SketchKon 2018 Fun and Sketchbook update!

On November 2-4 in Pasadena California, the first ever Sketch Kon was held and I had the pleasure/privilege to represent Stillman & Birn at the event. Stillman & Birn, for those who don't know, make my favorite line of papers and are, quite literally, the only paper that I am willing to draw on anymore. I spent that weekend manning the Stillman & Birn booth, talking with attendees about making art and art supplies, and showing them some of my work and talking about my process. It was probably, one of the best weekends of my life. I was surrounded by so many creative people, I was representing a product I believe in, and I got the chance to draw some cool things!

Below are some of the highlights of the sketches I did at the event. These were done in 2 of S&B's newest lines of paper, the Nova series which come in Beige, Gray, and Black toned papers. These were mainly done in my beige and gray books, I'm building up my skills to be able to tackle the black paper, and I used gouache, watercolors, poster paint markers, pencils, inks, and acrylic inks on these. That's a loooot of tools to use, but this paper is amazing!

Character Design painted before my flight to Pasadena

Drawn on the flight to Pasadena

Sketches of restaurant goers on Friday night

Some demonstration sketches and a Moscow Mule from Saturday night

The Westin Bar on Saturday Night

Church across from the Westin, drawn on location and painted at the airport before my return flight

Character drawn during the event and painted after I returned to GA

My Trip to Berkeley, California

I recently returned from a short trip to Berkeley, CA where I was invited to give a presentation about why I love to use Stillman and Birn paper and to try out some new products coming out later this year. That's the reason I went, but the experience was so much more amazing than even just that alone.

I met so many kind art supply reps, artists, art store owners and even just people in the area who were so kinda and said amazingly flattering things about me that the whole trip felt like a dream. I was told by many that they loved having me there and that they really enjoyed my art and hoped that I could make all my dreams happen. Well, this was certainly one of them.

As a kid, my favorite books to have were related to art, especially when we would get art supply catalogs in the mail. I never would have thought, some 20 years later, that I would be befriending and networking with art supply people or with stores who have told they want me to come by and do demos at their stores. It was an amazing experience and one that I'll always remember!

Thank you to everyone who I spoke with, presented to, and just was there to make this event a blast! I also want to thank Stillman and Birn, specifically Michael, for inviting me to the event and for taking a chance on me to help promote your product! Now it's time for me to get back to drawing, I have a convention to prepare for!

Below are some of the drawings that I did while on the trip, all of which were done in a new type of Stillman and Birn sketchbook that is one of the best sketchbooks I've ever had. I filled up at least 12-15 pages of it in 3 days, and I can't wait to share more of it!