Grimby’s Gratitude – Comic-Con 18/31

the E-Newsletter of Goldeen Ogawa • Issue 21, August 2019

Originally posted for Patrons on August 2 on Patreon

What have I done?

Cleanups for “Sir Camilla” (The Camilliad, Book 4)
“Blueberry Eater” standalone
Released eBook of Driving Arcana Rotation Five
Interior illustrations for The Aubergine Spellbook (Felpz Volume III)
At-con commissions for AnthroCon

What am I doing?

Cleanups on “Sir Camilla” (The Camilliad, Book 4)
Formatting for Driving Arcana Rotation Six
Cover design for The Aubergine Spellbook
Personal work!

Where am I going?

I am taking the month of August off from traveling, and I’m going to try and get as much work done as I can while I’m at home. My next show is September 13–15 at Rose City Comic Con in Portland, OR. As usual I’ll be under my Heliopause Productions banner, somewhere in their Artist Alley.

Comic-Con 18/31

In 2006 I went to Comic-Con International in San Diego with my aunt and my brother. Our cousins joined us for the weekend and we all bought rings from Badali Jewelry, even though my older cousin, Simon, was the only one of the four of us who regularly wore rings. Badali is known for doing licensed jewelry designs from various IPs, including Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time, but the rings we bought were of their own original design: silver rings with different patterns cast into their surface, filled with colored enamel. There were four variations in four different colors. Red for fire, light blue for wind, dark blue for water, and green for earth. My aunt took a picture of the four of us, fists punching at the camera, displaying our rings, which I can’t find at the moment. It’s probably in a box somewhere, as is my ring—the earth ring. The water ring went to Simon, who of all us was the only one who actually wore it. The fire ring went to my younger cousin, Martin, and the air ring to my brother. I don’t know what happened to theirs. But I know exactly where mine is: in a black box lined with black velvet, along with my Lord of the Rings Elven Brooch—also by Badali. It’s an exact replica of the ones Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin wear in the films, and so I almost never wear mine, for fear of losing it. So they sit in a box together. Two beautiful pieces of jewelry made by the same artist: one original, one essentially fan art. And that is Comic-Con in a nutshell. Or a black, velvet-lined box, if it please you.

Comic-Con 2006 I was eighteen and even more self-centered than I am now. I was underwhelmed by the vast multitudes of fanart (both licensed and pirated). I knew I wanted to work in comics and fiction and art, but not as someone inking or lettering or even writing someone else’s IP. I didn’t want to be a concept artist for Weta. I didn’t even want to be Peter Jackson. I wanted to be Tolkien. I wanted to be Gaiman. Pratchett. Le Guin. I wanted to be a Creator.

I decided I didn’t want to go back until someone invited me, and made peace with the fact that this might mean never.

In 2018 my friend Kikidoodle approached me with a proposal: she would cover my badge and hotel room at Comic-Con if in return I would sell Purrmaids for her.

To my eighteen-year-old self this might have sounded too much like working for someone else. To my thirty-year-old self, it was close enough.

So this July I went back to Comic-Con. I stayed in the Marriott adjoining the convention center. I got a free pass onto the show floor. I sold Purrmaids for my friend, who is herself an independent creator. Who champions and uplifts other independent creators. One of her other helpers that weekend was another artist who creates her own worlds and characters.

There was still a lot of fan art, and rather more gross normalized misogyny masquerading as pinup art than I cared for, but I knew where to find my people: the other artists and writers who were creating their own worlds. I went and found them and bought stuff from them. Not just because I want to support them (I do) but because they were making the stuff that I wanted.

I’ve heard people talk about “finding their tribe” in reference to conventions. Comic conventions or furry conventions or sci-fi conventions and I understand that—sort of. Truth be told I don’t think there is a convention for my kind of people. We get scattered across all different genres. So while no one type of con is “my con,” I can usually find someone I like if I look hard enough. And I’ve gotten good at looking.

I didn’t get to the Sails Pavilion until Sunday morning, my last chance to pick up an official convention bag and program book. Flipping through to the Sunday listings to check if there was anything worth seeing, I saw that Supernatural was having a special presentation for its final season, complete with the lead actors.

Supernatural is not just a flawed but enjoyable show. It was a major the catalyst in the creation of Driving Arcana. I paused, and considered going to their panel, there on Sunday at Comic-Con. After all, it was to be their last season, and it felt sort of like I should pay my respects.

Then I saw it was in Hall H, which is infamous for having multi-hour-long lines, and I could probably better spend my time selling my friend’s stuffed animals.

So I folded up my program book and went back down the escalators to the show floor. Shouldered my way through the crowds, and took up position with a Toygershark under one arm and a sparkling smile on my face. And sold Purrmaids.

It turned out to be our best-selling day of the con. I have no regrets.

It can feel suffocating sometimes, looking up at the huge, booming WB logo and all their shiny, slick TV shows featuring incredibly attractive humans. At the giant Darkhorse booth and the overwhelming stampede for Funko Pop collectibles (basically a powerhouse of licensed fan art). It makes me feel tiny. But tiny like a seed is tiny. Tiny and full of potential. And I am not alone. There are countless artistic seedlings putting down roots in the shadow of Marvel and Star Wars. And what I have learned since 2006 is that we are not in competition with each other. Together we raise each other up. Together we create worlds. There is no limit, in the shade of these burgeoning giants, to what strange and beautiful things may grow. As long as we are not discouraged, and continue, always, to make the art we want to see in the world.

What’s coming in August?

Patrons can look forward to:

Saturday updates to the Sparks Gallery
Sunday updates to “Travels in Valdelluna”
Maybe another eBook? ?!

ProTip

Using a spray bottle with water is a great way to train cats not to do something. E.g. get on the kitchen counter. Just a couple squirts and they learn to scram at the mere sound of the spray bottle sloshing water!

This post has been generously sponsored by my Fellow Traveler patrons. Come join the party!