SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: COLLECTED POSTS
2008-07-31
We've just about processed all of the material we've taken while in San Diego, and (to keep things from getting too confusing) have moved all of the previous posts to an article which can be found below. That being said, there's still some remaining Comic-Con randomness that needs to be posted...
Here's the last bit of video we took just giving a taste of the sights, sounds, and rush of the crowds at Comic-Con from beginning to end:
As promised, Tor.com has posted a few of the artist demos up on YouTube for everyone to view. In rapid succession, here are Jon Foster's demo (Parts I & II) along with Greg Manchess' demo featuring the portrait of Hellboy:
The last the series of painting demos from San Diego Comic-Con have kindly been uploaded to YouTube by Tor.com. The videos below highlight the work of Rick Berry as he proceeded to complete three paintings over the course of 90 minutes:
Costumes haven't been featured very prominently, and to tell the truth we didn't think to grab the camera when we saw how well executed most of them were. Of the ones we did catch, here are some of the best:
There were also many things set-up to see around the con from Bond...
... to 'Bots
Not to mention a lot of great people who happened to stop by or be on-site...
... and those we met away from the convention floor.
We're already straining our brains in contemplation of doing it all over again, so until then there's always a chance we'll see you next year!!!
The image at left has circulated fairly quickly around the internet, and it just goes to show that marathon stretches of grabbing freebie bags and buying lots of merchandise can get the best of anyone – to the point where the aforementioned free bags full of merchandise can double as a pillow. One sight we happened to catch on the floor of the exhibit hall shows what else these free bags can turn into with a little bit of ingenuity and effort:
Let it be said that Jon Foster is awesome. On the last day of the convention, he took the time to go around the immediate area and capture some of the artists set up in the booths around Spectrum. We've done our best to identify everyone in the videos, and apologize in advance for mangling any name spellings – if there are any to be corrected, please let us know!
We also feel the need to apologize to Jon as this collaborative effort is more the result of the whims of the video software rather than a close partnership on the level of Scorsese and Schoonmaker. That said, we suppose there's always the hope of an imminent "Director's Cut" release which might be truer to his original vision.
... with a little of Donato Giancola added in. Donato scheduled a demo of his own which occurred early Saturday morning. In a very short amount of time, he managed to take a canvas from this:
To this:
And here's an equally short video showing exactly how he did it:
Arkady Roytman also dropped by on Sunday to show his upcoming book Best of Arkady Roytman's Nude of the Day: Year One. The verbosity of the title is matched by the contents inside – at 40 pages, Arkady produced many excellent pieces throughout the year-long project (and managed to do so in the notoriously difficult medium of watercolor). Copies of the book can be purchased directly from his blog.
One of the drawbacks to manning a booth at the con is the inability to break away for extended periods of time in order to take in everything that the event has to offer. Fortunately, things also have a way of coming to you, and on Saturday and Sunday there were a couple of surprise visits.
Eric Joyner stopped by to offer a sneak peek of his forthcoming Dark Horse book Robots & Donuts. For those unfamiliar with his work, his piece titled "The Final Blow" was featured as the cover to Spectrum 11. Eric's work is simply stunning, and we can't wait for the chance to add his book to our bookshelves. When more details are available, we'll be sure to let you know!
Paul Jilbert also stopped by to drop off his documentary on Robert McGinnis Painting the Last Rose of Summer. More information on the documentary will follow later this week once things have had an opportunity to settle down to their normal hectic pace.
The artist demos also continued through the weekend with Stephan Martiniere on Saturday and Greg Manchess on Sunday. Stephan demonstrated how pencil sketches are important to the core of his work. Once a sketch has been fully developed, he then moves the piece to a computer in order to further flesh out the work.
Greg Manchess set to work on Sunday and produced a portrait of a familiar face – Hellboy. The subject matter managed to draw in a few unsuspecting aisle-walkers who stuck around to see the completed piece. Christian Alzmann and Wayne Lo also came over to watch Greg at work.
And here is the finished piece which also happened to receive a thumbs-up from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola!
Although this only scratches the surface to the happenings from the two remaining days of the Con, we hope to dig through all of the accumulated material to provide a wrap-up of the 5-day event. We will also be (im)patiently waiting at the front door for the FedEx truck to arrive so we can go through all of the goodies we picked up and let you know about some of the things that caught our eye this year!
Preview Night and Thursday were just warm-ups for the core days of the Con which are Friday and Saturday. Warner Bros. changed their giveaway bag designs on Friday from advertising the animated Wonder Woman to promoting next year's Watchmen movie. A few of us at the Spectrum booth had to make time to get over there in the morning to pick up a couple of them.
More than a few shopping excursions were made during the day, and this photo of a new Dr. Grordbort's prototype missed being posted yesterday. The "Unnatural Selector" was unveiled in San Diego, and created a bit of tension for the Weta staff as it was passed around for a select few to hold.
Andrew Bawidamann brought several new print and t-shirt designs to San Diego, including the cosmonaut above. Even more of his artwork and shirt designs can be seen at bawidamannapparel.com.
Frank Cho brought along two new books, Mars Maidens and Jungle Queens, in addition to the Comic Con exclusive Mars art print he did with Brandon Peterson. Though free time was short on Friday, plans are set to pick up one of these prints on Saturday.
The series of artist demos produced in partnership with Tor Books continued on this day with artist Rick Berry. The event attracted quite a crowd as he worked his way through three paintings during the 90-minute demo. Artists and passersby all stopped to watch him work, and a young con attendee snagged a front-row seat to the action.
As before, Tor Books filmed the entire demo, and we snagged a few clips as well. Time is against us as the convention center is set to open shortly, so we will continue to work and bring you those links as soon as possible!
Today should prove to be equally as interesting with Stephan Martiniere's demo on creature design once again at the Spectrum booth starting at 3:00pm!
The morning started out a little gray, but the sun managed to burn off the cloud cover before the convention center doors even opened. Not that the attendees were concerned about the weather outside – many were spotted making mad dashes towards the center of the exhibit hall for one freebie or another.
One of the things we absolutely had to grab was the miniaturized Goliathon 83 available at the convention through Weta and Dark Horse. We had an opportunity to speak with Linda Hughes of Weta and Dr. Grordbort's creator Greg Broadmore -- both of whom were very gracious in spite of being severely jet lagged and having missed a meal or two since arriving on Preview Night.
Jon Foster's painting demo had quite a number of people crowded around to watch every brushstroke. Spectrum managed to catch some video footage of the event, and Tor Books taped everything from the audience's perspective. We only have a small clip of video below, but we'll also let you know where and when Tor has posted their full version.
Here's a better photo of the crowd which gathered to watch Jon at work:
The demo series continues today with Rick Berry at the easel starting at 3:00pm!
Unfortunately, yesterday's jet lag and tonight's late dinner have taken their toll, and an early bedtime is just what the doctor ordered. We'll find a few minutes to spare Friday morning to bring you additional photos from the events on the floor Thursday!
After a hectic morning of remembering things we've forgotten to pack, we finally made it to San Diego to get everything set up before the doors were flung open on Preview Night. There seemed to be more attendees roaming the aisles on this day than last year, and a few booths were essential stopping points for free swag.
One important Comic-Con exclusive was the early sale of the James Jean postcard book XOXO. We made a dash for the Chronicle Books booth (#1637) to pick one up. At only $10, the book is a bargain for those who may have missed either of the Process Recess collections. Jean will also be on-hand at the Chronicle Books booth on Saturday for a signing starting at 2:00pm.
Tomorrow will be the first full day of the convention, and a good night's sleep is desperately needed. Once refreshed, we hope to bring you more of what's available on the floor along with some footage of Jon Foster's demo from the Spectrum booth starting at 3:00pm!
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: MAP
Here's a breakdown of the San Diego Comic-Con floor with a close-up on the location of the Donato Arts booth (#4503). That's where we'll be along with Donato, Dan Dos Santos, Rebecca Guay, and Stephan Martiniere come Wednesday, July 23rd. Click on the thumbnail (or on this link) to see a full map of the convention floor!
Return to the News Page
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: ODDS & ENDS
We've just about processed all of the material we've taken while in San Diego, and (to keep things from getting too confusing) have moved all of the previous posts to an article which can be found below. That being said, there's still some remaining Comic-Con randomness that needs to be posted...
Here's the last bit of video we took just giving a taste of the sights, sounds, and rush of the crowds at Comic-Con from beginning to end:
As promised, Tor.com has posted a few of the artist demos up on YouTube for everyone to view. In rapid succession, here are Jon Foster's demo (Parts I & II) along with Greg Manchess' demo featuring the portrait of Hellboy:
The last the series of painting demos from San Diego Comic-Con have kindly been uploaded to YouTube by Tor.com. The videos below highlight the work of Rick Berry as he proceeded to complete three paintings over the course of 90 minutes:
Costumes haven't been featured very prominently, and to tell the truth we didn't think to grab the camera when we saw how well executed most of them were. Of the ones we did catch, here are some of the best:
Spider-Man and Reed Richards
Molotov Cocktease from Venture Bros. fame
Black Widow
Steampunk Ghostbusters with fully-functioning proton packs
There were also many things set-up to see around the con from Bond...
Quantum of Solace display set up by Sony
Boba Fett bronze by Sideshow Collectables
The DC Comics booth
... to 'Bots
Cathy Fenner with one of Ashley Wood's robots
Frank Cho is interviewed by his own creation, Brandy
Night Owl's ship at the Warner Bros. booth
Not to mention a lot of great people who happened to stop by or be on-site...
Andrew Bawidamann and Woodrow J. Hinton III with Cathy and Arnie Fenner
William Stout with Cathy and Arnie Fenner
Arkady Roytman exacts revenge for Arlo Burnett's shenannigans
Orson Scott Card stops by to fill gaps in his Spectrum collection
Irene Gallo, Greg Manchess, and Shelly Wan
... and those we met away from the convention floor.
Bob Chapman of Graphitti Designs
Arnie Fenner, Cathy Fenner, and Denis Kitchen
Cathy Fenner, Mike Mignola, and Arnie Fenner
Arlo Burnett, Angela Wheeler, and Cathy Fenner at the Dead Dog/Dave Stevens' 53rd Birthday party
We're already straining our brains in contemplation of doing it all over again, so until then there's always a chance we'll see you next year!!!
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: "HI FROM COMIC-CON!"
Just resting my eyes!
The image at left has circulated fairly quickly around the internet, and it just goes to show that marathon stretches of grabbing freebie bags and buying lots of merchandise can get the best of anyone – to the point where the aforementioned free bags full of merchandise can double as a pillow. One sight we happened to catch on the floor of the exhibit hall shows what else these free bags can turn into with a little bit of ingenuity and effort:
Most definitely a one-of-a-kind item
Let it be said that Jon Foster is awesome. On the last day of the convention, he took the time to go around the immediate area and capture some of the artists set up in the booths around Spectrum. We've done our best to identify everyone in the videos, and apologize in advance for mangling any name spellings – if there are any to be corrected, please let us know!
We also feel the need to apologize to Jon as this collaborative effort is more the result of the whims of the video software rather than a close partnership on the level of Scorsese and Schoonmaker. That said, we suppose there's always the hope of an imminent "Director's Cut" release which might be truer to his original vision.
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: SDCC + 2
We're still in the process of rifling through all of the pictures and video which were taken over the entire run of Comic-Con, and hope to consolidate everything appearing here on the homepage into a coherent article this week. We happened to notice today that earlier promises of video postings had yet to be made good on, so here are the bits from Rick Berry on Friday and Greg Manchess on Sunday...... with a little of Donato Giancola added in. Donato scheduled a demo of his own which occurred early Saturday morning. In a very short amount of time, he managed to take a canvas from this:
To this:
And here's an equally short video showing exactly how he did it:
Best of Nude of the Day
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: SATURDAY AND SUNDAY... AND MONDAY
A not-so-surly Bender unit with Angela Wheeler
One of the drawbacks to manning a booth at the con is the inability to break away for extended periods of time in order to take in everything that the event has to offer. Fortunately, things also have a way of coming to you, and on Saturday and Sunday there were a couple of surprise visits.
Robots & Donuts
Eric Joyner stopped by to offer a sneak peek of his forthcoming Dark Horse book Robots & Donuts. For those unfamiliar with his work, his piece titled "The Final Blow" was featured as the cover to Spectrum 11. Eric's work is simply stunning, and we can't wait for the chance to add his book to our bookshelves. When more details are available, we'll be sure to let you know!
Painting the Last Rose of Summer
Paul Jilbert also stopped by to drop off his documentary on Robert McGinnis Painting the Last Rose of Summer. More information on the documentary will follow later this week once things have had an opportunity to settle down to their normal hectic pace.
Stephan Martiniere at work on a sketch
The artist demos also continued through the weekend with Stephan Martiniere on Saturday and Greg Manchess on Sunday. Stephan demonstrated how pencil sketches are important to the core of his work. Once a sketch has been fully developed, he then moves the piece to a computer in order to further flesh out the work.
Hellboy was the subject for Greg Manchess' demo
Greg Manchess set to work on Sunday and produced a portrait of a familiar face – Hellboy. The subject matter managed to draw in a few unsuspecting aisle-walkers who stuck around to see the completed piece. Christian Alzmann and Wayne Lo also came over to watch Greg at work.
And here is the finished piece which also happened to receive a thumbs-up from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola!
Although this only scratches the surface to the happenings from the two remaining days of the Con, we hope to dig through all of the accumulated material to provide a wrap-up of the 5-day event. We will also be (im)patiently waiting at the front door for the FedEx truck to arrive so we can go through all of the goodies we picked up and let you know about some of the things that caught our eye this year!
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: FRIDAY
Crowds were the order of the day -- including this one for Rick Berry's painting demo
Preview Night and Thursday were just warm-ups for the core days of the Con which are Friday and Saturday. Warner Bros. changed their giveaway bag designs on Friday from advertising the animated Wonder Woman to promoting next year's Watchmen movie. A few of us at the Spectrum booth had to make time to get over there in the morning to pick up a couple of them.
One of the new prototypes from Dr. Grordbort's -- The "Unnatural Selector"
More than a few shopping excursions were made during the day, and this photo of a new Dr. Grordbort's prototype missed being posted yesterday. The "Unnatural Selector" was unveiled in San Diego, and created a bit of tension for the Weta staff as it was passed around for a select few to hold.
How Mother Russia ever lost the space race, we'll never know
Andrew Bawidamann brought several new print and t-shirt designs to San Diego, including the cosmonaut above. Even more of his artwork and shirt designs can be seen at bawidamannapparel.com.
Frank Cho's Mars Maidens and Jungle Queens
Frank Cho brought along two new books, Mars Maidens and Jungle Queens, in addition to the Comic Con exclusive Mars art print he did with Brandon Peterson. Though free time was short on Friday, plans are set to pick up one of these prints on Saturday.
Rick Berry engages the crowd while Shelly Wan looks on
The series of artist demos produced in partnership with Tor Books continued on this day with artist Rick Berry. The event attracted quite a crowd as he worked his way through three paintings during the 90-minute demo. Artists and passersby all stopped to watch him work, and a young con attendee snagged a front-row seat to the action.
Arkady Roytman and Jon Foster watch on as Rick Berry paints
The first painting completed by Rick Berry
Kurt Huggins (center, in yellow) also stopped by to watch
The crowd squeezed in where ever they could fit in
Even the youngest of artists wanted a chance to see Rick's style and technique
The uncompleted second painting from Rick's artist demo
As before, Tor Books filmed the entire demo, and we snagged a few clips as well. Time is against us as the convention center is set to open shortly, so we will continue to work and bring you those links as soon as possible!
Today should prove to be equally as interesting with Stephan Martiniere's demo on creature design once again at the Spectrum booth starting at 3:00pm!
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: THURSDAY
Boats docked near the hotel
The morning started out a little gray, but the sun managed to burn off the cloud cover before the convention center doors even opened. Not that the attendees were concerned about the weather outside – many were spotted making mad dashes towards the center of the exhibit hall for one freebie or another.
The Dr. Grordbort's catalog and miniature Goliathon 83 from Weta
One of the things we absolutely had to grab was the miniaturized Goliathon 83 available at the convention through Weta and Dark Horse. We had an opportunity to speak with Linda Hughes of Weta and Dr. Grordbort's creator Greg Broadmore -- both of whom were very gracious in spite of being severely jet lagged and having missed a meal or two since arriving on Preview Night.
Jon Foster hard at work on the canvas at his painting demo
Jon Foster's painting demo had quite a number of people crowded around to watch every brushstroke. Spectrum managed to catch some video footage of the event, and Tor Books taped everything from the audience's perspective. We only have a small clip of video below, but we'll also let you know where and when Tor has posted their full version.
Here's a better photo of the crowd which gathered to watch Jon at work:
Just an idea of how deep the crowd was for Jon Foster's demo
The demo series continues today with Rick Berry at the easel starting at 3:00pm!
Thursday dinner with (l to r): Angela Wheeler, Greg Manchess, Arnie Fenner, Irene Gallo, and Cathy Fenner
Unfortunately, yesterday's jet lag and tonight's late dinner have taken their toll, and an early bedtime is just what the doctor ordered. We'll find a few minutes to spare Friday morning to bring you additional photos from the events on the floor Thursday!
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: PREVIEW NIGHT
The Spectrum booth at #4503
After a hectic morning of remembering things we've forgotten to pack, we finally made it to San Diego to get everything set up before the doors were flung open on Preview Night. There seemed to be more attendees roaming the aisles on this day than last year, and a few booths were essential stopping points for free swag.
One of the Uglydoll wranglers snapped a picture for us
One important Comic-Con exclusive was the early sale of the James Jean postcard book XOXO. We made a dash for the Chronicle Books booth (#1637) to pick one up. At only $10, the book is a bargain for those who may have missed either of the Process Recess collections. Jean will also be on-hand at the Chronicle Books booth on Saturday for a signing starting at 2:00pm.
Interior photo from XOXO
Tomorrow will be the first full day of the convention, and a good night's sleep is desperately needed. Once refreshed, we hope to bring you more of what's available on the floor along with some footage of Jon Foster's demo from the Spectrum booth starting at 3:00pm!
SPECTRUM @ SAN DIEGO: MAP
))
Here's a breakdown of the San Diego Comic-Con floor with a close-up on the location of the Donato Arts booth (#4503). That's where we'll be along with Donato, Dan Dos Santos, Rebecca Guay, and Stephan Martiniere come Wednesday, July 23rd. Click on the thumbnail (or on this link) to see a full map of the convention floor!
Return to the News Page