Well this weekend I’m off to FLUKE is Athens, a small but really fun convention in a beautiful city. A lot of my friends will be in attendance. It’s held at the 40 Watt this year, which is going to be a new experience so I hope it becomes a regular venue.

I sat down and drew this illustration. It’s an image that’s been in my head and it felt so good just to put it down and get rid of it. I come across these weird compositions in my head, and though that makes me sound crazy, it’s true. All artists have a vision of what they want to create, and one of those visions is something they didn’t even imagine as an illustration first. Just an image that needs to come out out of them. Well, it’s out. Now I can go back to focusing on printing and folding comics for the upcoming conventions. Much love!

photo by Luis Echavarria

This Fluke far surpassed last year’s. Instead of doing the 4 hour drive the day of the convention and only attending Fluke for three hours, we went a day early. We made it to Athens Friday evening. I had the pleasure of traveling with my friends and colleagues Nate Marsh, Alex Mejias and her fiance Derek, and Luis Echaverria. All of them are magnificent artists, wonderful people, and a pleasure to lodge with.

My notes on Fluke

~Fluke is all mini-comics. The best things that sell are comics under $10. Comics around $5 are usually the most purchased. The usual con merchandise was sold, but amongst browsers, comics were king.

~The room at the Cine was a little smaller than Tasty World, which meant less exhibition space and lots of traffic jams. But with higher ceilings and brighter lights, it felt busier, and the all-around attitude was positive and could be seen and felt every which way you looked. Rumor has it that the venue may change, and “wildly imaginative” events will take place for the 10th Anniversary of Fluke in 2011.

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Fluke Minicomics festival was a blast. Homeboy Tait and I took off from Savannah to Athens the day of and skipped the first half. We got to experience the last 3 hours of it, which is all you need on a first visit. There were lots of sweet minis to snag, trade, buy, and plenty of great people to meet. We met up with some award-winning SCAD students from the Savannah campus as well as the Atlanta students. I was really into seeing the Atlanta group, getting their group dynamic as a whole.

Athens is a real nice town and I’d love to chill there more. It’s kind of like a cooler Savannah with lots more to do, all within walking distance of each other. It seems like in Savannah, because of those squares, things are much further away. In Athens, its just perfect.

It’s similar to Savannah because UGA, the University of Georgia, is the town. A lot of things go down on College Ave, like the outdoor concert that was happening across the street from the comics fest. There were plenty of young Georgia students out partying and having a good time. Seems like comics and coeds can coexist, and it is a beautiful thing.

Here are some more pictures from the trip!

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