Nick Davis's Blog, page 37

Complete The Classic Winnie the Pooh Set With Rabbit, Kanga and Roo

Rabbit, Kanga and Roe by Nick Davis

There’s Rabbit. He hasn’t Learnt in Books, but he can always Think of a Clever Plan. There’s Kanga. She isn’t Clever, Kanga isn’t, but she would be so anxious about Roo that she would do a Good Thing to Do without thinking about it.

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Completing my trip into Classic Winnie the Pooh illustration is Rabbit, Kanga and Roo. Finished in black ink and blended Derwent Inktense Pencils.

The Set

You can buy the compete set of Original Artwork for $80 +P&P just click on the Paypal Button below to pick up this unique gift for a loved one who is a fan of these books, and the original illustrations of Winnie the Pooh.

Another Classic Style Winnie the Pooh Illustration Here Comes Eeyore and Tigger

Classic Eeyore and Tigger by Nick Davis

Eeyore walked all round Tigger one way, and then turned and walked round him the other way.

“What did you say it was?” he asked.

“Tigger.”

“Ah!” said Eeyore.

“He’s just come,” explained Piglet.

“Ah!” said Eeyore again.

He thought for a long time and then said: “When is he going?”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Continuing my run of classic style Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations, I present to you the two extremes of emotion in the 100-Acre Wood – Eeyore and Tigger. Drawn and inked in the classic style, and colored with blended inktense Derwent Pencils.

The Set

You can buy the compete set of Original Artwork for $80 +P&P just click on the Paypal Button below to pick up this unique gift for a loved one who is a fan of these books, and the original illustrations of Winnie the Pooh.

A Classic Moment With An Illustration Of Winnie the Pooh And Piglet Too

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet too by Nick Davis

‘We’ll be Friends Forever, won’t we, Pooh?’ asked Piglet.

Even longer,’ Pooh answered.

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
 

Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet is my late (10.30pm ish) Sunday Sketch and these two forever friends have been drawn in the non-disney style, which I quite like to see them in. Inked with black ink and colored using blended inktense Derwent Pencils.

Fun Facts

Did you know you could visit the original Winnie the Pooh and all his friends from the 100-Ache Woods at the Main Branch of the New York Library? I didn’t either, read all about it here. Also one of the original E.H Shepard from The House in Pooh Corner by A.A Miline sold at auction at Sotheby’s for half-a-million dollars! You can read all about that here.

Op-Ed Cosplay Stop Making The Comic Book Creators The Enemy… Mutual Respect Yo!

Warning… I sense a strong opinion ahead…

After my blog about the disruption of Deadpooly and VA Comic Con I had promised myself I would not talk about the supposed war of Cosplay V Creators.

But…I was directed to an article posted on The Atlantic ‘The Comic Book Guys Quivering in Fear of Cosplay‘ and I got really upset.

We Are Not Bullies

The Atlantic article belittles Comic Book Creators, turning us into raging nerd-boys, when really we are just Professionals, with men and women in our ranks, all trying to earn a living. The article character assassinates Creators, painting us as Bullies… Most of the comments were the same way, with anyone speaking up in defence of the Creators being jumped on.

And that made me Hulk out…

I am tired… Sick and tired of Comic Book Creators being made out to be the bully, that we are picking on the poor defenseless Cosplayers, and we feel they have no right to be in a Comic book show. That is totally Bullshit… *We are not bullies!

*Fun fact – Most of us were bullied growing up, why would we pay that forward?

Tristan the Teddy Bear and Nick – both parties in need of more sleep and a good cup of tea

Who We Are

I am a Creator… I write, illustrate, draw and talk comics (okay mostly Teddy Bears – but that is not the point!)  As do all my friends in Artist Alley, we are all there (with the exception of a few) trying to get the word out about our work, to show it off, to hopefully make a few more fans and maybe sell one or two things. We all pay a lot of money for our space and really most of us only hope we make our expenses back to justify us to keep going.

Cosplayers you go to the show, to show off your outfits, have a good time and with the exception of a very few to pick up a comic book item or two, after all you are at your core fans of comic books.

I really have zero problem with that…

95% of us Exhibiting have zero problem with Cosplayers, we put up with being used as backdrop, crowd disruptions, and to a large extent the growing circus of Photographers that carry huge lighting rigs on their backs that hunt down Cosplayers. Because that is part of the show, it brings color and life to comic book creations.

Honest… Tristan and I love you Guys!

We Are Eating Ourselves

What we don’t enjoy is when the disruption is constant. when the crowd gets so huge that the browsing Attendees cannot get to us. That is when problems happen… Almost all the Cosplayers I know are aware of that, and do their best to keep moving, or to suggest better places for photographers to take their pictures. But… It has become too much we have hit saturation point.

We are all eating ourselves and before you know it this will happen.

Comic Book Creators will stop going to shows, Exhibitors will stop going to shows, Vendors will stop going to shows and unless you are a Media Con like Wizard World, NYCC or SDCC the comic book convention will die. Our playground will disappear.

Mutual Respect

Remember Cosplay is not Consent? That was a huge issue throughout this year and I totally subscribe to it after all people are people no matter who they are, or what they dress up as.

So I am going to say this.

Mutual Respect

We respect your space, you respect our space. Japan has an interesting concept about Cosplayers, they are not allowed to stop for pictures in the show aisles, and instead have to go to a special photography area. I think that would work for us all. Is it time to ask Convention Show Runners to do this?

The Exhibitors get free aisles and good foot traffic, the Cosplayers get to move around the convention and actually do some browsing themselves without being constantly hounded for photographs.

This imaginary conflict has to end before it breaks into real animosity that BS articles like the ones on The Atlantic are trying to stoke. We have to get our heads around this before the bubble bursts and we all end up with nothing.

Mutual Respect Yo!

Who’s with me?

To Celebrate the Release Of The Movie Here Is My Sketch Of Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear by Nick Davis

I grew up watching the most excellent Paddington Bear Animated Show made by FilmFair, it was wonderfully done and loved the slightly subversive nature of Paddington, and how he constantly infuriated the straight-laced Mr Brown.And now this long-standing British institution is now a Live-Action/CGI  movie , and to celebrate the Marmalade loving Bear crossing into popular cinema I tried my hand at drawing him as a Sunday Sketch exercise.

Good To Draw

I honestly believe two years ago when I first picked up a pencil for the first time in almost fifteen years I would not be able to draw Paddington, the illustration you see above is the culmination of the skills I regained in the last few years of teaching myself how to draw again.

Total draw time was about 35 minutes, and Paddington was finished in black ink and was colored using blended inktense Derwent Pencils.

Maybe one day my little Teddy Bear Tristan will be as famous as Paddington? Dream big right?

Baby GROOT In A Pot… Yes… I Said Baby GROOT in A Pot… #IAMGROOT

WE ARE GROOT by Nick Davis

After many requests I finally put my Baby GROOT illustration in a pot, meaning I drew a pot and through the magic of Photoshop joined the two together. You can see the full GROOT illustration after the jump.

Baby GROOT by Nick Davis

Plus some pretty cool news concerning my Baby GROOT illustration, when I posted the illustration I was asked by a GROOT fan if they could use my art as a Tattoo. Quite a moment realizing that your work is going to be inked permanently on someone.

Star Wars The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer, is this our Last Hope?

Yeah… It’s a little silly…

Our first real look at what to expect from the Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens with the release of the official trailer (which you can view after the jump). I will admit when I was a kid I loved Star Wars, pure sci-fi fantasy action adventure, good was good, and bad was bad with all the elements of a classic hero journey.

The quest for more unique Action Figures continues… How many repaints will this have?

With the prequels we all got a little burned by the Star Wars legend, and recent fair (at least to me) with Rebels feels more a quest to make action figures than tell a compelling story. And now we have the trailer of the next step in the Star Wars story, you can view the trailer below.

While I think it has its own potential problems – like a lightsaber with lightsaber guards (done for the fanboys pop – the lightsaber is supposed to be an elegant weapon for a reason), I cannot make a judgement until I see more. The X-Wings going across the water is cool, and the rotating show of the Millennium Falcon is fun, rolling Droid is an interesting take on the Astromech units.  It offers glimpses into what we as fans of Star Wars want to be a good film, but got burned so badly by the last three movies, this has to be our new hope.

Now we have the whole issue of a black Stormtrooper… I don’t get it, in a Universe far, far away with many different skin colors why this should even be a thought, or an issue does feel beyond me. It feels like it is being made an issue by too many people, and maybe even by the actor. At this time what remained of the Empire was recruiting directly from their populace, and the Clone troopers were in decline after the destruction of the Kamino facilities, which put any remaining clone veterans in their sixties?

Star Wars for me has lost a lot of luster, I hope we see a return to the pure Sci-fi fantasy romp it once was.

Limited Run – WE ARE GROOT and BLAM! Rocket Raccoon T-Shirts

WE ARE GROOT – FEMALE SHIRTS

Sizes Adult S, M, L, XL, XXL

100% Cotton Signature Soft White Shirt – with printed WE ARE GROOT illustration featuring Baby Groot. Available in adult sizes S to XXL. Baby Groot Original Illustration by Nick Davis.

Sizes


Small $19.99 USDMedium $19.99 USDLarge $19.99 USDX-Large $21.99 USDXX-Large $24.99 USD

BLAM! Rocket Raccoon – Unisex  Shirt

Sizes Adult S, M, L, XL, XXL

100% Cotton Signature Soft White Shirt – with printed BLAM! Rocket Raccoon illustration featuring Rocket . Available in adult sizes S to XXL. Baby Groot Original Illustration by Nick Davis.

Sizes


Small $19.99 USDMedium $19.99 USDLarge $19.99 USDX-Large $21.99 USDXX-Large $24.99 USD

Thank you! The Teddy Bear Soldier Auction Raises $50 for the Wounded Warrior Project

Last week I set up on Veterans Day an auction for my Teddy Bear Soldier Tribute Watercolor, thanks to the auction and an additional donation we raised $50 for the Wounded Warrior Project. You are all amazing!

A Lost Weekend at the VA Cosplay Con… Sorry, I mean my VA Comic Con in Review [UPDATED]

How do I start this? It is fair to say I had a convention adventure at VA Comicon aka VA Cosplay Con, it would be fair to say it was a roller-coaster ride. Although I was one of the few who came out okay, there was a huge disconnect compared to last years much better run show. So, to review this show I am going to knock it down into two sections, the good and the bad.

The Good

Let’s start with the good that came out of this show. We picked up a booth for this event, had a good setup and I pushed the boat out on the Teddy Bear Tales gear, and found I actually had space to display my other non-Teddy Bear books. The location looked good, being placed on the main transit aisle and we even was able to set up on Friday night. All of which helps to ease yourself into the Saturday morning.

I was joined again by Charmingly Geeky which is run by my wife, the making of geeky jewelry has been a boon for her this year, keeping her active while dealing with a chronic disability.

Tristan the Teddy Bear at VA Comic Con

And then the show begins…  it was really cool catching up with Kickstarter backers, and fans of the Teddy Bear Tales work. I rarely get to see you all face to face and finally putting names to faces was a great experience. Also talking to new fans who are taking a chance on my work makes for an enjoyable time. When I could talk with having to shout over the Deadpooly Cosplayer and his Boombox.

The Kilt

The Kilts at VA Comic Con

I finally met Chuck Parker, and teamed up with Chris Otto of Dogs Life fame and took an amazing Kilt picture which has been bopping around the internet. I am sure there will be several versions on the world-wide web by now. Chuck has been a backer of every single one of my book projects, and I finally got to thank him for his support face to face. You are awesome Dude, and again thank you for your support!

The Commission

I only got one commission during the show hours, which is pretty normal. I don’t really go out of my way to advertise that I do commissions, as it takes face time away from me directly talking to Attendees. It was a sketchcard illustration of a custom anime character.

Tristan Meets The Cosplayers

Tristan the Teddy Bear meets Ivy Doomkitty at VA Comic Con

I’ve decided to move the Tristan meets the Cosplayers gallery over on to theteddybeartales.com makes more sense to put it in our favorite little Teddy Bears internet home.

The Writers Workshop

I was privileged to be tapped for the Writers Workshop, and I was joined again by the Yankee Cowboy in Kilt known as Chris Otto, and we had an engaging discussion with several budding writers. I think we managed to inspire them to keep writing, helped them through a few sticky writer issues and maybe one of them will be the next best seller. Just hope I make it into one of their acknowledgements;)

The After Party

On Saturday night VAComicon threw an After Party for the VIP’s, it was a like a mini-con held back at the main convention hotel. About a dozen artists attended bringing a little bit of their booth setup’s with them. I brought my sketchcard prints and did two quick BW sketchcard commissions before calling it quits, and going to bed.

The Middle

Last year VAComicon was a huge hit Creators and Comic book fans all in one place, great atmosphere,great show for everyone. Based on this information alone I signed up a booth and convinced a fellow Creator Scott Markley of Time of Hugs to pick up a table, getting bigger after a successful first year show is only a good thing… for most shows anyway.

Sorry Scott hope a hug from Tristan makes you feel better…

The Bad – Welcome To VA Cosplay Con

Before this continues, I feel it is important to point out I have no issue with Cosplayers at conventions, almost all of the Cosplayers I have met are pretty cool people, and just like us Exhibitors they add color to a comic book convention, and with the exception of a tiny few, most are rabid comic book fans and a joy to talk to.

Updated – 11/26/2014 – Yesterday I posted that Cosplayers got in for FREE at this convention, this was based off the Cosplay Rules information, namely Rule 11 on the Vacomicon.com website.

’11. Lastly, all attendees claiming a free cosplay ticket at the door MUST be in costume. If you are not, your cosplay ticket will not be accepted. Please remember that these rules are for the safety of yourself and other con goes. Compliance with these ensures a safe and fun convention environment for everyone! Guests and cosplayers alike. If you have any questions regarding these rules, please look back over them or be sure to speak with our friendly security staff at the event.’

It turns out I was incorrect with this information, and based on sources from a VA Comicon Officer only some of the Cosplayers got in for FREE. 

But Gosh… Did this convention go sideways. First off it was marketed with the emphasis on it being Cosplay Con over comic books and pop culture. Proving it is true what they say, you market to certain segment you only get that certain segment of the market, so in many ways their marketing towards Cosplayers was very successful maybe a little too much.

Plus White Tiger Filmz were there filming their version of Heroes Of Cosplay, called Viva La Cosplay which is airing on CW Richmond, and this too was heavily promoted. You know be nice one day if a reality TV company documents what an Indie Artist/Creator goes through before a show, I know a couple of subjects who might make good TV.

Deadpooly Dance Party

This has already been mentioned, throughout Saturday my wife and myself were subjected to several of the Deadpooly BoomBox Cosplayer and his impromptu dance parties.  You can read my much longer account of the most disruptive cosplay behavior I have ever experienced here, and learn of the VA Comicon lack of reaction to it.

Was That An Award Show?

Saturday saw an odd event taking place to the right of my booth just at the top of the Cosplay Catwalk, it looked like a Cosplay Award Show of some type. It completely blocked off one side of the hall stopping trade for the Exhibitors up there for almost three hours, and in one case one Exhibitor could not get back to their booth it was that crowded. This strange event was a hint of what was to come on Sunday.

Cosplay Take Over

On Sunday, I watched the crowd change from regular attendees to almost all Cosplayers, when the Award show started around 3pm they clogged up the entire opposite end of the Cosplay Catwalk, blocking up the Comic Book Vendors – these are the guys that paid the big money for their space. Until it got so bad a Fire Marshall turned up and moved the Contest out into the main lobby. By this time I was seeing Exhibitors packing up and leaving, it was done, this show wasn’t about comic books, artist, or creators… It was about the Cosplayers, they had taken over.

If the Convention Organizer wanted a Cosplay Ball, then perhaps he should have organized one of those instead.

We left around 6pm after packing up our Booth, and as we drove off the Cosplay Contest was still going on in the main Lobby, the show had left. I wonder if they even noticed those funny artists and comic guys had gone?

I wont be returning to VA Comic Con again unless something drastic changes – I know I’m no loss, in fact VA Comicon have told me I am no loss to their show and the other Exhibitors who said they wont be returning will be no loss to them either. This is the way of things, we in the Artist Alley are after all ultimately seen as disposable, but it still stinks.

Sum Up

I had some fun experiences during this show, and largely this was an okay convention for me. A lot of ill-feeling towards Cosplayers was generated at this show, it had nothing to do with Cosplayers, but the Convention Organizers getting it complete wrong and not giving them their own space, or dealing with disruptive elements.

I don’t really know what else to say… Just complete disappointment, a balance has to be found.

Update 11/26/2014 – This article was originally posted late on 11/25/2014 and I got a lot of heat for it from mostly one VA Comicon Officer. While I acknowledge I did get the Cosplayers got in for FREE information wrong, it was caused by misinformation on the VAComicon website. The rest of this article is pulled from my own observations, sources within the VA Comicon staff on the show weekend, and the two dozen Exhibitors, (some of whom want their money back) that I talked to during the show. 

I stand by the Fire Marshall moving the Cosplay Award Show out into the Lobby area, I wish I did take some pictures to visual proof of just how crowded it got down there. I got the Fire Marshall appearence from three sources, and I think as an ex-Hack that is good enough.

The VA Comicon Officer admitted the show was understaffed which may have led to some of the chaos of that became the Cosplay Take Over on Sunday, only two of the ten volunteers turned up over the weekend.

The same VAComicon Officer asked who told me about the Fire Marshall, and like a good Journalist I refused to reveal my source. The Officer then said he would talk to the staff to find out who did talk. For this I want to say sorry to the Staff Members (and Volunteers) who talked to me at VAComicon, I didn’t mean to put the sources into a situation where they might feeling pressured into admitting they dared to talk to an Exhibitor about some of the shows problems. I hope they do not suffer any repercussions for being generally helpful and having to deal with some real awkward and out of control situations on the show floor with no support from the VA Comicon Officers ‘running’ the convention.

While I understand VAComicon might want to do damage control, right now a general ‘don’t talk to anyone about the problems’ works better than singling one person out. Doing that stinks of something even worse happening behind the scenes that even I don’t know about (apparently there was something worse- see below).

After all in the end, who am I? I am just a very, very small fish on the Mid-Atlantic convention scene and don’t have that huge an impact (accept if I fall over, something I have to see to in the new year), and would be surprised if this article pushes into double numbers (it did! View count as of 12/02/2014 – 1543 – which for this website is spectacular numbers.)

One last thing, and I did take offense to this.

I was accused by the same VA Comicon Officer of seeking attention and of click baiting for ad revenue, and as such I should be ignored as this is my third article about VAComicon (one was fun, honest!). This is my answer.

I posted what happened, I’m not big-headed enough to think any of this would have got attention.
I don’t make ad revenue on this website- although I am sure I may have a Google Ad on one of my satellite pages somewhere.
I retracted the bad information about Cosplayers getting in for FREE – clear the confusion up on your website.
I paid for my space at VA Comicon I have a right to run commentary about the show as I see fit.
I have zero issues with Cosplayers, except for Deadpooly… But that Douche made his own problems.
Unlike this VA Comicon Officer I talked too, I am not saying one thing to your face and another behind your back.

I don’t like the attempt at being bullied into taking down an article on my website by the VA Comicon Officers, and while I will post retractions and corrections, what content goes up on my website and stays on my website is my choice.  No one else makes that choice, this is after all my rented space on the interwebs.

Be thankful I am not posting everything that was revealed to me or posted any names (although I am was sorely tempted as new information came to light), a Asshat Hack would do that, I’m not an Asshat Hack – hence why I never really got anywhere as a Journalist. 

Update 11/27/2014 – WTF? -Looks like my link post on Facebook attracted the attention of VA Comicon owner Brett Carreras, I’m just going to post the screen grab of his reply below.

Even though he is being economical with the truth (must have forgotten about the 120+ minutes of floor sharing on Saturday), he almost had me changing my article.  Then he posted accusing FORMER staff on the show floor passing on false information second post. Rogue Staff members loose in the hall giving VA Comicon a bad name?

WTF?

What a farce… Rogue Staff?

If you had rogue former staff in the convention, out to give you a bad name then they had no control over the VA Comicon at all.

Crap…

I should really have attached ad-revenue to this blog post, it is doing silly numbers.