So there was a pop culture convention in Canberra called Gammacon (yay for another convenient place to go to). Emmajeans and I went to represent the ACT Comic Meet peoples. We arrived early and eventually found the place. Signage was unfortunately lacking but we had a good general idea where it could be due to our exposure to the ANU campus. Our table was all pre setup with  ’ACT Comic Meet’ stuck to it – we also had a backing board and chairs all ready to go which was nice. The Artist alley seemed to have it’s own assigned caretaker who was very friendly and helpful. We also got a quick security and safety talk that I thought was very clear and professional. Beside us we had Spae and Jin so we had other crazy art people to keep us company. There was board games, video games, cosplay, drawing and trinkets.

We had people of various sorts pass our table-  the cute enthusiastic little nerdy kids that were very proud of their cosplay, the painfully awkward teenagers, the boisterous students and some friendly jerks (hi Adam ! ). Not much comic stuff around to speak of besides us and friends. We had a strange vibe at this con where there seemed to be a higher amount of people acting inappropriate and generally more like hyper children then the actual children…. who were nice. I’m not certain why but my theory is it’s due to people who are used to mucking around at the University. It’s like this is their stomping ground and they believe their behaviour did not have to be altered for the setting. This was meant to be a public event that people are paying to attend not how you would act at home with friends. Apparently Gammcon has been around for a while but this year they are trying to push the event away from a purely Anime event to a pop culture event. I had a sense the primary event organisers had a good idea of how the event should be run but a few instances of particular events run very badly tainted it considerably.

I think I would be interested in giving the event another go next year – there was a lot of feedback forms filled out so this will lead to better things. It was certainly a day that we took away many crazy stories from.  It was also the 1st time I actually put up a sign saying I would do commissions…. which no one purchased but still it was there and will be ready to stickup next time

Gavin THE really really tired … like Con tired Thomson

 

 

Tomorrow is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! The day when you get an assortment of free comics from your local comic store. You can then go throw them at people who you think would like them who don’t read comics. Unfortunately I will be tided up with my commitments to my day job so will not be able to go- so you go for me! Get some free comics and enjoy.

Our local Canberra comic shop Impact Comics is having a comics, cos-play, writing signings and artists doing FREE sketches.

Many artists on site will also be from the Liedekijn exhibition and more! 

So go in get a sketch, a bunch of comics and all that gooooood stuff!

-Gavin THE missing out on FCBD this year Thomson

 

 

 

Hi peoples,

I have redone my store thing and moved it off this site and into a website called sketchbookscribbles.storenvy.com.
Partly because it just looked so damn awkward here and partly because it might be easier for random people to find it. Shall see how it goes – does look damn pretty and seems to have a good set of features for somewhere you can freely sell your artistic creations.

Have a look and let me know what you think. I will look into putting a commission option in latter.

Thanks!

-Gavin THE selling all the things Thomson.

 

Today was the ‘Watson Zine Fair’ at the Watson Arts center in Canberra. We setup a small table as part of the ACT Comic Meet. Many many of our peeps were in attendance.

It was a small turnout but we had a fun time and the organisers were nice and helpful – and this time we was out of the wind and sun! It felt more like a meetup but with people chatting more about comics and looking over each others stuff which was fun.

Ryan Lindsay of ‘My little pony’ comic fame and Jin of High School Romance was using one of Ben’s blank ‘make your own comics’ to make a impromptu story about a space robot. Look for the exciting crazy tale soon … maybe at Supanova Sydney.

So fun times had and bits and pieces sold. The day ended up nicely as a drink and draw at the local pub where I sketched many costume ideas.

More zine/small comic convention things in the future before the Supanova Sydney!

- Gavin THE needs to get back to his comic thing Thomson.

 

 

 

 

Hi, 

Now that the Liedekijn exhibition is over you lucky lucky people can find the orginal page I created at the ACT Comic Meet Etsy Store.

Now entitled ‘Seduction in the leaves’ it was made using copic markers and love and is the product of many pages of sketchbook scribbles to come to a design I liked…well liked the most…. well didn’t hate. You can also find the limited edition A4 print on Hahnemuhle rag paper (that’s fancy long lasting paper).

While you are there the book is also still for sale. Get it now before they all be GONE!!!

-Gavin THE Thomson.

 

Well I am back from the Dendy Canberra and Impact Comics screening of ’Graphic Novels! Melbourne!’ presented to us by Bruce Mutard. It was a documentary of interviews with a selection of the most well known comic making people of Melbourne by Daniel Hayward and comics maker Bernard Caleo.

It was a fun viewing with interviews of the comic artists Pat Grant (‘Blue’), Mandy Ord (‘Rooftops’, ‘Sensitive Creatures’), Bruce Mutard (‘The Sacrifice’, ‘The Silence’) and Nicki Greenberg (‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘Hamlet’). Was nice to see there thoughts on why they make comics (cause it sure ain’t for the money our groupies) and see the shots of the varied methods used to create. Pens, pencils, paints, digital and ink was all on display. I was particularly suprised by the sheer size of Pat Grants originals from his work ‘Blue’ when I’m more used to seeing a trend where artists seem to be drawing smaller and smaller. Each of his originals need to be framed I think.

The star of the show for me was Many Ord who brought lots of humor and smiles from her tales of comic creation… and questionable naming chocies for events.
Bruce also gave some pretty good straight answers to queries about finding writer artist collaborations at the end.

Thanks again to Impact comics and to Bruce Mutard for presenting and answering questions.

Huzzah for another Comic based event in Canberra!

- Gavin THE Thomson.

 

Hey!

Guess what!?! I am tired and sleepy and writing another blog post. Damn I’m dedicated to my adoring puplic..and the less adoring of you.

So last night was the follow-up event associated with the liedekijn exhibition – an afternoon of comic/art talks at the ACT writers centre and what turned out to be more turkish food and drinks then a room full of comic loving people can consume.

It was certainly an eventful time with action scenes when the mini beer keg decided to rupture and spray beer everywhere. If it wasn’t for Ben’s timely impression of a 60′s Batman running with a bomb held aloft out of the room we would had to have been trying to soak the stuff out of carpet instead of just the walls. Personally I blame the Joker… his schemes just don’t seem to have the luster that they once did. However he did bring smiles to people’s faces so I guess that’s good.

We had talks by:

Katie Winchester: Former Canberran and animator extraordinaire for Mythbusters (yes THAT Mythbusters). Who showed as a demo reel of her work and talked on the highs and lows of being a freelance artist.

Tim McEwen: Who gave an awesome speech on … well pretty much how to be a cool artist. As I understand much of it involves looking like James Dean, learning how to be an escape artist and being a Jazz musician in your spare time. I really enjoyed seeing the art process work, inking and thoughts on drawing hands.

Bruce Mutard: Bruce gave us a detailed account of the history of wars and how working on a story for 2 years to find your publisher feels the story meets expectations can drive you into a spiral of new creative story ideas. Also awesome to see progress drawings.

I found it interesting that all artists seemed to want to brush past showing the process of their art as soon as possible when I find that the most interesting part.

Thanks for the all the people attending. I hope you had a good time. Thanks for being patient with technology holdups. A special thanks to Ben for being the bartender and to Matt for endeavoring to help crack the technology issues. And lastly a special thanks to Emma for once again conceiving, organising and pushing this idea into reality.

Unfortunately I did not manage to get many pics of the night as I was super busy but here’s what I got

-Gavin THE Thomson.

 

Liedekijn Exhibition is now officially open!

The great event happened last night where the original works of 24 artists was presented to the public at the The Front Gallery in Canberra (running from 26 March – 8 April 2013). This is a sequential exhibition where each artist created an image to show the stages of the the medieval Dutch/Flemish fairytale The Song of Heer Halewijn. Fairy tales are great for there bloody nature, bold actions and the awesome imagery.

Emma-jean did an awesome job pushing this from an idea into a fully fledged professional event of fun. I took up my place as the booth babe and dispensed art books and prints upon the public. The room filled with people from across the land, high and low, drinks was raised, tales of artisitic creations struggles and techniques was traded.

It was a great night of art and fun and a well deserved celebration of all involved.

Do yourself a favour and get down to the exhition while it’s still on at The Front Gallery, Wattle St, Lyneham, ACT, Australia.

Or if you can’t make it then you can get the art book of the exhibiton online here - also avaiable from Impact Comics Canberra and All Star Comics in Melbourne.

Gavin THE Thomson