Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2016 After Party

After the fun had at the Las Vegas Convention center for the convention itself, the party moved to the Millenium Fandom Bar for the after party. Have you ever danced with Admiral Ackbar and Fiona the Human? I have. It was awesome!

In case you're not from Vegas, or even if you are from Vegas but lack a certain geeky-socialite je nai ses quoi, the Millenium Fandom Bar is a bastion of beverages and community for cosplayers and regular fans alike. While cosplay is certainly not required, it's definitely encouraged, so what better environment to celebrate the successful con with all the fabulous cosplayers and vendors who attended and plenty who couldn't?

The awesome staff and management of the bar let me set up and draw caricatures, as well, and I had a blast! It was so fun seeing and drawing people in character and with the liquid libations loosening everyone up a bit, it was quite the wild night. This was also something of a low-key going away party for me, as well, because shortly after this I would be leaving for Korea and unable to hang out with my Critical Care Crew until I return from my adventures in Asia. Spider-man and Batsy did a shot with me to send me off, and a very surprised Uber driver got to delivery Batman safely to his Batcave later that evening- in full Bat suit! Don't drink and drive, kids, unless you want to face justice. No one likes Batman when he's angry...and while Batman doesn't kill his enemies (most of the time) there's no guarantee what could happen. Just don't risk it!

All in all it was a super fun time (see what I did there? eh? eh?)! Critical Care Comics took over the sound system for a bit and held the costume contest and a raffle. All proceeds from the raffle went towards funding their efforts to bring a smile to the faces of sick kids throughout the valley, so even if you didn't win a prize you still won some good karma points! If you've never seen a drunk Spider-man MCing it's really quite a spectacle to behold. I may or may not have grabbed his bum... what can I say? I've always had a soft spot for the witty webslinger. Luckily he had given me a free pass to do so once or twice in my life when I casually mentioned the temptation at another time, so it wasn't assault. That's important, folks- don't go grabbing or touching people without their explicit consent, otherwise you're no better than the orange buffoon with the bad hair from the TV that (almost) everyone makes fun of. 

Just because someone is in cosplay does not give you the right to touch them.

EVER.  It doesn't matter how sexy their costume is or how nice they seem, unless they give you the OK to hug or otherwise touch them, respect their bodily autonomy and personal bubble. It's basic human decency, guys. 

Luckily for everyone, the group at the after party were all awesome people and a good time was had by pretty much everyone (as far as I could tell anyway, I for one saw no grumpy faces). I'm absolutely looking forward to attending next year's Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con!! Hope to see you all out at ALVCC2017!!

XOXO

Nau

Vegas: Zappos Fandom Friday 2016-03-25

On Friday, March 25th I was lucky enough to participate in Zappos Fandom Friday event! Zappos, for those not in the know, is an online retailer based in my quaint little home town of Las Vegas, Nevada. On top of being a successful company that ranks as one of the best in country to work for,  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has taken a very active role in helping to revitalise downtown Las Vegas, leading the way in it's resurgence as a popular tourist & local hipster destination. And yes, if you read the Wired article I linked there, it's true; there is a giant praying mantis that shoot fire in Downtown Vegas, located in front of the Downtown Container Park. Thanks, Tony.

As a participating artist/vendor at the event, I got to hang out in their lobby area and partake in all the nerdy goodness afoot! There were many super talented artists, groovy vendors, cosplayers, banging DJs, and even some llamas. 

Yes, llamas.

Gosh they're cute! 

And really, it was a very cool event to attend. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first ever Fandom Friday thanks in no small part to Rogue Toys! Rogue Toys partnered with Zappos to get the gears rolling on this event and I'm so grateful they did. It's always great seeing new opportunities and events pop up for the artistic community in this city! And what a fun event this was; there were dancing storm troopers, amazing cosplay, fantastic original art, live performances by Decaying Tigers, arcades games free to play, food trucks, and fun and games for all involved!

I came out with some limited edition Batman Vs. Superman prints in honour of the new movie. Have you seen it? Antho and I had already watched it by the time I went to the event, but I made sure not to give away any spoilers...but I didn't really get much opportunity as almost everyone I asked about the movie admitted to being less than excited to see it...womp womp. 

Even so, I managed to sell a few of the prints. ^_^ I'm thinking of putting them up on Etsy, but I have a few Superhero events left here in town first so I'll see how they do. The nice thing about prints is once they're made you have them, so even if I didn't sell out of them at the event I'm glad to have gone! 

How often do you get to encounter random llamas or dancing Storm Troopers, after all?

This is going to be an image heavy post, so be forewarned ye of sluggish internet!!

Also, if you see yourself or anyone you know and want me to include their name or remove photos, please contact me ASAP and I'll be happy to oblige! 

Project: Tie-dye 2016/02/13

Antho and I have been doing a lot of tie-dye recently. These have all been posted in our Etsy shop so if you see any you like be sure to check it out! We're both quite pleased with how we've been progressing through experimentation and practice. ^_^ Hope you like!

Vegas: Trunk or Treat Halloween Caricatures Event!

I was recently lucky enough to be invited to draw for a Trunk or Treat event! 

It was a lot of fun and I got to meet and draw a lot of really interesting people. 

Due to time/crowd limitations I was only really able to do black and white drawings, but they were well received regardless!

Who knows, maybe some went home and colored them in themselves. ;) Next generation of artists in the works!

Everyone had the option to be drawn normally or as creepy zombie versions, which was delightful. You never know who'll want to get the scary version...

And really, how often do you get to draw a zombie baby?!

So much fun! Thanks again for having me, guys! 

Project: Custom Painted Mermaid Guitar

How does one take a guitar from

this

   

to this? 

Well, that's what I'm going to share with you today! This is an absolutely fantastic project that my from CeeDro set me to task on, and I'm immensely grateful that he did! It's been a wonderful learning process and a whole lot of fun. I've always been really curious about customizing instruments and immensely flattered whenever anyone mentions their interest in such a project. This was one commission I took with great enthusiasm!

To learn more, read below!

Las Vegas: Fear the Watching Dear premier party 2015-08-23

Antho and I were recently invited to participate in the Fear the Watching Dead season premiere party hosted by Fatbeard and the cast of Evil Dead the Musical at Shakespeare's Grille & Pub. It was a freaking blast!!!

If you didn't know already, I'm a huge fan of all things horror! 

Ever since I was a little kid horror movies have been a favorite of mine, with The Thing, the Fly, Alien & Aliens, American Werewolf in London, the Evil Dead series, and the Nightmare on Elm Street series among my favorites, but I've also got a big sweet spot for zombie flicks. Shaun of the Dead, Dead Alive, Night of the Living Dead, Zombieland, Warm Bodies and more all hold very near and dear places in my heart. One of the biggest draws to the creepier side of the cinematic world for me is the practical effects utilized in a lot of the older movies. I was raised on a heavy diet of Jim Henson's astounding creations and was absolutely fascinated by the process I caught glimpses of in behind the scenes clips. Working in the world of creature effects and practical monster makeup has always been something of a dream job for me, and I geek out hard on videos showing how a talented team of professionals can turn a pretty little model into a crawling corpse. However, I'm currently much better at drawing, so I do! Being invited to events like this is always a great privilege and honor, and I'm happy to announce that we were invited back for the season finale! Yay!

Check out my art blog, Deviantart,  if you're curious to get a glimpse of some of the creepy stuff I love drawing, haha. Might not be suitable for the easily spooked. ;) 

More photos from the event below!