Before I get into cleanup from the comic show, I wanted to post about the weekend. Saturday was grueling, especially at Kinko’s, where the color copy machines wanted to give me trouble at exactly the worst time. Making things even funnier was printing out my projects and trying to be discrete while a woman was printing out her church programs with a large graphic that said Come unto Christ!
The stickers were done, but came out way too small, and I should have done some more greeting cards. Push come to shove, they’d make excellent extras to throw in with a sale, if I got one.
It was a very rocky start. I shared a booth with the adult DVD guys, who for the moment, want to remain anonymous. Funny enough, it’s not because they work in porn, but that’s another story. They’ve always got extra space, so sharing was not a problem. But as I set up, an official looking guy starts questioning me as to why I was there, who was I, and was very suspicious about the material.
My buddy vouched for me, but the official, who turned out the be in charge of the event, gave me a stern look and said Do you know what X-rated is?
Now at this moment, I’m doing everything I can to keep from being a complete smartass after being handed a straight line like that. Things like, Do I? Ya betcha! I worked at AVN for six years! and Sure! It’s at the hentai booth halfway up the hall and there’s a guy displaying used Playboys and porn mags up front!
Even funnier, he’s looking right at my work on display, including lots of stickers featuring topless artwork. He gave it a quick nod ok and left. To be honest, there are times when I forget a piece features nudity, like Afro Domme, which is incredibly tame.
The adult DVD booth next door got a huge amount of action. I couldn’t even step in to say hi. I never knew so many people bought porn in the morning. Meanwhile, my table stayed dead until about 11AM. One friendly 18 year old guy bought a sticker, and I got to explain to him that the ball gag straps go under the ears. Around Noon, I made my first real sale.
The great thing about a show like this is you get to gauge how to set prices and also make good deals. I was willing to let this piece go for $20. I signed the back for him to add providence, and gave him a bunch of stickers. Next show, he wants me to do a piece in his sketchbook.
Which brings me to the real point. Shows like this are a major learning experience. I completely forgot there are fans out there who collect sketches like people collect autographs. They pay artists to draw in their sketchbooks.
And while people at a show like this appreciate originality, they’re also looking for what they know, superheros and characters. So I started a couple of pieces at the show that were more hero themed.
Special thanks to Allysa for buying a bunch of the kinky Valentine cards. I’ll bring Sharpshooter to the next show.
This was a dry run, to see what kind of reception my work got as a whole, and see what I needed to do to have a successful table. The next show is Feb 9th. I’ll explain more later.
Ok, gotta go. Despite getting plenty of rest, I’ve got to whip out of here for work. More news later!