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Musings, Reviews, Comic Cons
Saturday morning we arrived early at the Metropolitan Convention Center to set up, and we were immediately impressed! The venue was excellent – new, spacious, airy, rather posh, and it was easy to carry stuff to our setup. We had a pipe and drape backdrop, too, which made it easy to put up the banner and posters.
So much geekery! Lots of different comics dealers, lots of cosplayers, steampunk was very popular, as was Harley Quinn, and furries! There was a rabbit who was very interested in the hats, and seriously, next time I must take pictures. But I was busy with the booth, too. I started selling goggles immediately, and sold out of every pair before the end of the day, even the odd colors. It was a very kid-friendly con – I appreciated that, as my kids were with me and got to walk around and see the sights a bit. But they were most interested in the booth directly in front of us – That Computer Store had a video game tournament featuring Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U! We've been thinking about maybe getting one for a family Christmas gift, and this was a great chance to admire it and try it out after the tournament. I also did a bit of facepainting. I did a little cartoon Minion, and some of my fair paintings like the rose and the dragon, and Pikachu wearing Ash's hat, and a few others. I'm going to have to paint a new sign with chibi characters and cartoons, just so the moms will realize that I can, in fact, paint a Minion or a My Little Pony or Alphonse Elric reproduced 2” in diameter on their kids' face. Kids are awesome – they come right up and ask for some outrageous thing and the moms get this look like “there's no possible way that can be done with face paint, please ask for something easy.” But it can be done! I love doing those! Joe thought there might have been upwards of 5,000 people there – I have no idea. I hardly left the booth – I usually don't. Of course I had to be there to paint faces... but the real reason is because I'm an introvert and a homebody at heart and if I have to be somewhere all day, I like to make a nice little home base and then STAY THERE in my safe zone. Because even crowds of the best people I've ever met are still crowds, and... eek. But everyone I saw was awesome, polite, enthusiastic about being there, and honestly I don't know what is going on at these conventions where harassment seems to be a thing? Every one I've been to in South Carolina – which is admittedly new at comic cons – has been wonderful and the people are the greatest. Maybe we're all just ridiculously polite, so accustomed to our “yes sirs,” and “no ma'ams,” and holding open doors for everyone that we just can't bring ourselves to destroy the homey, upbeat atmosphere with petty power struggles. Or maybe we just haven't had time to form cliques. If you'd love to come to a con but you're concerned about getting harassed because you might be considered some kind of wrongfan, let me be the first to invite you to a South Carolina comic con. We have a ton of fandoms excited to share our previously-closet geekiness with you, even if you are a newbie or not quite the usual fan. We featured Shandra Koger, creator of Lightning Prophetess, at my booth Saturday (and I still have prints and posters if you'd like to buy!) and she had quite a bit of interest in her art and characters. We had a full day, packed up at 6:00 pm, went to our slightly disappointing hotel (next time, we're booking earlier and getting the good hotel!), and settled on the Palmetto Pig BBQ buffet for dinner – which was incredible. The hushpuppies, y'all. Yes, the barbecue was stellar, but it's rare that even the lowly hushpuppy is made with such perfection. The slaw was also quite excellent, and the sweet tea was positively candied. If you want authentic, very reasonably priced, all-you-can-eat barbecue and you happen to be within 30 miles of Columbia, you have to go there. Devine Street, you'll find it. Drop a comment below if there's anything in particular you'd like to hear about next!
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I'm back from MonsterCon, and I met some of the most awesome people! I'm so glad I got the chance to talk to you all and find out what's really on your minds. I brought the Cosplayer Care Kit, and a couple of cosplayers did find me and get some safety pins, but I was pretty far back in a dead-end aisle, so if you looked for me and couldn't find me, I'm sorry! If you were there, regardless of whether you found me or not, I hope you had a great time. I didn't get out much beyond my own booth, but the vendors near me had the most amazing stuff! Shout out to Cat's Eye with the Noodle Kittens books and collectible toys and memorabilia, the guy across from me with the wooden Keyblades, swords, shields, and customizable clocks, and the one right beside me I didn't see much because of the solid wall but who had the fantastic silver jewelry trees! And let's not forget Richard's Comics & Collectibles, where I picked up some comics for Gamer Guy. Giveaway!In any case, I survived, and I wanted to celebrate by giving away one of my original mini art Vixies (mounted to a magnet so it's easy to hang and hard to lose). So everyone who is subscribed to my newsletter is entered in the giveaway, unless you send me a note saying to take you out of the contest. People who are related to me are also disqualified. (Sorry, Mama!) If you aren't subscribed and you'd like to enter, subscribe by Friday and I'll make sure you get in. Also! A couple of people who wrote down their emails to subscribe and enter at MonsterCon this past weekend are not entered. Two emails bounced and one was illegible. So if you are reading this and you signed up but have not gotten an email from OtherRealm Studio yet, check your spam filter and if it isn't there either, sign up for the newsletter with the button in the middle of the home page. It's a double opt-in, so you'll get an email back with a link to confirm your subscription. Now, if you are reading this trying to figure out why you are subscribed when you did not subscribe, I swear it's an honest mistake and I don't spam people or buy lists of emails. Just hit the unsubscribe button at the bottom of your email and MailChimp will take care of it. Electric City Comicon (EC3)I'm gearing up for the inaugural Electric City ComiCon - aka EC3 - at the Anderson County Main Library August 8th, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. I'm so excited and I hope to see some of you there. I expect to do lots of facepainting - this con is to promote literacy and introduce newbies to fandom, so I expect more of a fair atmosphere. South Carolina isn't quite used to comic cons, but we're excited to try them out! ;) What we do know all about around here are fairs, and we put on a good fair for any reason at all. Upcoming - Do You Need a Degree to be an Artist?Next on the blog, I'm answering your questions and hearing your point of view. Tune in Saturday for my next post on what it really takes to be a successful pro artist.
Other questions? Comment below! So, how are you liking the new look and organization so far? I tried a new thing awhile back, but... yeah, it didn't work. So I took a good hard look at what I do have, as opposed to what I want eventually, and discovered that I really have gotten somewhere.
I have beautiful abstract fairy tale art paintings to sell, a growing reputation as a face painter, new ideas coming at me left and right, and comics in the works! I'm so excited. I have been to the SC ComiCon and had an absolute blast, it was so amazing and gave me so much encouragement that what I want to do is actually going to work. I will be at MonsterCon in Gaffney in July, and we shall see how that goes, and I've also booked a space for the inaugural Electric City ComiCon in Anderson, which will be August 8th at the library. Lots of good stuff going on! And it was high time my site reflected that and really showcased my art and invited you to come explore the realms I'm creating with stories and art. I am also developing an online class - if you're an artist and you've ever gotten blocked or stuck, and would like to build a foundation to earn money from your art, you might want to check out my upcoming Unblock Your Art Biz class. |
Paula RicheyArtist, writer, creator of stuff. I just want to build worlds for you to escape to. Archives
March 2020
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