#spirafall

DAY 1

Friday morning AutomaticGiraffe (AKA Nathan/Nate) and our friend Pat came by to pick me up for the con. We got a good parking spot directly behind the South Hall and made our way to the Fairmont where we got to walk directly past all the poor attendees who probably wouldn’t get their badges for another 2 hours, as the line was apparently murder, and people were stuck in it for nearly 6 hours on Day 0. The moment we went up to get our badges, we ran into our old friend Spirafall (Who made the first interactive AA map, and tabled behind me last year at Fanime) and her table partner Ryusenka. After we got through there, it was back to the South Hall.

South Hall and the Black Mist

I’m gonna put all of the stuff related to the location itself in this chunk here. If you’re friends with anyone who was an artist this year, you would’ve heard about what I’ve been calling “The Black Mist.” The South Hall itself is a temporary tent structure that is typically used for events like car shows. This facility was decidedly not clean, as we discovered by Saturday. There was black dust all over the floor, and it began to settle on the tables, coating everyone’s products in a thin layer of dust. Depending on where you were in the building and your level of ventilation, you got more of it than others. The real fun was what it did to US.

The first sign that something was up was when people started to feel congested. Everyone was congested, but it was far too early for con-funk (when being around a ton of people who aren’t hygienic at a convention gets you sick) to set in. People blew their noses and found…Black. There was black gunk in their snot. This soot left black grime under our fingernails too; far more than you’d normally get after an average day, even if you washed your hands often. People had headaches, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open at all and was blinking every 2 seconds. A bunch of us had symptoms of allergies, and people who had latent asthma found themselves having trouble breathing for the first time in many years. Only the front doors were ever open, so there was no cross breeze to at least blow the dust out. This also meant that it was worse in the back, where it was also rather warm.

The pressure difference between the doors and the inside was so great that plenty of people’s prints flew all over the place and setup was difficult because of all of the wind (which messed up my hair every time I tried to go outside ;_;).

A lot of people thought that Artist Alley was cancelled this year because Fanime didn’t even put the building on any maps in either brochure they gave out, and barely mentioned it at all in them, despite the fact that AA was supposedly the biggest draw (no pun intended) for people coming to Fanime. The staff was barely informed about most events, lines, etc. for the con, but plenty didn’t know anything about AA, and it was only because people were so curious where it was that half were able to find it, which we artists (currently being spearheaded by Chow) are trying to figure out quantitatively how much our business suffered because of the foot traffic being reduced. A lot of our intel (since most of us never left the South Hall) told us that there was no signage at all (we had been promised stuff would be done to guide people). Apparently there were signs at each entrance of the old Artist Alley telling people it had moved, but I don’t remember seeing a map on them.

We are also quite angry that the room was essentially just 4 or 5 food stands, a few tables, and then completely empty. It was a disgusting waste of space that all of us were questioning. It didn’t seem right that the room would be used for that, a swap meet (was that only one night?) and then just a line space for the Dealer’s Hall (Linecon2013, as some people have called it). Official explanation though is that AA and Dealer’s hall closed within a half hour of one another, so the spillover into the halls would’a had the fire marshall shut down the studio, which makes sense, but it’s not as fun having a legitimate explanation. :D

While the South Hall did accommodate more artists, it was also oppressively long, and I’m curious to know how many people were fatigued and didn’t make it around the entire alley. People in the back were worried about their sales being impacted by being so far away from the entrance, and a lot of us were facing a wall, making our booths seem uninviting, and all people could see from most of the hall was the white backs of our posters. If you didn’t request a giant block table (Like our friends at the Rainbow island), you probably didn’t get to see a lot of your friends unless you had someone to cover your table, and because the con was so far away, you probably also never got to really experience the hall or any of the panels because of how long it’d take to get back and forth.

The nice thing about the hall though was the fact that there was room behind the tables. Never did most of us have to worry about blocking someone’s path to their seat.

Setting Up

So, we got in and after figuring out the line system to check in, found our tables which gave us a wonderful view of the tent wall. Our immediate concern became how different people decide where to start, because we seemed a little easy to ignore, despite our proximity to the front of the hall.

(A shot of Nathan’s booth. His head is perpetually down during every convention, since he does on the spot commissions)

I used plastic sleeves to keep the prints from curling like they did at AOD, and made sure to leave a window for people to actually see me sitting behind the table this time (Learning!). I need to change my sign though, because I think people see “I take cards!” more than the top part that says “I take commissions!” Really curious to see how my profits would’a been if I had done that beforehand, but I’ll save that for later in this journal.

Looking for Group

South Hall was huge, which meant that finding all of my friends was a chore, but as soon as I had set up, I went hunting for people. Gisu was seated directly behind me. She had really good stuff, but despite our proximity, we didn’t really get a chance to talk much (Next time!). Sukailine was table-sharing with her, but I spoke to her even less. I’m guessing that might’ve been a bit different if the lanes between tables weren’t as big (blessing and curse!). Beside me was Tania who I got to talk to a fair amount. Her boyfriend was stuck in line for about 4 hours, so it was just her alone at her table (which she would later share) for all of Friday.

I swung by the Rainbow Island to find my favorite frenemy, Seenday, who had taken a red-eye up from San Diego to get there. Jokerkilljoy was always bright and early each day, so I got to chat with her a fair amount. I’d actually met her when I met Seenday at my first con tabling (AOD2012), but we didn’t start talking until AOD2013 when our groups went out to dinner. Chikinnugets was also there, but I only got to talk to him a little. Got to meet Hejibits and help him hang some of his shirts. I was really surprised by how quiet and normal he was—I felt like I was super weird trying to talk to him. I swung by K009’s table once or twice before I actually caught her, and also felt weird because while we were cool after she took my photo at AOD2013, we hadn’t actually talked a lot yet. I’ve gotta work on that with a number of you @_@.  JessicaGaona I didn’t see until a bit later, and her booth was swamped like always. She had to figure out how to repack half of her stuff since the con said we couldn’t use certain wheeled devices to transport our merch (even though people totally broke those rules), so she was exhausted. Ran into Mukeiroyalty who just got back from a con, and was going to one immediately after this one. I asked her how she was able to function still, and she informed me that she was self-medicating with a little bit’a alcohol. Luckily, the rest of my friends happened to be seated in a row! I stopped by Feyuca’s table a number of times, and she was always excited to talk, which was awesome! Too bad she’s moving to –shudder- SoCal. I also got to see Chowowpow and BopX right beside her. They were a lot of fun—I really need to hang out with them more. Spirafall and Ryusenka were right beside them, and I helped them figure out the location of the nearest print shop, since I guess something went wrong somewhere and they had a need.

Friday was pretty quiet. Most people were still waiting in line, or at work, or school, so no one did very well, and we talked about it the next morning. I don’t recall too much happening, but at the end of the day we met up with our friends Ekllips (Who was putting us up for the weekend, and is essentially everyone’s older sister) and her friend and roommate Sukyan. We went to get Japanese for dinner and we talked about the game companies we work at, and Nate’s employment situation. Then we went home, all of us totally exhausted, and collapsed pretty shortly after we set up our sleeping bags.

DAY 2

So, I said I’d be setting my alarm for 7:45AM because it was my work alarm and I needed to wake up earlier to get ready. I had been waking up constantly during the night, and at one point I’m like “Wait, I don’t have work on Saturday!” and looked over to the clock to find out that I had woken up at 7:44, because I’m good like that. After getting dressed, we headed to the con and waited outside with our fellow artists. Did the usual check-ups on everyone and then set up shop for a little bit before running off to the SuperWhoLock gathering (which will be covered in my next Cosplay post).

After heading back to the AA, I saw someone carrying a familiar print and realized that I’d forgotten to stop by Poiv and say hello! After doing that, I stopped by Banditry for the first time and told her that I was the person on Tumblr who contacted her a week ago about her Jojo art, and asked her a question or two before retreating to my table feeling I had sounded awkward again. It’s weird—I always wondered how people could seem so awkward when talking to artists at cons, and then when I’m on the opposite side of the table, that’s totally me @_@. The Banditry thing comes back on Day 3… Oh, and Sutafuzz popped by, but we didn’t get another photo because the lighting wasn’t good and her battery was le tired. Interrobangnette also paid me a few-second visit. Not many of you tumblr friends visited me—I still have nearly all of my special mini prints I made just for you!

I was surprised to find a lot of people who bought things from me at SNAFUCON2012 in Reno came all the way out to Fanime and remembered me! One of them even commissioned me again. A group of Korra cosplayers showed up at my table and asked “Didn't we commission you last year to draw a Lil Wayne picture?” and after a second I was like “YOU people” and we laughed about the commission and I was glad to hear that their friend really liked it. They commissioned me again, and stopped by several times to chat, so they’re cool in my book. Later, I got myself what Nate called a “Booth Barnacle” who apparently met me last year, and I think I remembered her acting similar last year. Black neko ears and tail with a purple octopus on her head, she hung around me for an hour keeping me company even though I was about to pass out and was only giving her one-word answers to things. Still, she was a charming character. She would clap her hands in my face to try and keep me awake, and I think she enjoyed it a little too much.

 Why was I about to pass out? Well, at lunch (I had Subway 3 days in a row because it was so close) I decided it’d be brilliant to mix lemonade, Fanta, and Sprite together. Either that devil’s cocktail contained way more sugar than I thought, or I don’t have the sugar tolerance I did as a little kid anymore, ‘cus I was knocked the F’ out. I couldn't keep my eyes open at all for the entire day, which was terrible when mixed with my symptoms from the black mist. I think I read somewhere once that sugar was a histamine, and if that’s the case, oh man did I make things worse.

Nathan also had a bunch of minis he was giving away for free to promote the new manga he’s working on. On Friday he drew one of his characters with the word “FREE!” on it, and people kept asking if the picture was free, not the minis around it, because apparently it’s cool to have a picture that says “FREE!” Since Nathan never lifted his head except when addressed, I was always chiming in from my booth “Take the minis!” and joking “Your free stuff is selling really well.” On Saturday he decided to make a second sign that said something like “Seriously, take one!” and people still didn’t quite get it. One of the characters is loosely based on him, so I constantly teased him about how it was the very last one to run out.

The Dickbutt people also came by again, and I drew them a little sailor (not Moon) dickbutt. They’ve even got business cards with a reference picture on them now! I’ll never understand them, but they are patrons of the arts, and they’ve started to become as part of the California convention mythos as the protestors at Fanime (who I think were absent this year?). I think they commissioned like 175 artists this time around (I can’t believe they save up all that money!), and like 3 people turned them down. I was joking around saying “I have integrity, and I drew one for $5. You think you’re better than me!?”

We were also joined that day by our friends Jehudy and Arthur who went with us to get ramen for dinner. Our buddy Kentaro (who Nathan is working with to make their manga) showed up late that evening because he had just gotten back from a graduation celebration.

I was sort’a forced to sleep three people to a mattress cover on a floor that night because of the space, and I passed out pretty early on.

DAY 3

Ken and Nate went to McDonald’s for breakfast. I can barely stomach McDonald’s when I’m awake, let alone in the morning…

Day three was where I started to see a bunch more people. On my rounds about the alley, I came across a familiar Homura cosplay, LilytheScorpio, and told her to stop by my table later, but apparently I didn't recognize her when she did because I was busy talking to a girl (Heehee~). Pretty sure this was also the day where I saw A-Brilliant-Loser, who came by to tell me how happy she was with purchasing my book back at AOD2012, which made me super happy. A little later in the day, Chow and Bop’s helpers told them to actually walk around, and they decided to stop by. Bop and I shared stories of weird commissions and pushy commissioners. I need to hang out with these guys more! Towards the late afternoon, I had an adorable little Magi cosplayer come up to my table and reveal that she was none other than Shirugo! I met her at AOD so briefly that it didn't count, but we’d talked a little bit on DA since then.

At lunch I met a girl whose name escapes me, so I nicknamed her “Subway Captain America,” because I met her at Subway…and she was dressed as Captain America. People actually pay me to come up with names and things. Anyways, she stopped by my booth a few times to get a picture of both of my Sherlock cosplays (and I assume she was the person I was talking to when Lily visited).

Nate closed up shop early so that he and Ken could go to the masquerade, which meant I was in charge of his booth until closing. With most of my friends either in or watching the masquerade (which I heard had a ton of technical difficulties due to completely new staff), I pretty much just walked around the convention for anyone who wanted to take pictures of me. Ran into one of our buddies from Hyottoko (better known this year as the fake protesters with the funny signs) and we chatted for a bit, ran into one of our old high school friends, and then met one or two characters who sort’a weirded me out.

Eventually the guys got out, and our merry band of like 9 people decided to go get pizza, since there wasn't a lot we imagined would still be open that late at night. Ordering pizza was a nightmare, as you might imagine, which us coming up with a dozen different ways to split the bill before we settled on something. Half the table talked about Onepiece and other series, and I talked to Arthur about Jojo stuff. Halfway through the meal, Arthur noticed that his sister was in a party that was leaving the restaurant, and I asked him which of the two girls was his sister, who I only recently realized was also an artist. Remember how I mentioned Banditry would come up again in Day 3? Turns out I've only been a degree of separation from her the whole time! The world was super small that night, because stuff like that was happening right and left.

After pizza we went to go watch hentai AMVS.

SO, once we got back, we decided that it was intelligent for none of us to get any sleep, and we stayed up talking about anatomy, sex, and whatever weird things we talk about at 2AM. I passed out around there, but apparently they kept talking until like 4AM.

DAY 4

Exhausted, we showed up for the last day of the con not expecting too much business, though I think I remember doing decently at the last minute. I think CasualParadox of Tapastic made a visit that day, and he had made a few before that. We were actually initially going to stay with him for Fanime, but our other friends got in and our party was too large for his house. Subway Captain America stopped by again.

I don’t really remember anything happening that day, but at the end, it was a mad scramble to do print exchanges with all of my art friends in the last hour we had to clean up. We weren't allowed to run, which was super frustrating because everyone was so scattered down the long hall! Then they had to abandon their table to quickly come to yours and pick something out…It was exciting, but unfortunate how many people I missed! Along the way I also got to FINALLY stop by Hehashivemind’s table. It was his first time tabling, and I had been feeding him advice for a while, but I kept forgetting to visit.

[Swag photo to come]

After packing up, we headed back to home base and my love life was put on the spotlight for a while until we somehow shifted it onto Nate, for what was an amazing few hours. In the evening we went out for Korean food, came back, packed up, and headed back north to the Peninsula.

Sales

So, last year I did terribly, coming in over $100 in the red. This year, I’m happy to say that (according to my receipt book) I came in about $197 in the black! I say “according to,” because for some reason I’m missing about $30 that we think happened when I went into Nate’s cash box to make change, but we won’t know until he does his book keeping, but it’s about what I owe him anyways. I only got two commissions this time, which is the fewest I've ever gotten (Imagine how much I could’ve made if I had gotten more!). I attribute this more to the fact that I think the sign on my table emphasizes that I take cards more than it does that I do commissions, which I’m going to fix for my next con. I did pass out about 200 business cards though, which is more than ever before!

My best selling large print was my Wreck-it Ralph/SF crossover (I think I sold like 13) print, and it was those pesky miscolor ones from the a few months back that I was trying to get rid of. I was selling them at a discount because I didn't want them, but I totally could’a gotten my full price for it if I wasn't so hell-bent on making sure I got rid of them.

My best selling mini was hands-down my new Link one (Sold like 36/40 [or 9/10!]) with the partnering Zelda one in second. The original Zelda mini I had done only sold like two, which was worse than I was expecting. Megaman sold a few, the Layton bookmark was a popular one, a few Homura, and then I laughed whenever I sold a Krillin, since I still have a dozen of those.

Akazukin sold! I sold four of them! Tons of people flipped through it (and liked the rhyming notes on it that said “Take a look; it’s a book!” [which I joked was only a few words away from legal action by whoever owns the rights to Reading Rainbow’s theme song]), but a few people actually took it home. While it’s still just Little Red Riding Hood, it was one of the biggest things I've ever done (in terms of projects, original artwork, and organization), so I’m always really excited when someone wants it.

Oh, and my Hyouka print sold out by early Saturday. It went from no one knowing what the anime was (often asking if it was Psycho Pass) to people being like “OMG, HYOUKA!” and “Those eyes!” I even had someone ask if it was possible to get it as a desktop wallpaper. Never thought that one would have an audience, but you can never predict things!

Conclusion

I had tons of fun! I loved seeing all of my art friends (You guys are probably my favorite part of Artist Alley), meeting new artists, chatting with customers, getting photos taken of me (WHERE ARE THEY, INTERNET), seeing hot cosplayers (omgsomany), and pretending I am a hot cosplayer (omgIwish).

That’s it for this post unless I can think of anything else, but that’s Fanime2013! Hopefully I’ll be there next year again. Until then, I’ll be looking into smaller conventions throughout the year.