Monday, May 6, 2013

How to Be A Con Artist Part I


Not long ago a con friend of mine (and sort of former student of mine) recommended that I post the information I shared in a class I held at conventions on 'how to be a convention artist'.  The class was pretty popular and I enjoyed teaching it because I had felt there were a lot of young people jumping into the artist alley and were sort of floundering.

Before I get too into the information, allow me to sort of introduce myself (if you don't already know me).  My name is Georgia Horesh and my company is Stormwolf Studios.  I graduated with a BA in illustration/cartooning from The School of Visual Arts.  The first convention I attended was Otakon in 1995.  I basically hitched a ride with some people I knew and ended up in the middle of nowhere, where the convention was being held.  And I believe I was only 1 of 5 or 7 girls that were attending.  The following year, I went with some friends who had a fanzine titled Phantasy Flight and it was there at that point that I began trying to sell copies of art I had done, at the table. 

For many young artists going to conventions now, you should know, they weren't the same back then.  Without getting into war stories I can tell you the following: There weren't many anime conventions, the artist alleys were almost all 'first come first serve' and usually set in a hall somewhere in the hotel, there were almost zero to none girls sitting at tables drawing and there were no 'professional' prints or toys or crafted items.

My table at Otakon 1998
When you got to the convention, you had to get up stupid early to grab a table where the artist alley was being held (and it was usually made up of whatever tables the convention could get from the hotel staff and chairs) and you did NOT leave till late into the night.  If you left, your table was going to be grabbed by someone else.  We sat with our prismacolor markers and did commissions for the most part and for low low prices.  By the time I got involved in the artist alley, many of the guys there already knew each other from the convention circuits.  I was one of the few who started selling Kinko copies of my art and most of the work was commissioned pieces; And it was almost all traditional hand done art.

Over time, more women came into the artist alley and more prints and copies came in.  The conventions took a long time to accept the artist alley as a legitimate and worthwhile aspect of the weekend.  It really was the unwanted step-child most times.  You had to rely more on the Art Show and selling pieces there than people walking through the artist alley and buying your stuff.  The reasons most of the artists were there in the Alley weren't many.  They boiled down to: wanting to network with other artists, hanging with friends, improving their artwork and skill, and to make some money.  Making money was either for themselves as a job or to simply have money to go into the Dealer's room to buy stuff.  (I think most money went to the Dealer's Room)

Otakon 2000
I attended conventions like Otakon, Katuscon, Nekocon, and other smaller anime cons.  I also attended Dragon*Con, Balticon, San Diego Comic-Con and other non-anime cons.  So I did have a view of different types of conventions.  Also, I was able to gain a different perspective on the artists that attended these different conventions.  Those that had a table at Dragon*Con were not the same type that would get a table at Otakon.  Most of the non-anime conventions stayed the same over the years, though the buyer's market shrank as the economy suffered.  Anime conventions though, went through a larger change that most attendees probably weren't even aware of.

Artist Alleys started charging for tables, initially to help out artists who were tired of having to stake a claim all day on a spot - many who ran the artist alleys were artists themselves who understood what their friends were going through; and we were all friends.  We all knew each other.  What this did was help make the Alley a more legitimate place and the convention made a bit of money from selling table space - like the Dealer's Room.  The number of artists that began wanting tables grew and so did the Artist Alley.  More girls began setting up shop and the tables started being just that; a shop. Over time, it wasn't just drawn art that was being sold, but t-shirts, key chains, cups, jewelry, hats and costume pieces, along with clothes for dolls and more.

Katsucon 2000
Some convention staff handled the changes better than others.  There was often friction between artists and staff as table placement or space was brought into question.  Then there was content allowances that had to be followed as some conventions didn't want too much fan art (I'll talk more about fan art in another post), or what was considered craft compared to what was considered art.  Remember, many con-staff were people who remembered the hand drawn artwork of years before and didn't want that overshadowed in the Artist Alley by items that were mass produced.  In fact, some convention Artist Alleys would not allow some artists to show their work if there was too much mass produced items and would direct them to the Dealer's Room.

That was just in the Artist Alley - changes were happening at the conventions too.  During the late 90's there was a boom of anime and manga in the United States.  Part of it is thanks to Cartoon Network.  The other thanks is to stores like Barnes & Nobles who started carrying manga on their shelves.  See, previous to that, the ONLY place you could get manga and anime was at the conventions in the Dealer's Room - and most of that was probably illegal to be honest (though some cons were more careful about that sort of thing than others).  People came to the cons to get all the latest stuff (and keep in mind, the web was still new to most and not widespread AND there were no downloads to be had), see the newest animes and buy all the dolls, posters and cells they could afford.  It was the only way you could.

Katscon 2001
When all things Japanese became cool here in the U.S. that changed the market.  While it expanded the convention attendance numbers, it also expanded the market of buyers in the artist alley.  There was a boom of sorts for us artists.  Most attendees were young people with money to burn.  Yes, there were many who said they had just 'spent all their money in the Dealer's Room' or didn't even know about the Artist Alley,  yet there were still enough to buy art or get a commission done.

Of course, all booms burst don't they?

With the economy falling apart in the mid-2000's, the amount of money being able to be spread around began to dry up.  People stopped buying stuff in the Dealer's Room or ordering manga and anime through the companies legitimately distributing them and got those through web piracy instead.  There was less money to be made in selling items people could easily get by surfing the internet for a free copy.  While I was going and doing well, over time, my ability to cover my cost for attending a convention began to get compromised.  I had to cut back on the cons I was going to because if I couldn't guarantee making my money back, there was just no way I could go.

Then my personal life changed. 

Due to money and moving, I haven't been to a con in the last 3 or 4 years.  I know now that women in the Artist Alley are either even in number or outnumber the men.  I take some pride in knowing that, I was one of the pioneers in there...  Perhaps I helped make other girls feel more comfortable setting up their tables, or inspired another young artist to try and compete with the boys.  The downside of course was that I created my competition in the end, but hey, that's how it goes right? 

I am hoping to start attending cons again when I resettle on the East Coast.  I know Otakon is going to have a convention in Las Vegas so that might be where I start once more.  Who knows.

NekoCon 2007 or 2008. Courtesy of Deirdre MeClintock
I do know I miss my friends from the conventions.  I miss trading sketchbooks and drawing for fun in them, laughing with other artists, inspiring each other, doing the grind of commissions.  I miss talking to attendees or seeing their face light up when they see something on my table that they love.  I miss drinking way too much coffee and staying up much later than necessary (the hour of 'stupid-o'clock) working on commissions I was determined to get done for the next day.  I miss the feeling I got when I sold my work to someone, or when they would just look through my portfolio and like what I did.  I miss the actual drawing too; the way my brain had to come up with something for a commission or a new piece of art to put in the Art Show.

Perhaps that chapter of my life is done as I start the new one, or perhaps it can be part of it.  I'll have to wait and see.

But that ends this first part - I wanted you to get a sense of my history in the Artist Alley and where I am coming from before getting into anything.  Next post will be more specific information for you guys.

See part II here: How To Be A Con Artist Part II

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