notes from underground

So I just got back from Connecticon, and it was AWESOME. Met a ton of really cool people, saw some incredible art, and generally had a blast for the three days I was there. I’ll find somewhere to upload the photos a bit later… I got to meet a bunch of amazing artists and have the snapshots to prove it, not to mention the fantastic cosplay I saw!

A few of the people I met really impressed me, both by being really open and friendly about their work, and also by being fantastically talented and skilled. I have a helluvalot of business cards from different artists, comics and companies, it’ll take a while to visit all the links and remember who they all are, but these were the webcomics and artists that I liked talking to the most:

• Shelli Paroline was an artist I met in the Artist’s Colony who flagged me down when she saw that my badge said I was from Providence. I’d passed her table a few times but she’d never been there, there was a really interesting poster right at the front of her table that I really liked but I didn’t get a chance to actually meet the artist herself until Sunday. In addition to doing some great fanart for shows like One Piece, she is working on a comic (or several, from the looks of her website) called The Trouble Is that features some truly spectacular characters and artwork. I ended up picking up two prints, and she gave me the teaser booklet for The Trouble Is. It’s kind of sad at the beginning, but I’m very interested in finding more of her stuff, it looks like a really cool world she’s creating! (Plus it can’t hurt that she’s from the Boston/RI circuit, so comparatively local… we joked about restaurants on Thayer, among other things!)
• Stan from Wasteland (Parasomniac.com) is the other kickass person I met at Artist’s Colony. Again, didn’t meet the artist until after I’d seen her work, but it looked so cool and graphic that I spent a long time talking to her friends and flipping through the work she had on display anyway. Met Stan herself a bit later… her art has major FLCL style influences, both anime and manga, but given that I love FLCL this is entirely a good thing, and she’s done really interesting work with it. I wish I could draw like she can! Of all the doodles I got from artists at the Con, INCLUDING people like Hawk and Ananth, I think hers was my favorite. So cute! May try to post a picture later, have no scanner at the moment.
• Scott Wegener absolutely deserves a mention. He was sharing Brian Clevinger’s table in the Dealer’s Room, and if I recall correctly he said his book ought to be available on the nuklearpower website later this year. Amazing comic art, check out this badass-ery, and a nice guy on top of that! He showed me some of his work from his project Killer of Demons, a cool project with an interesting premise.
• Last but Not Least, a HUGE amount of love to spread for CHUGWORTH ACADEMY! I’d never really read their comic online before, although I’d definately noticed Dave Cheung’s art… I started talking Dave and his writer Jamal in the dealer’s room, and before I’d left I’d talked myself into buying their book, essentially sight unseen. Oh man, was it funny! Not for the young or faint of morals, it’s a bit risqué at times, but… soooo funny! At the Iron Webcomic event (which I shall rant about AFTER painting tonight) I started reading it while drawings were being judged, and couldn’t stop laughing. The art’s good, the characters are absolutely nuts, and the writing is really random and entertaining. I have no idea why I didn’t read it sooner!

I have a ton more cards to go through, and a ton of fun panels and events to describe, but for now I need to sprint to the art building… I’m on the verge of falling asleep here, if I don’t get to work soon I’ll have shot my night of work all to hell. Not ideal. G’night for now, more to follow later!