A Dog's Life

The first Awesome Con really lived up to it’s name.  It was an amazing weekend!  I was there with Ben “Bark To The Future Scribe™” Taylor and we had a fantastic time.  We met lots of great folks and made many new fans, young and not young.  Everyone we chatted with or sketched for was a genuine pleasure, and from what we could tell, everyone there, including the artists and vendors, had a great time.

I’d like to thank everyone who stopped by the table to chat, grab a sketch, or a book, or a Adam Baldwin Hat, or anything else.  My favorite part of cons is meeting and drawing for people, especially kids, and we got that in spades this weekend.  Huge thanks have to go out to Ben as well, because it’s really hard to run a table alone, and he’s MUCH more outgoing than I am, and great at bringing folks in while my head is down over a sketch.  As you’ll see in the photos, we both had our heads down a lot doing free sketches for kids and other commissions.

More thanks to Leah for that wonderful art you gave us, and to the lady whose name I’ve forgotten who gave me the awesome dog pin.  It’s going to be part of my regular con outfit for sure!

A few shout outs!  Tony from Advent Comics was a super cool table neighbor, and he got a “Bark To The Future” book after checking out some of our stuff and digging it.  Thanks, Tony!  Hope you enjoy the story!  Check out Advent Comics at http://www.adventcomics.com/ Advent Comics…putting the SOUL back into comics!  I got my copy of the Adam and Eve Omnibus from Dan Nokes this weekend and can’t wait to get some time to read it.  I also won an amazing original page from the book, which will go up on my wall soon.  Dan is the genius behind 21st Century Sandshark. On top of the many, many projects he does, he is also in charge of the small press at the VA Comicon, and simply one super talented and heck of a guy.  Please check out his stuff at http://21sandshark.com/blog/  I got to hang out with two of my favorite cartoonists, Dawn Griffin and Chris Flick, who have both been super supportive of me and are just plain awesome people.  I am blessed to call them friends.  See their work at http://zfcomics.com and http://capesnbabes.com I also got to chat a bit during dinner Saturday night with Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo of Curls Studio.  Wonderful people whom I always look forward to seeing a few times a year at cons, and they have MANY things going on over at http://www.curls-studio.com/  I’m sure I’m forgetting some folks, and will add them later on when my brain isn’t goo. *EDIT!*  Emmy, who got the Buffy sketch from Ben (which you can see in the gallery) and her friend Amy do a Buffy The Vampire podcast over at http://slayerettespodcast.tumblr.com/ If you’re a fan of Buffy (like me!!!) be sure to check them out!  Also, I picked up the cutest little plushie dog from John Gallagher, who does a lot of great comics for kids, including Zoey and Ketchup, which I cannot wait to read to Jules when she gets a little older.  Check out his many fun works at http://www.skydogcomics.com/ *END EDIT!*

On to the pictures!  I lost my list of names of folks who got sketches, so if you’re in here and not named, PLEASE let me know who you are!  Email me at chris@adogslifecomic.com!  Also, if you have pictures you took at the show of us ( a few kids came around and had pics taken with us behind the table) I’d love to add them to the gallery!

Click a picture to make them bigger and read the full description.

Two tired but happy writer/artists after the show.

I drew more non-dog sketches at this show than any other, and am getting more comfortable with it. Here’s Daredevil for Steve!

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, drawn the best way that I can.

Dennis with his Spidey sketch!

Nightwing!

Here’s CJ with his Nightwing sketch!

Cyclops for Hayden! I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of everyone who got something.

Hannah and her Jake sketch!

Peter and Dean with their Finn and Jake sketches. I love drawing cartoons!

Matthew with his sketch of Meap from Phineas and Ferb, one of my favorite current cartoons.

Ice King from Adventure Time! I lost my list of names, so I’m not sure who this was for.

This was one of my favorite sketches of the con. I LOVE Invader Zim. Had to throw Gir in the corner there…

Skylar and her Zim sketch. Any kid who asks for Zim is okay in my book.

Another Jake and again, I lost my list and cut off his name in the pic of the sketch there. If you know who you are, let me know!

Again, lost my list. Cool sketchbook, nice kid. Who are you?! Argh! I need to find that list!!!

Louis-Michel and his Mordechai from Regular Show sketch.

James Rowe has the most amazing collection of Minions as Avenger heroes/villains. I enjoyed the one I did at Baltimore, and was excited to do another. Klaw!

A sketch card I am particularly proud of. Professor Scratchansniff from Animaniacs, complete with Mr. Puppet-Head.

On to Ben’s sketches! Besides being a great writer, Ben’s got some talent with the drawings too! This is Leah with her Hedwig from Harry Potter sketch.

Another shot of the sweet drawing Leah gave us. Did I mention this made my weekend? Thanks again Leah, you put the awesome in AwesomeCon!

An animated style Buffy and Giles for Emmy! Check out their Buffy Podcast, The Slayerettes, at http://slayerettespodcast.tumblr.com/

I choose you!

Here’s Alberto and his Pikachu!

Ben got a lot of requests for stuff that he really loves, and he was so happy drawing Tom and Jerry. Thanks, Calvin!

A Creeper from Minecraft for Ethan, who was at home. He was super excited to get his sketch!

Raven from Teen Titans!

Stephen and his Raven sketch!

Enderman from Minecraft!

Peter dressed up as Enderman with his sketch of Enderman! I think he likes Enderman…

Stewie from Family Guy for Noah!

Michaelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Michael, who REALLY loved this sketch!

Sonic The Hedgehog as Spidey!

The pleased recipient of the Sonic Spidey commission!

A Tardis from Doctor Who for Beth!

Rebecca, a cool girl dressed as Deadpool asked for “a bunch of super heroes mixed together”. This is what she got. Gotta be careful what you say to artists… On to the Cosplayers!!!

The aforementioned Deadpool in a dress. Awesome cosplay, Rebecca!

The most awesome and cutest Boba Fett I’ve ever seen.

Who ya gonna call? This guy’s whole family were dressed as Ghostbusters!

Catman!

Mario and…well, we’re not sure, but he’s wearing an Arkham Asylum ID badge, so….someone from Batman!

Marty McFly and The Doctor, two of Ben’s favorite characters, together in one shot….mass hysteria!

Bioshock Infinite cosplayers. I think it’s a game? My finger is far from the pulse of current pop culture, unless it’s a cartoon.

More Bioshock Infinite!

Cute! Spider-Girl and her faithful steed.

Starro! I don’t know who this is. I will have to get Ben to school me on some of this stuff…

I know this one!!! Garrus from the Mass Effect games. This guys outfit was amazing. Hours and hours of work.

Awesome Space Marine. Starcraft? I’m gonna go with Starcraft. *EDIT* He’s from Warhammer 40,000. See what I mean? Thanks, Ben!

There were sooooo many Doctor Who fans and cosplayers at the show. Here’s a Dalek and a Tardis!

Dalek, The fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and K-9.

Why not Zoidberg?!?! Futurama rocks.

The button I got from a fan. This goes to every con from here on out! Thanks!!!!