Sunday, May 31
Wednesday, May 27
DragonCon 15: Making A Frodo
Last year, I chronicled my first attempt to sew a costume for DragonCon. You can read all about that here.
I ended the September 2, 2014 post with this:
I also got a lot of photos of my son's favorite characters. I showed them last night, and he practically levitated. We'll take him soon. Maybe next year.By the end of October, he solved that issue: Frodo.
I wonder what costume I can make for him.
We introduced him to Lord of the Rings by way of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Raphael voice actor plays Samwise, and one episode is a parody of Dungeons & Dragons and LOTR. It made for an easy segue. We showed him a little of Fellowship, wary of melting his young brains, and he immediately latched onto the hobbits. Since then, he's seen virtually the entire series of films. He devoured them. He watches them repeatedly. When we told him we were going to take him to DragonCon this year for the first time, he asked to be Frodo. He's stuck with that for seven months. He'll be five next month. He's anticipated this costume for a tenth of his life, and one of those years, he was just a cute doorstop.
We decided that he would get a simple costume, something from a party store or a Halloween outlet. He might get tired of cosplay within a few hours.
He's gone to conventions and parties dressed as a jedi and stuck with it. He had a good time seeing other folks in costumes. But those shows aren't DragonCon, a four-day masquerade party that takes over downtown Atlanta. It's gonna be hot. It's gonna be crowded. Let's go simple, we said. We might skip the sword. (Maybe not, He's asking about that a lot.) We can make a faithful costume when he's older, if he wants to go back. We'd probably make Hobbit feet out of painted loafers. Let's not burden the boy with delicate pieces, I argued.
But he was emphatic that he had to have Mithril, the elven armor worn under Frodo's cloak. I can't find a costume version in stores, so I decided to try to make it. Today, I went to the local fabric store to check my options.
I found some sequined cloth that gave me hope.
The camera makes the fabric look more yellow, but it could work for a kid's shirt. Or part of one. He really needs only a dickie under his vest and cape. I can stitch together such a thing. I'm pretty sure I can.
I also looked at options for the collar. Early favorites include applique, thread paint, metallic ribbon and looping thread. I could paint the raised elements to match the movie shirt. I could even freehand the design with hot glue, the wonder substance, and paint that.
Again, it was the first day, and I'm discovering what one store could offer. We're within 100 days until showtime, and I think we have plenty of time for what will be, admittedly, a very small percentage of his costume.
Tuesday, May 26
Sunday, May 17
Thursday, May 14
HeroesCon Commission List Open
You can sign up now for #HeroesCon commissions! Size range from 8.5 x 5.5 to 11 x 17 and prices top out at $35.
See my Commissions and Prints page for more examples and prices.
See my Commissions and Prints page for more examples and prices.
Monday, May 11
Tuesday, May 5
FCBD 2015
Once again, I set up shop in Asheville, NC's Comic Envy to offer free sketches for one and all. I also set up a donation jar, and people again shocked me with their generosity. I heartily recommend this to other artists, and I might start doing it at cons.
The store opened at 11 and closed at 7, and I left the table once, I think, to go to the store counter.
(You're wondering about bathroom breaks. The store staff offered to spell me, but I didn't go. No, really. Once I'm behind that table, I'm in a groove. Think of it like a marathon but with more sitting.)
I drew right around 70 sketches this year, including those promised later in the week to regulars with pull lists. I like to put the new customers to the front of the list. Free Comic Book Day gets a lot of folks walking in for the first time, and we want to bowl them over. You can see all the sketches and some costumes here.
The store had costumed folks, other artists, and interest groups, and it was pretty steady business the whole time. Thankfully, they had a sign up asking folks to hush up with any Avengers 2 spoilers.
It's a blur for me. If I didn't write down my sketch list and take pics of as many sketches as I remembered to, I'd forget the majority of the day. I do remember this:
+ Geeking out over Ninja Turtles with a girl who might have been seven. She meekly asked for Michelangelo and only after she was nudged into it by her mom. Very shy. When she said the name, I started reciting the cartoon lyrics (HE'S ONE OF A KIND/ YOU KNOW JUST WHERE TO FIND HIM WHEN IT'S PARTY TIME), and she lit up. And opened up. We talked about favorite episodes, which she knew by name. She had all the details. Only repeated viewings with my four-year-old enabled me to keep up.
+ Asking kids to specify which incarnation they meant by "the old Doctor Who." I'm thinking John Hurt. They meant Peter Capaldi. But I really wanted to draw John Hurt, guys. How 'bout a War Doctor? Anyone?
+ Talking the new Thor with an older lady who a delighted with the idea of a female Thor.
+ Hearing the high school student I'm mentoring say she finished her comic book for her senior project. Now she can say she's made a comic book.
+ Making up new jokes for each Deadpool sketch. I don't read the comic, but I love writing for the character.
+ Selling copies of my trade, provided by the store. I didn't expect that.
+ Googling a LOT of Homestuck and anime for commissions. I know them not.
+ Talking about Agent Carter with teenagers.
+ Meeting a Squirrel Girl.
+ Drawing Black Panther. I have done at least one every time I've sat down to draw at a con or store appearance. He's gonna explode when that movie comes out.
I ended the day with a supper from Five Guys Burgers, my convention reward for myself and a thank-you gesture for the missus for watching the boy all day.
Monday, May 4
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