DragonCon 2009

[Grendel Grack]

Several people (including myself) from the CA Atlanta sketch group will be attending DragonCon this year. Anyone else planning to attend? There is the possibility of a Saturday evening sketch meet in the works. Speak up!

[Asatira]

I'm planning on going. Saturday is looking good for me.

[guggemmaneuver]

saturday night drawing party! :)

[trevor]

where is it gonna take place? ill be there as well as marco mazzoni twitchfinger john bridges and spinefinger is coming down from jersey to hang out that weekend
if no location is in mind
i have a huge loft downtown not too far from the con
we could get models even
but i sold all of my lighting when i moved to the atl so that would need to be covered

[John Bridges]

Wow, sketchparty at Howling Loveboys HQ! Sounds cool. The con, of course, goes on all night on Saturday, with concerts, parties, etc. Any thoughts on doing it Sunday night, when most of the con has wound down a bit? I don't want to miss my chance of catching the Shat at the Hyatt bar and plying him with drink until he does a rendition of Rocketman for me.

[Asatira]

I think some of us are going for Saturday night precisely because some people will be only for that day.

I have no idea where this is going to be. I know we want to meet someplace close by, if not in one of the con hotels, and where we could actually stay put without getting in the midst of the traffic. Oh, gods, the traffic in some of the hotel lobbies and public areas.

[Grendel Grack]

There hasn't been serious discussion on location, yet. Trevor, is your place within walking/MARTA distance of the con?

[chaosrocks]

Im there!
sounds great!
what ever ya'll decide is spiffy

chaorocks

[trevor]

marta is exactly 200 feet away from my building!
BOOM!

[Grendel Grack]

Sweet! What time would be best?

edit: I guess the best thing to do would be to meet up at the con and then travel together.

[dierat]

Sounds cool! I'll be there :drinkup:

[guggemmaneuver]

John Bridges>>> i know right! the Priceline Negotiator is gonna be there!

all>>> So we're talking about leaving con, and heading to trevroars?

For the un-MARTA-initiatized that entails:
• get 2 MARTA fares put onto a paper card (if you don't already have a Breeze card, each fare is $1.75, for a total of $3.50)
• Go to Peachtree Center Marta Station, descend extremely long escalator.
• Take a South Marta Train
• Get off at 5 points station (it is the next stop)
• Get on an Eastbound train
• Get off at King Memorial Marta station
• go under bridge / Mattress Factory Lofts is right there.

[Asatira]

I'm game with meeting up and heading over. Meet outside a hotel or at the Peachtree Station? Any idea when?

[lavhoes]

I'll be in town but not sure if I can make it, and won't know until that night. Is there somebody I can call to see where everybody's at on Saturday night?

[trevor]

ill be sending out details when we get closer to the event
ill give out my email for rsvp's and give my # and directions
does anyone want a model? maybe some costumed life drawing?
ill set up a still life if anyone wants as well
of course we could just doodle and party hahaha

[Grendel Grack]

This is so exciting! I'd be happy to pitch in for hiring a model, but I'm totally content to doodle and party :)

lavhoes: I sent you a PM.

[John Bridges]

I've got friends coming in from out of town who I don't want to abandon, but I might sneak away from the con for at least a little while for this.

[guggemmaneuver]

All / Asatira>>> with the way this is shaping up, probably meeting up at peachtree center will be the best thing to do, since it will be relatively less crowded than the main con areas, then we can all MARTA IS SMARTA over there together.

TyLenoLavhoes>>> Awesome news! can u bring baby alligator back from the big easy for us to draw? you know, one of the cute ones that makes clicky sounds. awesome k thx. but seriously, will hopefully see / draw with ya when yr in town! the phonumerals are the same as phobefore so feel free to holla back to touch base with the guggs.

claxtonian>>> Want me to call some potential models? That would be awesome, and i don't mind doing the calling to the model list and so forth, but there'd have to be an RSVP situation as it can get kind of expensive (going rate ~$20 an hour, probably be best to figure a bit extra since this would be on a saturday night.). I don't know about costumey elements, but maybe we could just kidnap a costumed con-goer and bring them along? Pfffft. Felonies. Just hanging out and drawing is just fine too.

grackle>>> Congratulations on your kilopost! and thanks for taking the initiative with this thing! i can't wait!

[Grendel Grack]

Guggs: I'm having a small ceremony to celebrate my accomplishment :)

[trevor]

im going to do my best to get the word out there about this lil event
i would love to have a model there and if people want one but are broke due to con travel i will gladly cover it
things you should bring
alcohol
food or cash for pizza ordering (cards aint a big help splitting a bill)
drawing suppplies
furry porn

not many rules just shoes off, dont trash the joint and clean up after yourself
ill provide munchies coffee music lighting ambiance and some howling loveboys
if you want to paint bring a dropcloth and your own turpentine
power strips could be useful too if your using a laptop but im sure we can make do
maybe il get a projector from the office and we could do some demos
please let me know what aspects you all are interested in and if i havent already brought something up that you think would be cool start posting
this will be fun
i want to fill my 1200 sq feet with art creation people
get on it! hahaha
and yeah thx guggggggg
if you cant find costume models ill see what i can dig up
and just let me know if there is one you have worked with before who you think is good and would enjoy themselves
so what time are we looking at for this 6 ish? 530?
when does the show close sturday?
(if anyone knows how i can get a pro badge it would be way better than shelling out 50 bucks as we dont have a booth this year haha)

[guggemmaneuver]

Do electric howling loveboys dream of day-glo tube socks???

I think 5:30-6:30ish would be great. but i'll probably bring my own odd something or other to eat and hold off on the yummy 'zzza. since it'd be earlier, we could easily get in a solid 2-4 hours of art time in before heading back towards con for weird *con parties.

Okay, cool. I'll go ahead and put a call in to this one model i have in mind...she's really great and unbelievably cool too. Very professional and amazing at being still for long poses. And i will ask also if she has any costumey type stuff, which i'm guessing she may well have plenty of. more information forthcoming – Same Guggey channel – Same Guggey time – Stay tuned – more en dash abuse coming soon!!!

I'll probably just be working in inkwash and guoache. But then maybe, i'll bring up some marble to sculpt? Is it going to be okay if we have a wall of your house removed to get my marble block lifted in by crane? Also you might want to rent speakers because the sound of chipping stone will be kind of loud. cool?

hmmmm... that's all i can think of for now.

m

[lavhoes]

Grendel: Thanks for the PM, now I've got both you and ms. guggs saved to my phone!

guggenmaneuver: I will certainly do my best, though no guarantees the bebbeh gator will be gator-shaped. At least I'll be there, maybe! Just gotta double-check with the lady to see if we can make it.

trevor: That all sounds awesome. My best friend is actually a model, I'm trying to get ahold of her to see if she'd be interested. She was going to DragonCon anyway (last I checked) so she'd be in the area.

[guggemmaneuver]

:lifedrawing:

update: i made phone call to said model. she's out of the country until 24 august. and i left her a message but it's more or less on hold until sometime between Monday and Wednesday when she gets back in town. found the models database so finding someone else, in case she can't do it won't be an issue.

hip hip hooray!

m:geekg:

[Grendel Grack]

I don't have my program yet (got shipped to the wrong address) does anyone know who is doing the portfolio reviews?

[trevor]

ok just keep me up to date on the model sitch
mazzoni and i did white wolf review last year lots of fun but not a lot of people showing work
does the website have that info grendel?

[Asatira]

The site says the pocket program schedule will be posted on the 24th, so we'll probably have a better idea of things Monday.

[Grendel Grack]

trevor, we probably met last year at the booth :) I was talking with Brian Glass for a bit about some freelance work. Did you say White Wolf doesn't have a booth this year?

The con website doesn't have the schedule posted yet, but as Asatira mentioned, the PDF will be available, soon. I'm just impatient.

[trevor]

yeah no booth this year which is odd for our company seeing as how we are in atlanta
brian is an amazing guy
one of the most insane people here..in a good way (everyone here is a bit nuts at the very least hahaha)

[chaosrocks]

um
I almost hate to say this
but I am both a costume designer
and spent most of my college years as a model

I would be willing to take turns
and provide some costuming of an historical nature

I have skin and am not afraid to use it
for a good cause

[trevor]

if we dont get the model that would be great but then again having a model isnt neccessary i just wanted to make sure everyone has a good time
if nobody wants to do life drawlin then thats fine too but i dont want to spend cash on a model if nobody will draw her/him
so let me know
we could also you know
just hag out and have fun hahaha

[Grendel Grack]

Perhaps we should just keep things simple and just have a good ol' fashioned sketch party without a model. From my experiences with the CATL sketchgroup we end having more lively discussions, food fights, and causing public mayhem rather than sketching. If we end up with nothing else to do we can always set up a still life. Also, no one will have to worry about spending the aforementioned cash moneys for a model.

[Asatira]

I'm more open for a sketch party. A model would be a plus, but I could do without.

[chaosrocks]

giggle I think I scared ya'll

[Grendel Grack]

I support chaos in all its forms :) I actually think it would be really cool to do some costume sketching. I'm just thinking that there will be more socializing than drawing since we rarely get the chance to talk in person.

[trevor]

well it does mean we would have a bit more space
ill go halfway then and set up a kick ass still life hahaha

[Grendel Grack]

Hey chaos, what's up with the costume contest? I'd like to check it out and cheer you on.

trevor: I'm interested to see what you come up with for the still life. For some reason I'm imagining various types of unidentified mummified remains, jars of preserved giant parasitic worms, shrunken heads, hands of fate, basilisk fangs, dismembered killer robot parts - you know, the normal stuff any concept artist would have in their studio.

[chaosrocks]

doubt if I'll enter this year
Im on the road till just a few day sbefore I leave again for DC. so I can't really do a good job ad I hate being half assed,
Last year.. my daughter said I looked like a deer in the headlights modeling my dress, but the dress was cool
she volunteered to model anything I did but just don;t hink I;ll have time. sshe wants victorian steam punk

[dierat]

I'm pretty excited about the idea of having a model there, so if you happen to get one, I'll definitely draw from the model and help with the cost. If not, that's cool too.

[guggemmaneuver]

I will find out about the model situation within next day or two. Getting model is not an issue, I promise :)

m

[CrookedHorn]

this is an awesome idea so count me in!
is it this Saturday? sorry for the lame question i just didnt see the numerical date in the thread....then again i might have missed it.


scratch that, just saw the date in the CATL thread.

[Asatira]

Okay, any idea what time we should meet up at the station?

[Grendel Grack]

Trevor mentioned something about 5:30 - 6pm. Is everyone cool with that? I haven't looked at the programming schedule yet.

Edit: It looks like the programming schedule will be available on the 26th.

[guggemmaneuver]

Given MARTA's weekend less-frequently scheduled trains, it should take between 20-40 minutes to get to/from trevor and olivia's. if we met up at 5, getting there around 5:30-5:45ish would be a safe bet.

[Asatira]

Meeting at 5 sounds like a good time.

[Grendel Grack]

Excellent. 5 is good.

[trevor]

yeah it should be really easy assuming you arent waiting 10 minutes for each train its maybe 3 stops total?
i will probably have left by then to get everything ready
next week ill send out rsvp info maps, phone numbers, gate codes etc

[Grendel Grack]

I might be crazy, but I looked at the program for the con and there are no portfolio reviews scheduled. This may not be such a big deal, but the whole point of going to this con (at least for me anyway) is to meet potential employers and network. Many of the companies that I hoped would attend aren't and now there's no portfolio review? Lame.

[trevor]

man that sucks
usually we (white wolf/ccp) are there but his year i found out we were not
and i have no clue why
last year marco mazzoni and i were doing portfolio reviews
im mainly going for people watching / maybe find some good art books or something
but there has to be someone there

[John Bridges]

Dragon con hasn't really been the best place for portfolios in a long while, unless you're looking for critiques from fellow artists in the comics artist alley or the art show. Its been many years since the big comics companies set up there, and while some game companies still go, its usually just their sales and marketing teams. Not too many art directors in attendance.

Seems like San Diego and Gen Con are the best shows left for finding real flesh-and-blood a.d.s to talk to. Conversely, the internet has made it SOOO much easier to get your stuff in front of an a.d. from a distance, so maybe it balances out? Anyway, theres always lots of artists to hang with at DC.

[Grendel Grack]

Dragon con hasn't really been the best place for portfolios in a long while, unless you're looking for critiques from fellow artists in the comics artist alley or the art show. Its been many years since the big comics companies set up there, and while some game companies still go, its usually just their sales and marketing teams. Not too many art directors in attendance.

Seems like San Diego and Gen Con are the best shows left for finding real flesh-and-blood a.d.s to talk to. Conversely, the internet has made it SOOO much easier to get your stuff in front of an a.d. from a distance, so maybe it balances out? Anyway, theres always lots of artists to hang with at DC.

I guess I'll just forget about business and have fun. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

[guggemmaneuver]

bumpity-bumpity-bumple-bumba-bumpee!

WE CAN HAS MODEL!

i've confirmed our model, Tina K, for the party! I've worked with her for a number of sessions and she's a top notch model! She will be meeting us at Peachtree Center and transitationing over to the par-tay. We'll have her for 2.5 hours, probably best to start out with some warm up poses and then do a long pose with regular breaks.

I'm going to stake out where we'll meet at in peachtree center for con in the next day or two.

this shit is shapin' up :)

:drinkup:

m

P.s. Are you as stoked as i am to see the inevitable but timely and hillarious Marvel + Disney costume concepts? hehe...

[Asatira]

Three more days until Dragon*Con! Four more days until the meet up!

So, it looks like we'll try to meet up at the station around 5 and probably arrive at Trevor's around 5:30ish. Am I right?

[Grendel Grack]

That's right. I think Guggs is looking for a specific place to meet at Peachtree Center.

[trevor]

ok guys here is all the info you need
and just in case some maps
please try to email me this week if you are coming by
and put dragon meat in the subject line
[email protected]
let me know if you are bringing anyone
please be respectful of my apt complex
if you could spare 5 bucks for the model
that would be awesome but not mandatory
and BYOB hahaha

see you soon!

oh yeah
at the very bottom of this post is a zipped text with all the info you need

[guggemmaneuver]

okay, here's the low down for meeting on saturday afternoon. with pictures. i scouted. the only thing missing is hordes and hordes of people and daylight. I'm going to grab a table maybe around 4:30 or so. So look for the table of drawing people near the escalators in the peachtree center food courtish area.

general map: head towards peachtree center from either the marriott or from the Hyatt. it isn't accessible from the hilton.
769209

You can get there from either the 2nd floor of the Hyatt (where i demonstrate in the next few pics) The pinkish star is where i'm gonna try and grab a table. it's gonna be pretty packed in there:
769210

Okay, this picture is taken on the 2nd floor of the Hyatt. Again.. Swarms of people. especially around teh escalators. the lighter box is where the hallway to peachtree center is.
769213

go down the hall:
769215

here's where i'm gonna stake out a table at the food court kinda area:
769216

from peachtree center once we're all assembled, we take this LOOONG escalator:
769217

you'll wanna buy a breeze card with 2 (TWO) fares:
769218

and this is the train platform. take the south / right side:
769219

i think that's it. see yall saturday :)

m

[Asatira]

Dragon*Con has come and gone. I had fun, minus a cold I caught Sunday. It was also a great chance to meet everyone. I decided to take some photos during the early part of the meet up, and here are some of them.

773194

773195

773196

773197

773198

773199

773200

773201

773204

[chaosrocks]

I have a couple pics too
thanks to trevor and Olivia for hosting.. and Guggenmanuever for facilitating and arranging a model

[guggemmaneuver]

the party was great times!

a couple pictures i snapped on the roof! :)

773443

773438

[Mae_Haftahurcha]

Anyone go to the Dr. Sketchy's sessions at the Con?

Wish I'd have checked this site -before- the convention.

[guggemmaneuver]

yeah, i and a friend both hit the dr. sketchy's at 830 on sunday...there were some pretty amazing costumed models and poses, but the lighting and room setup (and lack of booze? hehe...) was rather non-conducive to quality dr. sketchification. still fun though :)

[Mae_Haftahurcha]

Yeah, the hotel sadly has some rules about no food or drinks in the conference rooms.