me is not the “I don’t know.” It’s that,… maybe I don’t care.

God, that is the hardest thing to type. I am a Missouri boy through and through, I love this city and much of the support that it gives the arts. And I rarely venture into the realm of uncaring indifference.

But let me clarify something (because I feel what I say might anger some).

The “I don’t care”?

That’s not levied at the artists. Never. They are my gravity, my friends and family, my frailty, and I am proud to have been in some small way associated with many of them, if only even by participation in Spectrum.

I dropped more money than I planned on (JOYFULLY so though, might I add), because I was able to support many of the artists whose works I love. That’s what really matters to me.

I don’t know what it is, but maybe it was lack of energy in the crowd that was there, maybe it was something else. I don’t have the answers, but I wish I did. So many more people should see the wonder and beauty that showcases here at Bartle Hall at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live…

Until next time, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and always take the path less traveled!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Podcaster, Writer, Toy Collector, and Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com

Spectrum 2013

This weekend marked my sophmore effort at Spectrum’s Live show. What an experience. Unlike last year though, I was somewhat more prepared, yet all the more overwhelmed by the level of unpreparedness that I found myself in. More because of the time frame getting the best of me, and quite frankly, still trying to recover sold inventory from both NakaKon and Planet Comicon. 

Normally, I try to get as much art out the door as possible for a show, but I had made a decision that I needed some larger works to showcase and draw people in from a distance. Now, as some of you have already seen on Facebook, I had shown some of the steps that I did to create a diptych of Iron Man and Iron Patriot. So, this will be just a quick review of what I went through in making these two illustrations.

First, of course came the basic layouts, and thanks to the proliferation of images because of the recent movie release, it’s never been easier to find reference for these two. With most illustrations that I plan on taking to full color, I always start with a very light pencil layout of shapes and placement, which builds to tightly refined linework like what is apparent on Iron Man (on right), and then transitions into me laying in my inkwork, as shown on the left with Iron Patriot.

Now in some cases, I don’t finish all of the inking all of the way because I tend to be too eager to jump into color. This has sometimes proved to be the undoing of many an illustration in the past for me, but I found in this larger board dimension, it freed me up quite a bit.

Jumping forward to all of the inking and color being applied, I have to have a way to make the work more durable and resistant to damage from oil on fingers, from water damage (really important in transporting and displaying outdoors), and to enhance the colors. To some of you, this may look like I have completely messed up and spread elmer’s glue all over the two of them…

Instead what I have done is applied the first of a number of coats of Modge Podge to the surface. This will dry clear and give a very textured but clear finish to the works as is evident below. Now even below, the are not done as the edges of the birch panels need to have designs drawn out and finished on them, and then they will both be sprayed with gloss enamel for a very high light reflective and damage resistant overlay on the artwork.

I got a lot of compliments and great reaction to these two works. They are in my more midrange pricing, as the set of the two of them goes for $500 together, and are certainly not the norm for the price range or art that I will carry to shows. The one reaction I got most was surprise that this was marker work. I dabble in watercolour, but rarely nowadays, and markers have just become my standard that is easy and fast for me to work in.

This show is very much more of a laid back kind of affair. Which is a nice contrast to many of the other shows I do from art fairs to comic and anime conventions. That’s not to say there is not a plethora of lively discussion and interaction going on, in fact that’s one of the things that makes this show so unique. The Fenners helped create a venue show that can only get bigger and better, not unlike the creation and introduction of the Spectrum Art Annual.

This year, I saw more and more physical and three dimensional representations of artwork taking the floor. In recent years, even with the strong presence of 3D animation and modeling, there is still a dignified and powerful aspect of art that crosses all kinds of mediums. This to me, as a traditional 2D illustrator, is a profound and wonderful thing to experience and when you add in the fact that I can talk to these top notch creators along the way. Not even exhibits at the Nelson Atkins can beat that. 

And like many other shows dealing with art or various sorts of things, there were panels to attend to get inside looks at the industry, at the pros that work in it day to day, and in the case of the Hobbit/Weta panel put on by Paul Tobin and Nicholas Keller, I was most excited to see this.

No photos were allowed because of the sensitive nature of so much of what was on display and being shown, but aspects of weapon and culture design, to subjects on zoology and anatomy, to what is expected and how far concept art is pushed when you work for Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor, were all part of the discussion.

Some panels where held out in the main stage area, which I am not really a fan of as the acoustics in that part of the building are terrible. But something that is NOT terrible are the wonderful people that stop by and help keep me afloat and my sanity intact by letting me know that what I make does not suck, even when I am in the same building with people like Brom, Manchess, Whelan, and Donato.

Brandi Miller and friend were the some of the last showgoers I got to talk to on Sunday, and talk about a small world, we are both UCM alumni and know a lot of the same people. Very happy the little white fox has a home now, as well as AstroShaggy. Thank you ladies.

Of course my mind is so tired I cannot remember anyone else’s names really from the previous part of the weekend, but everyone else that picked up my stuff and came by the booth to say hello, thank you. thank you, THANK YOU. Ed, Mike S, Chris Willey., Felipe, Sara, Calvin, Kevin Keil, Steve Daniels, Damont, and others I know I am forgetting, thanks for all the kind words and conversations. Life goes so fast and I never get a chance to slow down often enough to appreciate so many great people.

 And to the fellow here below, I can still knock out the color of course on your Harley Quinn (the one show I DON’T lug my markers to, and look what happens. :D), thanks so much for letting me cut lose on that.

Now many of you may know I have a HUGE fanboy appreciation for Brom. He was integral to so much of what I knew as fantasy art when I first got into Dungeons and Dragons early on, especially the Dark Sun world. So needless to say, when he was bestowed with the phenomenal honor of becoming our latest Grand Master, I was beside myself with the kind of excitement that makes you get a headache and want to dance like a man possessed only could. Thank you Brom for the inspiration, for being such a humble and nice guy to talk to, and for being utterly kick ass and uncompromising. Also for signing my latest copy of Spectrum!

Friday evening, there was a great figure drawing session in a huge room filled with what looked to be a good 200 people drawing from the poses of two models. I was stunned to be in a room not only with so many talented people from all kinds of backgrounds, but also because it brought back memories of my times in college and the countless days spent drawing the figure. I gotta get back into that.

The awards show was held in the magnificent and beautiful Midland Theatre near Power and Light, and this year had even more people in attendance, and free Jack Stack’s BBQ. If the fact of being part of a group of people that are the movers and shakers of the gaming and fantasy industry was not enough, the food was fantastic. Granted, I think $3 for 9/10th of a can of soda and too much ice in a glass was a bit much, I could handle that.

The Midland is one of those older theatres that you just have to see in person to really appreciate. It’a a shame that so many of today’s major movieplexes don’t aspire to look at good as this one.

I didn’t get a lot of the ceremony recorded, but between my phone and camera, I was able to get some of the awards highlights and some of the performances from Quixotic. The main part I was happy I caught was Brom becoming the new Grand Master.

But for all the spectacle and coolness that was the awards show, the quieter one on one times getting to meet the people that influence me was what makes this show so overwhelmingly important to me.

To be able to talk to my art heroes like Brom, Whelan, and Monge (below), to being able to talk to art directors first hand (THANK YOU for your time Jon Schindehette, your advice and input was wonderful and you will be hearing from me very soon!), to meeting so many other artists that I find I have so much in common with is the apex of my appreciation for what this show is all about. Someday, years from now as this show grows and more people attend and become part of the show, I hope this does not change. It’s the human element and the powerful imagery of the art that is so very important to all that Spectrum is, has been, and will become for years and years. I mean, to stand there as Jean-Baptiste drew out a wonderful quirky character in my book of his work? You cannot put a price on that.

And I controlled myself a bit this year. I did not get Dorman to sign my Darth Maul comic as I kept forgetting to BRING the damn thing, but there’s always next year, or some other convention I can track him down at.

My pride and joys below (including Monge’s autographed book above, thank you so much for that Jean!), my twice autographed by Brom copy of Spectrum 19 (hope you had a good flight home to Seattle regardless of the Kansas weather going all tornado on us), an autographed book of the ever awesome Mouse Guard stories (I had no idea he had released the RPG for this as well – and a congratulation to you David for your award!), and a kick ass book of art by Felipe Echevarria (his art… man, someday I HOPE to know figure like he does).

Until next time, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and always take the path less traveled!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Podcaster, Writer, Toy Collector, and Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com