Village Fest and other goodies

Hey everyone, this post is here a bit later than I intended, but here nonetheless.  I have a few updates for you guys, so let's get to it.

This past weekend was the Village Fest out in Grosse Pointe Woods.  Artists, food vendors, musicians, and everything else you could shake a stick at attended.  The artist group I am part of, Motor City Sketch, set up a booth there again this year, this time dong sketches to raise money for the American Red  Cross.  Other artists on hand besides myself were Ted Woods, Bruce Gerlach, Anne Garavaglia, Lee Gothro, and Franklyn Beasely.  The group of us ended up being completely slammed most of Saturday, to the point where we were drawing literally until the sun was down and couldn't see any more.  Sunday, albeit with shorter hours, was no different.  All in all, it was a blast and we all had such a good time.  Here are a few pictures from the event:

 My little friend here was pretty much the highlight of my day on Saturday.  He and his mother came up to me a little bit after the show started asking about getting a sketch done of him, but she didn't have cash.  Ultimately she said they would be back later (which much of the time, isn't the case and you never see them again), but she stayed true to her word and came back almost at closing time.  Her son, pictured above, wanted to be drawn up like Batman (he picked the right guy to ask to do it); I asked if I could get a picture of him for reference while they walked around a bit more.  At first he smiled, leading to me saying Batman doesn't smile, then he gave me a half grin/ half frown which sufficed; it was obvious he was very shy.  I drew up his picture and the two of them came back, he being as shy as ever, but when I gave him his picture I swear to God the way his face lit up you could have lit an entire room.  His mother was so happy with it and the kid was estatic; made my day.

 Almost set up.  Myself and Bruce Gerlach pictured.

 Getting into the swing of things.  Bruce, myself, and Ted Woods.

 The whole gang.  L-R: Bruce, Anne Garavaglia, Kelly Nemzek, myself, and Ted.

 Our friend James Green showed up for a little bit.  Really funny guy.

 Bruce is showing how he really feels about drawing people.

Ted's got a fan base in the Village!

All in all, it was fantastic time and couldn't have been happier with how everything went.  We were all glad to do it.  Also special thanks goes to Kelly's husband, Steve, for providing us with some Starbucks.  

In other news, I have officially signed on to be at the Detroit Fanfare Comic Convention at the Abode hotel in Dearborn, MI. October 25-27.  I'm not up on the official website just yet, but the contract has been signed and the paperwork is all done and in.  Once the show is closer I'll have all the details.

Last but not least, I recently finished yet another set from Cult Stuff, this time for the 'Beyond Bram Stoker's Dracula' set.  There's so much to go off of in terms of vampires and that whole culture that Cult Stuff decided to do a sub set for that.  I did 31 altogether These were a lot of fun to do, enjoy.

Thanks for reading.  Until next time....

Wizard World Chicago thoughts

  Back once again with yet another thrilling post.  Two weeks ago I took part in the Wizard World Chicago comic convention at the Rosemont Convention Center in Rosement, Il.  It was a a huge show with many celebrities (such as Stan Lee, Zachary Quinto, Norman Reedus, and Chicago's own CM Punk), and a whole slew of artists, including yours truly.
  The layout of the show left much to be desired as it was split on two levels instead of everything on one floor, but that was due to double-booking the convention alongside a coin show.  Sigh.  The artists and celebs were on the ground floor and the vendors occupied the second floor which ending up confusing many people.  It also didn't help that the entrance to the artist alley/celebrity wing was split right in the middle of it, meaning for the most part, people would shoot straight to the stars, and if they were to go into artist alley, they would start to turn away by row G (we were in row J).  Because of that, business was pretty slow, and by Sunday, my table partner, John Marroquin thought it would be best to split up to separate tables due to there being quite a few of them.  After we split up, business picked up quite a bit, and thankfully I made up for my expenses which is the biggest hurdle to start with.
  The show wasn't my finest hour, but it was a helluva good time nonetheless as a few of my artist colleagues were in attendance and a few friends came into town.  Times like these make me really love what I do because I'm around people of the like which makes it all the more rewarding.
  I managed to snap a few pictures thanks to the power of Instagram:

 My half table set up.

 Decided to draw a few of the Ninja Turtles.  Here's my turtle doppelganger.

 Mikey.

 Bane.

 A Beatles convention took place at the hotel we were staying at and my friend Kelly Nemzek and myself snuck into a concert that was going on.  No, I didn't get arrested, just good timing with the camera.

 Davy Jones.  This was a lot of fun to draw.

 Scarecrow sketch cover.

Donatello.  One lucky kid walked away with this one.

  Next up for yours truly is the Art and Sole (no typo) festival in Grosse Pointe Woods Saturday, September 7th and Sunday, September 8th and a few other artists will be on hand as well.  We had a great time last year and raised money for the Belle Isle Aquarium and I did quite a few portraits for kids which was a ton of fun.  I'll post more details when I get them.

  My next convention appearance is the Detroit Fanfare Comic Convention at the Adoba Hotel in Dearborn, MI October 25, 26, & 27th.  I will also have more details as the show gets closer.

Until next time.

  

Wizard World Chicago

Next week is Wizard World Chicago from August 8th - 11th at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.  This will be my first Wizard World show and I will have the usual tricks up my sleeve along with a few extra goodies inCLUding (see what I did there?):

I'm very happy with how these turned out and hopefully they will have a good reception.  I will also have my (in)famous Avengers prints along with my Walking Dead and 007 prints as well.  I will be at table J8 so stop by and say the obligatory "hello!".

Want to own an original piece of my artwork?

Here's your chance!  I just listed a slew of original sketch cards that have been sitting in the archives for quite some time.  To check them out go to my eBay store:

http://myworld.ebay.com/jasonwestlake84

Here are the cards I have listed, enjoy:

Better snatch them up quick, especially the Bane cards, I have some serious collectors keeping an eye on my work!

This and that.

Once again it's been a minute since I've updated here, but bouncing from project to project really puts and damper on it.  At any rate, I'm back with a few of those said projects.

Back in April at C2E2 in Chicago I met a gentleman who loved my Avengers prints (he loved them so much he bought the set, then two more for his friends after the show!).  He asked if I had a Tron print, which I did not, but it was on my list of pieces I wanted to do sooner or later.  Well, sooner it was.  He contacted me and wanted to commission me to get one (or two) off the ground.  The one shown above is the first one, as I started a second, featuring the antagonist of Tron Legacy, CLU, but I wasn't too keen on it, so I'm reworking it. Once CLU is finished, both of them will be available to purchase.

I recently wrapped up a set of cards for the upcoming "Civil War Chronicles" from Cult Stuff.  Major wars such as this (and World War 2 in particular) have always fascinated me.  The thing that fascinates me the most, however, are the soldiers themselves, particularly the pictures of them not on the battlefield.  I chose to go the route of portraits of soldiers mainly because I always wondered what their story was; for the most part, I couldn't find their names (save for John Wilkes Booth) making them more or less "lost" in history.  I don't know if they had wives, children, I didn't know what they did for a living, what their personality was like, etc.  I did 30 cards for the set and I really enjoyed this trip down history lane.

'Til next time...

Short Stories on Amazon.com!

Hey folks, here's some exciting nuggets for you all to chew on.  Back in April a gentleman by the name of Douglas Esper contacted me through my artist page on Facebook (which is http://www.facebook.com/jasonwestlakeart if you weren't aware).  He had seen my Avengers prints and wanted me to design 4 covers for short stories he would be selling on Amazon.com as eBooks.  Well, they are now available!  Here are the covers I designed and I also provided the links to check out the synopsis for each and to also purchase them.  The best part?  They're only $.99!  If you have a Kindle, do yourself a favor a purchase a copy of each and support local artists and authors!

The Day We Hung The Tallest Thomas

Buy it here:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Hung-Tallest-Thomas-ebook/dp/B00CE2N6H6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369946203&sr=8-1&keywords=the+day+we+hung+the+tallest+thomas

The Quitter

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/the-quitter-ebook/dp/B00CFCAE3Y/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_1

My Wife's Favorite

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/my-wifes-favorite-ebook/dp/B00CEN9UBG/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369946275&sr=1-2 

The Baby Book

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Baby-Book-ebook/dp/B00CENW8GK/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369946383&sr=1-3&keywords=the+baby+book

Thanks for reading!

Motor City Comic Con thoughts and other things of the like

OK, so it's been waaaaaaay too long since I've posted and waaaaaay too long after Motor City Comic Con, but here's what I've been up to nonetheless.

On Saturday, May 4th I appeared at Wonderworld Comics in Taylor for Free Comic book Day.  It was a last minute thing for me as I was coming right off the coat tails of C2E2, but I figured why not.  Ended up being great day with a great turnout.  Other colleages of mine including Ted Woods, Bruce Gerlach, and Bill Pulkovski were set up as well and a great time was had by everyone who came out.  I will definitely do one of these again.

Next up was Motor City Comic Con at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.  This was my fourth time in the artist alley, and it was by far my best year, and best show to date.  The attendance was at an all-time high; mainly because Stan Lee was the main guest of honor and Norman Reedus was able to make it (he didn't make it last year due to Walking Dead filming obligations).  To put it in perspective, Saturday's attendance alone was the total attendance from the ENTIRE weekend last year. The great turnout was not without it's problems though; ridiculously long lines, along with the heat, made for a very uncomfortable wait for those in line, which in turn lead to short tempers.  I won't touch on the problems at this time, mainly because everything that could be said has been said.

Here are a few of the pictures I was able to take from the event:

 Myself and Mini Stan Lee.  She's now an internet sensation!  I actually bought the comic she and her brothers created and she even signed it as Mini Stan Lee; awesome.

 Lego Boba Fett costume

 My new banner

 I look pretty goofy, but whatevs.

 Mark I

 Michael Keaton sketch.

Even Bob Brisse came by to show me the autograph he got from the guy in Bruce Almighty who pulled a monkey out of his butt.

 My set up.

Good weekend.

I was joined by fellow artists Andrew Shirey, Jay Fosgitt, Bruce Gerlach, Bill Pulkovski, Jim Towe, Anne Garavaglia, and Kelly Nemzek; they all seemed to have a good turnout as well.  Big things are coming for all of them.

In other news, I recently wrapped up 30 sketch cards for the upcoming 'Civil War Chronicles' trading card set from Cult-Stuff which will be out soon.  I'll be posting my cards up soon.  I'm also finishing up cards for the 'Contemporary Pin-ups' sketch jam set.  This is unique because the cards will have TWO artists featured on each; either they split the card up by each drawing on one or the other side, or one will draw and ink everything and the other does the colors.  Once I have them all scanned, I'll post them as well; it was a very fun set to be a part of.

That's about it for right now.  'Til next time....