The Art of Kelly Smith: Dragon Con 2008

I attended Dragon Con again this year and here are my thoughts on it.
Once again, Christina Myers and I ran the EMG booth for Ellen Million in the Dealers room. Last year Tina's Mom and her Mom's friend came with us and that helped alot. They brought us lunch and enabled us to take small breaks. This time it was just us two so we were pretty much chained to the table except for when one of us took a bathroom break! So, it was kind of exhausting to be at the table all day every day and a bit disappointing since we did not even get to attend any other events, nor did we even make it to view the Art Show at all. However, we had the most awesome neighbors ever and that made everything much more fun for us! Brian Mitchell ( http://roughcanvas.com/ ) and his partner Andrew were at the Dealer table next to us-they were a blast! Brian does male art and he was kind enough to allow me to pick his brains-yay! I think God put me and Tina in that booth next to them for a reason. I have been kind of down on my art, wondering if the kind of art I enjoy doing will ever sell. Seeing Brian's success with his art inspired me and motivated me to get back into doing art. I haven't done any new art in 2008 save for a dragon ACEO in January and some painted wooden boxes.Coincidentally, Gay Pride week was going on in Atlanta the same week as Dragon Con so there were alot of gay people at Dragon Con. This allowed me to get a better idea of what this audience is wanting in the way of art. I had several gay men stop and look at my art and ask about various things. It was helpful and insightful to me and I have some ideas. ;) I also acquired a couple of new male models! ;)

Sales were kind of slow this year and that seemed to be the case with most of the other vendors we spoke to. Attendance seemed to be way up this year and I have a feeling Dragon Con is just going to continue to get bigger and bigger! People were there but just not buying much. Tina and I did meet several people who recognized us or our art from last year or from online so that was awesome!Personally, Tina and I had an absolute blast together, as we always do. We were both in need of a getaway and some girl time to catch up. We did not get a room in any of the host hotels this year which was a huge hassle. The hotel we did stay in was very nice but we had about a 10-15 minute walk to and fro each day. Not so bad in the morning but kinda scary at night! So we didn't really want to hang around after we got out of the Dealer's room each evening because we didn't want to be walking back top our hotel in downtown Atlanta in the dark. The courtesy buses that were supposed to be running seemed to be just imaginary since nobody actually saw them with any regularity.

High points of Dragon Con 2008 included:
*Hard Rock Cafe Saturday night-I may be getting some pics of our hot waiter to use for my art plus he gave Tina and I free hurricane glasses to keep. :)
*Good times with good friends, free drinks and nice eye candy!
*Picture Taking Night-we had so much fun that night!
*Seeing old Artist friends and meeting new ones
*Our neighbors in the Dealer Room
*Movie Night-Tina and I watched the "Sex and the City" movie in our hotel one night and pigged out on junk food. Much needed veg-out time!
*Catching up with Tina and just the time we got to spend talking and hanging out-she is a wonderful friend and I missed her as soon as I got home.
*Inspiration, motivation and ideas for new art!

Low points were:
*Not getting a room in a host hotel and having to walk
*Dealing with the unsavory characters of downtown Atlanta on our daily and nightly walks to and from our hotel.
*Not getting to attend any events or see the Art Show
*Exhaustion
*Expenses of hotel and food

As you see, the high points outweigh the low by far. Yes, it is expensive as hell to go. Everything is crazy expensive in Atlanta so we brought lots of snacks and granola bars, fruit cups, chips, candy, chocolate, etc. We ate granola bars and fruit for breakfast, snacked during the day and tried to eat a decent meal at night. We brought our own water and took 1 bottle each to the Dealer room where we kept refilling them throughout the day at the water cooler provided. Dragon Con is probably not financially profitable for most people unless you're a really well known, well-established seller already. However, I think there are other things to take into consideration. The contacts you meet-other artists, fans and customers who will come back each year, plus people who may be in the market for your services. You are getting your name out there to tons of people and getting yourself and your art seen. Plus, Dragon Con is just freakin fun as hell! I'm tired of typing so I will leave you with some pictures. :)

Tina and I smiling for the camera