Going with the flow.

The recent death of Moebius had made me nostalgic and think about all the famous artists I have met and talked to... by accident.

Let me clarify.

You can go to conventions and signings to specifically meet an artist, but there is something memorable about meeting them with no expectations or plan - in short, by accident.

I am normally a very shy person who tends to over think things.  If I have an appointment or plan to meet someone well-known, I have the habit of planning too much and getting my expectations so high that I am guaranteed to feel disappointed afterwards.

So accidentally meeting someone you admire is so freeing and thus incredibly memorable - and a few times loved the art but did not put a name and face to it until after you met them in person.

One trip to SDCC was especially memorable because of three of these accidental meetings...



As I was roaming the con floor I happened to look over at some scraggly bearded fellow with a portfolio full of Adam Warren drawings.  I couldn't help but comment on a few of my faves and saying how much I loved the artists work. He rifled through it and handed one to the people work at the table he happened to be visiting.  When the person replied "Thank you so much Adam" the bomb dropped.

GODDAMIT, I was gushing over Adam Warren art in front of Adam Warren! LOL!

I wound up having a nice talk with him and found out he does this every year - revisit the people who pay him for a commission and personally drop them off.  I eventually got a commission from him myself which I picked up the following year.



Same day I was wandering the small press and webcomic section of the con to see some of the new stuff and talent out there.

I wound up talking to an older gentleman at one of the webcomic tables and we discussed how the people who produce these things are going to be the new talent pool for the future of the comic industry.  I was very impressed how he was so keen on seeing how much new and different talent there was out there outside of the big publishers.

Just then someone interrupted our conversation and asked if they could take a picture with the gentleman I was just speaking to.

A small crowd formed and I overheard someone comment quietly "That's freaking Will Eisner!"

You can guess how stunned I was to realize that I was talking about recognizing new talent with the guy the award for recognizing new talent was named after.  (Oh yeah, I got my picture with him as well!)



The last encounter was on the last day when my boss got everyone together to go out for dinner with a few of the artists that the studio was going to be working with in the upcoming year.  They were all younger than me and I felt out of place and wound up gravitating towards an older couple who sat and listened quietly to all the conversations.

I had a great side conversation with the couple, especially the bearded fellow, about how digital coloring was the mainstay in comic book industry, you can't overlook the fact you have to have the actual artistic talent to back it up.  Never overlook actually working with a master and learning the basics first.

I asked him a lot of questions on how it is to live as a traditional artist and he gave me some candid and useful advice - one was never stop creating.

After dinner we had to go back to the hotel but I asked for his name.  I don't have the best of memories at times and felt embarrassed to ask for it again when I missed it the first time he said it.  But I got the gist of it... Drew Strew-something...

Not until I got back to Toronto I decided to look him up online and try to find his name - or at least the correct spelling.  My search started to yield some of my favorite painted movie posters for the Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Back to The Future series.  I eventually saw a familiar face amongst all those paintings.  The artist who painted them, the guy who I talked the ear off of that night,  - Dru Struzan!



Normally I am a pack rat and boy scout when I go to a con - preparing myself for any and all eventualities with battle plans and objectives

But I have to admit that the most memorable and enjoyable times I have had were those I was totally unprepared for and was just going where my feet took me.

So the next con you go to.
I know you paid a pretty penny for admission to find that toy or book you are missing from your collection.
Just try dong this once.
Pick one of the days or a couple or hours.
Throw your expectations out the window.
And just go with the flow and wander and just look at everything.

You won't be disappointed.