Better Late Than Never? Florida Supercon!

Since I just featured a bunch of the art I found there, I figured it was high time I actually posted my photos from Florida Supercon a few months back!

 

(Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2. I didn't' realize until I zoomed in that his left eye was green!)

Ok, bad stuff first: this convention was terrible. It was massively overcrowded, understaffed, and poorly run. Escalators broke down, bathrooms ran out of paper, the lines to get food took up to an hour, and there were no volunteers to be found for help or panel management. Like I said: baaaaad.

Oh, and here's the line to get tickets on Saturday:

And this:

 And this:

From here you rounded that building in the far distance before making it to the inside line. And that's AFTER most folks waited up to 2 hours to get a parking space. (We parked a quarter mile away and just hoofed it up the highway.)

Fortunately we'd pre-ordered* & picked up our tickets on Friday, so we got to skip the line madness, but we heard from some poor attendees inside who didn't even get through the doors until 2 or 3 pm. GAH!

[*Correction: John just reminded me we bought our tickets at the door - that huge line is all the people who DID pre-order tickets. o.o]

I could go on about the panels that were cancelled with no warning or explanation, the credit card machines that broke down, and how the main event stage was on one end of a massive room where everyone goes to sit and talk - meaning you couldn't hear anything on stage unless you were in the first two dozen rows - but I think you get the idea. We've been to this con three times now, I think, and this year we decided would be our last. Don't go. It's not worth it, and there are much better local cons. (MegaCon, for instance.) Or, if you do go, plan on just being there Thursday and/or Friday to avoid the insanity.

Now for the good stuff: I got some great art, we heard *most* of George Takei's & Adam Baldwin's panels (over all the talkers & portable boom boxes), and I manged to grab some Ok cosplay photos. Most importantly, though, this was a good excuse to get out of the house for a few days,  since that was right after I'd hit a virtual wall blogging.

So, onto the photos!

Pretty Ariel with her dinglehopper. :)

Steampunk TARDIS! I love the staff with the lantern and exploded clock.

Lovely Star Trek crew members

(I vaguely remember an episode where some natives put flowers on the crew...)

My dad recently bought me a new photo editing program called Perfect Photo, and I've been playing around with it for the past few weeks. It seems to do just about everything I'm used to accomplishing in Photoshop, so if you're looking for a more user-friendly (not to mention less expensive) PS alternative, I think I'd recommend it. (I tend to stay away from the portrait settings, though, since it's way too easy to make faces look like glowy plastic. Heh.)

I'm far from proficient, of course, and a lot of my photos weren't that great to begin with, but here's an example of what Perfect Photo lets me do:

Fun, right? (I've been playing with this program all night, you guys. HALP.)

Every cosplay pic so far in this post has also been adjusted with the program. It's pretty time-consuming, though, so for most of the rest I stuck with just a few basic iPhoto tweaks:

Ack! DOCTOR DOOM AND MINI DOOM! SO. CUTE.

I like to get down on my knees when photographing kids - and in this case, I think that helped get little mini-Doom's attention:

  I love this shot.

This steampunk Poison Ivy had fun glittery eyebrows:

Like most cons these days, this one was overflowing with Homestuck trolls:

 (That's not an insult, btw; the characters are actually called trolls. :))

I found this delightful group just inside the doors:

On Saturday we literally couldn't even get onto the main floor, so I hugged the wall by the entry doors and snagged cosplayers as they rounded the aisles. I only lasted a few hours that way, but Saturday tends to draw the best costumes!

 Bane, Cobra Commander, & the Baroness.

More Borderlands baddies.

Deadpool duo and a sad little Castiel. (D'awww.)

Journey and Final Fantasy.

Iron Patriot and random Burlesque prettiness.

This little cutie is becoming quite the celebrity:

Her website supports a dog rescue charity, though, so rest assured she's using her powers for good. :)

Proof that cosplay doesn't have to be too difficult or expensive to be super fun: 

Not to mention a reminder that we should never take ourselves too seriously. :D

More Perfect Photo magic:

 This Scarecrow is a girl, btw.  RESPECT.

Here are a few photos from the giant room off the main floor - the one with the wrestling ring, celebs, panel stage, and a thousand weary con-goers all vying for space:

That's my friend Christie as the 6th Doctor. The guy with the wings was trapped alongside one wall, but people kept standing in front of his wings, so it was impossible to get a clear shot. (Poor guy - he looked kinda miserable.)

And finally, some badass women:

Yes, including the dwarf. 

LOVE IT.

Hope you liked my pics, guys! There are still a few more, so if you'd like to see the rest just head over to my Flickr gallery.

Today John and I are off to yet another local con, and tomorrow we're heading to a Ren Faire down in Sarasota. Wish us luck, and watch for my photo reports next week!

November Art Roundup - With LOTS Of New Give-Aways!

Time for my monthly roundup of gorgeous geek art!

My fellow BioShock:Infinite fans are going to LOVE this first one:

By Echo Chernik 

Songbird! And Elizabeth! In art nouveau!! [swoon]

This 11X17 poster was apparently only available at cons for one season, but I was lucky enough to snag one at Florida Supercon several months back... which I promptly smooshed a little while carrying around. So I bought another one. That means I have one slightly smooshed signed poster available on the Epbot give-away board, if you'd like it. :)

This design is also available as a t-shirt at the official Irrational Games store for $24 - although I'm not a fan of the light blue background. (The men's style comes on a much more attractive gray.)

Echo has a truly gorgeous art nouveau pin-up style, so if you like that you should really check out the rest of her work. Here's part of her "Baked Cthulhu" set:

 And I've always loved the steampunky "Bubo v2.0"

 (Please note that some of Echo's pinup art is NSFW.)

***

Next up is the minimalistic superhero art of Alex Asfour:

 

 

I bought both of these from Alex at the same con, but not only are they not available anywhere online, I couldn't even find these images anywhere - so I took these pics with my phone. (Sorry. They're too big to scan!)

You should still be able to get them in person from Alex, though, so watch for him at your local conventions. Or, better yet, just comment below to win one! Both are going on my give-away board.

Here's one you CAN buy from Alex's online store, at least:

"Rocket to the Moon" 18X24 print, $15

Retro rockety goodness!

***

Nathan Szerdy is a local Florida artist with a really diverse range of art and fun style.  I've chatted with him several times at local events, and have done my best to berate him each time for not having a web store for most of his work. (Are you sensing a common theme here? Ha!)

If you're lucky enough to catch him at a con, though, here's some of what you can buy from Nathan:

I purchased two big prints from him, and both are going on the give-away board. Again, you can only get these from Nathan in person - and in fact, he doesn't even have this first one on his website, so... iPhone to the rescue, AGAIN.

(Kinda frustrated with how this one turned out; it's way nicer in person!)

And for you Edward Gory/Tim Burton fans:

I know I should have featured this one LAST month, but I have so much of an art stash backing up I honestly didn't find it 'til a few weeks ago. o.0 (This is an awesome problem to have, btw.)

Anyway, this is from Nathan's graphic novel, Lola and the 11 Secrets. Hit that link to buy the book; it's chock full of gorgeous art just like this.

***

And finally, Charles Thurston is yet another local Florida artist I've been silently cursing for not having all of his art online - and here's the reason why: 

 LOOK HOW CUTE THIS IS.  

(It's Doctor Chew! Or maybe WHObacca? :D)

Yes, of course I bought it. And yes, of course it's not available anywhere in his online store. (This is another phone picture.) I happen to know Charles through some mutual friends, though, so I'm allowed to yell at him here, right? CHARLES, PUT THIS IN YOUR ONLINE STORE!! Thank you.

[11/17 Update: Charlie tells me these prints were a collaboration with fellow artist Danny Haas, and they were a limited edition run of only 200. I've talked to the guys since, though, and I THINK I've convinced them to make a few changes and do another run. I'll keep you posted!]
Charles also sells a bunch of adorable little story booklets that introduce younger kids to fandoms like Doctor Who, Star Wars, Firefly, and the like:

All of Charles' booklets are $7 each, and they're freaking adorable, so watch his Etsy shop for new listings.


Hope you enjoyed this month's roundup, guys! As always, remember to comment below to enter to win the art of your choice from my Pinterest art give-away board - and head over there to see all the new pieces I've added since last month!

Oh, and since I'm adding so much new art I'll be picking TWO random winners this month. I'll announce the winners sometime early next week - and yes, I'll ship anywhere!

UPDATE: The giveaway has ended, and the winners are Betty Martin & Renee of "A Bibliophile's Life For Me!" Congrats, ladies, and please e-mail me to claim your prize!