Friday night I drove down to Orlando to hang with my best bud, John Beatty who was going to be a guest at OrlandoCon. John had driven down ahead since I had to work late. I pulled into the parking lot to find Beatty, John Higashi, Mike Gowcharan and Kwan walking back from the convention hall. They had gone over to get the lay of the land. We decided to get some dinner and ended up at a Chinese Buffet. It was a little hole in the wall joint, the grub was okay but the company was better. We talked about everything from what our con expectations were to Mike Wieringo’s untimely passing, to poker strategies, to Big Beatty’s upcoming trip to the Philippines.
We went back to the hotel and ended up looking at some of Higashi’s latest art pickups. Mike brought out his poker chips, we all threw a ten spot into the pot and played a winner take all no limit Texas Hold’em Tournament. Despite a great start, the best I could manage was second place [Mike came in first] and as Beatty reminded me, second paid the same as last place. Harumph!
The next morning Higashi and I got up early to meet Mike and Kwan [and his girlfriend] for some breakfast. Beatty decided he needed more sleep and didn’t join us. He was up and ready to roll when we got back to the room so we all headed over to show. The convention hall was really much bigger than I had expected.
Beatty and I took a walk around to see who was set-up. We stopped to talk a bit with Tommy Castillo who had some really cool prints of his art and a nice sketchbook available for fans. I was surprised to find Greg “The Hammer” Valentine set up across the way from Tommy. Shaking his mit was like grabbing onto some leather covered with sandpaper. As we walked around we saw several friends [Tim Gordon, Phil from Coliseum of Comics, Scoup-to-Nuts, Shawn Surface, and many others].
Beatty headed over to his table and began work on his first commission of the show [the Punisher drawing above]. The special guest artist of the show was Leinil Francis Yu. I’m a huge fan of his work. Kwan hooked me up with a copy of Leinil’s sketchbook [thanks Kwan! — and…No, I didn’t palm a stack of your chips!]. Leinil was doing quick headshots for fans and I hoped to get one. Leinil had also agreed to do a more detailed head and torso sketches for each of the two winners of a Hero Initiative auction. Higashi and I [and a ton of other fans] each bought 3 tickets. Beatty went over to talk to Leinil and introduced me. We shook hands and I told him I was a fan. He was very gracious. We didn’t talk long because he already had a huge line of other fans waiting to meet him.
As I was walking around I was surprised to find Joe Bluhm set up. Joe is a fantastic artist and I regularly visit his site. I hadn’t known Joe was going to be at the show and immediately talked to him about doing a Stallone sketch for me. Joe agreed and I knew that if I wasn’t able to get any other pieces, his would make the show worthwhile.
I knew that Ron Salas was going to be at the convention. I really am impressed with his work and also visit his site regularly. Once Ron was set up Higashi and I went over to meet him. Ron was as nice as he is talented. He agreed to do a Stallone sketch for me. Higashi proceeded to set up a Star Wars sketch for himself and a World’s Finest piece for Hawaiin Dave.
It was time for the Leinil Yu raffle drawing so we headed over. They were only drawing two winners and you had to be present to win. The first number was pulled and the crowd waited to see who would step forward… going once… going twice… new number! The next number was pulled and immediately a guy yelled, “That’s me!” Time for the last winner. The ticket was pulled and the numbers called out… “Six…” – I had a six! “Eight…” – I had an eight! – “Zero…” I had a zero! I quickly looked again, 680! Yep! It was me. I raised my hand and yelled, “I’ve got it!” I could hear Kwan and others laughing, Zablo won!
I went over and turned in my ticket. I walked over to talk to Leinil about my request. He was in to it and said that he was going to do me a nice drawing. Did he ever! As he was drawing it, other fans continued to come over and tell me how cool it looked and how nicely it was coming along. Beatty and Kwan didn’t want me to see it until it was completed. That didn’t stop them from going over to look at and film Leinil’s progress. Word came back that he was doing it bigger than normal and putting way more details than usual. I couldn’t wait to get my mits on it… but I didn’t want to rush Leinil so I stayed far away. LOL!
I headed back over to see how Joe was doing with my Stallone piece. It was finished. Joe had decided to whip up Sly as Rocky Balboa. It was an amazing piece. Joe absolutely nailed it. I thanked him and headed back to show the guys. Beatty is very seldom impressed. His response was, “Wow! That’s really nice! Let me see that!” He then positively commented on everything from the drawing itself to the color choices. If Beatty’s impressed, it’s a rare thing, indeed. Beatty was working on his second Punisher commission [above] so I decided to walk around a bit more.
Alex Saviuk was set up. I had swung by earlier to say, “hi.” I was walking by his table when he called me over and said, “I saw you have your Stallone reference here. Bring it by and I’ll give you that sketch I owe you!” [Alex had been doing sketches for charity a while back and I purchased one with the understanding that he’d do it when he got the chance.] Alex drew Sly as Superman! What a great guy and great sketch!
Leinil finished my Rambo sketch. It was amazing. Several fans came over to say how nice it was. I couldn’t believe my luck in winning and then that Leinil would come through in such a spectacular way. I’ll post up a better scan to it [and all of my pieces] soon.
I was showing my sketches to a friend who came by the table. He wasn’t familiar with Joe Bluhm’s work. I was telling him about Joe and his book Rejects. Joe is a caricaturist and occasionally he does a drawing that the customer doesn’t want. Surprisingly these are often some of the best drawings of the day! Joe has put together a great book called Rejects. It features rejected caricatures and his comments about them. When Joe told Beatty about the book, Beatty said it was a great idea and that he’d pay to have me drawn in “reject mode.” We all laughed. Higashi heard this and decided it was a great idea. The next thing I knew Higashi had his camera out and aimed in my direction…
It was almost time for me to head out… I wasn’t staying for both days of the show. I swung by Joe’s table to thank him again for the great drawing. I saw that he had an opening and asked if he’d do another Stallone piece for me. He agreed.
I walked down to say goodbye to Ron Salas. I told him that Higashi or Beatty would pick up my piece on Sunday and that it was a pleasure meeting him. I swung by to say good bye to a few other folks. I then picked up my second Joe Bluhm piece [was my luck running good or what], said so long to Beatty and Higashi and then was headed for home!
Yesterday, the February Sketch Society meeting was held. Although I’m not an artist, I enjoy hanging out with friends who are. Big John Beatty [in the corner] was there working on a really nice Doctor Strange commission. He also showed me progress on a Modok piece for a fan that really rocks. Rob Smith drove over and brought work with him. Rob travels the state, seems to know everyone and is always fun to hang with. 
Sean Shaw [left] and Mark Dail [right] made the meeting. Both guys live in Daytona. It was a blast hanging out with everyone. There were a lot of laughs as the discussion ranged from art to politics to movies to… well, just about everything. The next meeting is scheduled for March 29th. More details will be posted as we get closer to the date. Hope you can make it!
