Power-Con has now come and gone so lets talk about it.
Power-Con was my first official convention that I exhibited at and this was also my first time at Power-Con in general. Power-Con was very near and dear to me because not only was I selling artwork there but secondly and I also went as a fan.
Going into Power-Con as an exhibitor I was nervous. I was so nervous and it seemed like everything was going wrong up till the point that I was willing to walk away from it days before I was to fly out. I felt out of place when I got there because it was definitely out of my comfort zone yet it was welcoming at the same time. During set up I walked around mingle and get comfortable. I met many different people like Lamont Hunt the Dakota Kid, Pixel Dan from YouTube, Blast Studios who makes replicas of various weapons like the Power Sword and the Sword of Omens, Rudy Obrero who was the artist behind the box art from the 80s for Masters of the Universe, and everyone was as nice as can be and some of us even talked trips, hotels, and art techniques. Anyone who knows me knows how introverted I can be so if not for my partner there to help I probably would have stayed in a bubble and not met anyone.
Opening day of the convention I finished setting up my table. I had no banner behind me like almost everyone did and my sign was one I started just the day before because I forgot to bring one. I was improvising so much that I taped it my hotel window and used it as a light table and it sat on a plate display from Target purchased the day before just to keep it upright. As we set up my table I met my neighbor Andy Garza of Inkbat Studios. I remember thinking "Oh great I'm out of my league." Andy had some great pencils and beautiful inks and I had cartoons which I guess was familiar territory for a Masters of the Universe convention but I felt outclassed all around. I was surround by very talented artists. Needless to say I was very nervous about putting my work out there for the first time. For the first day I buried my head into an art pad. As I told everyone, I was just the talent and my partner, she was the one running the table. And that she did.
Over the course of the weekend I remember thinking that I made a mistake and was even discouraged my a DC writer who went out of his way to tell me "This isn't an art show ya know." As the weekend I felt more and more comfortable and sales were more than I expected. For a first convention I was surprised as I began to break even and to me that was a success.
Overall throughout the weekend I found were my weaknesses were, what I will need for next time, and how I can better improve to make the next one even better. That being said I have already begun working out returning for next year.
-Pat
