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Tequila and Con on the Cob

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This weekend didn’t involve any beer. *gasp* There was tequila instead – far too much of it. Back to beer next week.

The 2nd Annual Con on the Cob
COTC an awesome fantasy/art/gaming convention in Akron, OH. We just returned, worn out and happy. I learned a great deal about how art and conventions interact, so I’ll bestow upon you my learnings:

1. Mat, bag, & tag your art and layout your panels beforehand. Leave room to move things around, since your panel may be a slightly different size than expected. Also, the available attachment points may be spread out.

2. Bring your own binder clips or S-clips and tape. Bring every supply you think you might need, just in case.

3. If you have a lot of art, fill out the bid sheets before you arrive.

4. Get there early for a good spot (if it hasn’t been decided for you).

5. Hanging up a sign that says “prints available” doesn’t help much; you must go around telling people. Everybody. Multiple times. When someone says they like your art, say thanks, and oh by the way, I have prints for sale! And have them with you at all times.

6. Give out oodles of business cards.

7. Wearing your merchandise helps sell it.

8. Listen to people’s suggestions.

9. Participate in as many art events as you can.

10. Be friendly to everyone.

11. Party and canoodle with other artists.

12. Art trades foster camaraderie.

OK, now comes the bragging. N and I were introduced to miniature painting, which we both enjoyed immensely due to its brainless, soothing nature. He painted two little tiny dudes with teeth:
and I re-painted a larger undead tree model that came with a miniatures starter set I won at the raffle table:
We both entered the miniatures painting contest, and I won best “large size” entry (of two whole entries) and N won best non-human AND best-of-show miniature! He won a highly esteemed Corny award!!

I participated in both the Quick Draw and Iron Artist competitions with many talented artists, including the illustrious Mr. Jeff Easley. My foam flaming cowboy salamander was a flop (literally – it kept falling over), but it gave me a painting idea (props to Andy Hopp for the concept idea… oh, and for organizing the whole kickass convention and all). My CrashOctopus hats were a hit, and I sold some art! I sold two of the three “cute animals that begin with A” originals, as well as prints of said cuteness, and one pencil original. And the kicker – I won the Fan Favorite Corny Award! Everyone who attended could vote on their favorite, and ’twas me by a small margin. I couldn’t believe it. It made this convention even more rockin’ and I think Sunday was the best day ever. So far. I love you guys!!

And the best part: I got an original “butt print” from groovy artist Tony “Buns Of” Steele. Rock on.

Dark Beer, Slides

Xingu and Scanning Slide FIlm

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Let’s start with a good one. Xingu is one of my favorites. It’s a Brazilian “black beer” that has a light, sweet taste. It’s medium-bodied, but doesn’t leave that heavy, filmy feel in your mouth like most dark beers. It’s very smooth, no tang, and almost no aftertaste (you know, the bitter one that comes with most stouts & porters). Ratings (10 = I’d be happy if I died right now, 1 = nearly yakked):

M: 10
N: 8

I should note that the “I’d be happy if I died right now” sensation wore off after the beer was gone.

(edit: link to Xingu)

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This weekend has been an adventure in scanning slide film. I bought the fancy scanner that would do it well (Epson 4990 Photo). It’s a great scanner. However, the quality of the scanner is only as good as the software that you use with it (and vice versa). So… it came with Photoshop elements, which of course doesn’t work in Linux. The program I found, xsane, is a very good substitute. It doesn’t auto-crop the slides, but it scans transparencies well. The color correction, however, sucks pumpkins. Big ones. It illuminates the slides fairly well, but everything looks all magenta, so it took hours to correct them all. And there were a few great slides I cut out of my portfolio because I couldn’t get the damned scanned file to look like the slide.

The lesson: Ask the lab to scan them onto a CD for you. It’s worth the extra five bucks. Believe me. It’s nice to know I could do it myself if I had to, but it’s just not worth the effort… and they do it better anyway.

Blogging

An Ode to Art and Beer

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Beer. No, not just beer. I have to be more specific. Dark beer? Hmm… Slightly better.

The imbibish part of this blog will focus on said beverage. I cannot stand the light-colored swill that passes for beer in this country. N and I drink (and rate) only beers that have the words “stout,” “porter,” or “dark” in the title and are chocolaty-brown in color. My snooty beer preference I blame entirely on my dad, who thoroughly enjoys dark beers. He also enjoys just about any kind of food put in front of him, and never met a piece of pie he didn’t like, and I blame those traits on him, too.

So, beer. N and I buy a new kind every time we visit the Beverage Resort (complete with a waterfall and plastic tropical trees), and their selection changes every time. Each new beer gets a 1 (bad) to 10 (kickass) rating from me and from Nathan, and a brief description, if we aren’t too beer-ed up to remember it. Generally, we don’t get toasted on this stuff – it’s too good to waste by forgetting. And we bring this ranking to you, for your enjoyment of fine dark beer, and to help us remember what we’ve tried and what we’d rather not buy ever again.

The other half of the blog: art. I have recently discovered that I desperately want to explore the world of art as it exists beyond backgroundless pencil drawings. Within the last 6 months or so, I’ve bought paper, board, claybord, gouache, paintbrushes, palettes, canvases, and pastels, to name a few, in an attempt to explore the world of color. Henceforth come my mis-adventurous relationship with art, put down in electrons to help both you and me. Here’s to my ability to make horrible art mistakes so you don’t have to.