#lbx2025

finally have soaked in my first lightbox expo experience and. wow. i can genuinely, truly say that every cent i spent on the ticket plus everything at the event was so worth it.

everybody there was so nice; i only knew two people there, but they connected me with some amazing people who immediately welcomed me as if i had always been a part of their friend group. they kept tabs on me, gave me stickers they made, and helped me acclimate to the overwhelming environment that is a crowded artist alley lolol

the exhibitors were amazing — i both got the opportunity to meet idols i’ve followed online for the longest time, or were introduced to entirely new creators who i can’t believe i hadn’t been introduced to before. i met an artist who i immediately connected with because i noticed her art was inspired by genndy tartakovsky (a legend!), and spent 45$ on an art book from an artist who had the most eye catching color and character work i had ever seen… god, artist alley was the best part of lightbox for sure!!

my biggest regret is not asking enough questions, but that’s something i’ll be better prepared for next year (because you bet i’m going to make it my goal to go to all three days next year). i did get to be the hype woman to my amazingly talented friend, who passed out his comic and stickers to everyone he met, which made my experience all the more pleasant. i love supporting my friends in any way i can, and to be able to express my hype and joy for my friend’s art in front of all these industry professionals feels very rewarding (and they all liked his stuff too, so that’s a win!!)

and of course, meeting andy suriano was the highlight of my day. he was genuinely so kind and patient in talking to all the fans in line; i didn’t mind waiting a while for him to finish with the people in front of me, because i know how much it probably meant to those fans who got to spend unrushed time talking to him. i don’t know if it’s because i went to his booth very early on in the expo, but it was nice to see a creator take his time in connecting with his fans as opposed to trying to do whatever it takes to make money and get the line moving.

i was so nervous, and that i did say to him, because i have never met anybody who has created pieces of media i liked before. he was so understanding, and liked the print i made him so much that he took a photo of me with it! i look very chopped in the photo and right now i feel very embarrassed by it (but that’s purely a me thing, nothing against andy!), but the way he reacted to me handing him my art is something i will carry with me for a long time. :,)

he drew me two leos (because i brought my tmnt 40th anniversary comic, and he’ll draw you your fave character on the prints he brought) and i kid you not, he drew like drawing these characters was second nature to him. i’m pretty sure he was also surprised that i said my fave was leo, because i think up until then, everyone ahead of me was asking for him to draw donnie on their posters LOLOL i hope he got to draw equal amounts of the brothers these last few days 🫶

overall, i am so blown away by my first lightbox experience!! i will never stop raving about it, and absolutely cannot wait to attend again next year. if any of you here went, i hope you had just as much fun as i did, but if you haven’t yet, then please let this be your sign to go next year!