My Phoenix Comic Con Story!

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Boy was that wild! It's not my first con, but definitely the biggest I've been to. I didn't take pictures cause I was already feeling awkward around such a large amount of people. I was also feeling nervous because I was going to meet George Perez and possibly have him review some of my artwork. Turns out an old family friend helps run his table at cons and said she could help us get a little VIP treatment. When the exhibitor hall opened up we headed to his table and found our friend. She handed us a number that would allow us first priority over everyone else in line. Since we came in a little late we got one of the last numbers, and so decided to walk around the center a bit. After some time we headed back to the table to see where things were at, and when they started getting close to our number we got into the front of the line behind some other people with special tickets. We waited quite some time while others with numbers ahead of us would come up and take their spot, increasing our wait time, all the while chatting with our friend and watching Perez sign books, take photos and sketch some awesome drawings of characters like Thanos, Silver Surfer, Nightwing, and Thor (to name a few). The whole time he had a big grin and was so incredibly upbeat and cheerful. I have to say, it was an honor just to watch him draw. So anyway, we finally are up next. I step up in front of him, our friend explains who we are, and I say that we have our portfolios with us. He tells us, not unfriendly, that he isn't reviewing portfolios. Not a huge surprise. There were a lot of people waiting to see him, after all, so I already had a feeling this might happen. However, we managed to introduce ourselves, Dad got to get his signature on a couple books, and our friend said to keep in touch on Facebook and maybe we'll get another chance to talk with him more personally in the future. She actually had no idea that we had our portfolios, so there was a lack of communication on our side that I don't blame her for one bit.

Now you would think that'd be the end of the day. Wait in line for hours expecting one outcome only to be met with disappointment, but no. Instead, George recommends us to Tony Parker, who is sitting at the table right next door and who is, in fact, reviewing portfolios. After shaking hands with George, Tony invites us around. My sister and I each handed him our portfolios in turn and he went over both of them, first a silent flip through, then a more in depth critique. He told me what he liked, pointed out where my strengths are and what I could improve on, and gave a little advice about adjusting color between digital and printing so colors don't get muddled in the process. Finally he recommended another artist who has a similar style for me to reference. Some things I knew already, others I suspected but was pleased to have confirmation on; overall it was extremely insightful. In the end I was happy to have an industry professional look over my work, and whether it was George Perez or Tony Parker didn't matter. It was an awesome experience and I feel so inspired now that I know exactly where my skills are and where to take them from here. I'm going to be working a lot harder from now on.

So that was my Comic Con experience. I'll be going back on Sunday for the voice actor panel to see Troy Baker and Nolan North, but other than that that's about it. This was the opportunity I mentioned a couple weeks ago in my status. I didn't want to say any more until now because I didn't want to build up any expectations in case things didn't go, well, like I expected. Good thing! haha :D

Anyway, I'm really tired after being on my feet all day so I'm gonna crash the rest of the night. But I'm really excited to move forward, more than I've been in a long time.
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