Aftermath: Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival 2014

My art on the lanyards! Pretty neat!

 Last weekend (7/25-27) was the 2014 Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival in Asbury Park, NJ! This was my second year attending the show and I definitely had some mixed feelings this year. Like last year, I did all of the art and branding and in return got hooked up with vending space at the show. I invited my best friend Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop to come out with me and was hoping for a repeat of the insane success I had at last year's show. Which is kind of the thing about conventions and vending, you really have no idea year-to-year how it's going to pan out. The spot I had last year next to the entrance had been bought out, so I was given a more Artist Alley-style set up of a long row of tables (3 6' tables- an 18' super table!) in the corner by the stage. From my perspective on the floor it definitely didn't seem as busy this year as last year- the weather wasn't as nice and the upper deck was unaccessible to the show due to construction, so the main floor was crowded with artists and vendors. Fenny and I also busted out our new Victorian swimsuits for the affair, with ridiculous poof-ball hats to boot. They were a hit and we will be absolutely be wearing these to more shows in the future. We're already planning a spooky rendition to wear to Monster Mania this fall, which will include skull makeup, 'RMS Titanic' labels on our hat bands and ribcage corsets. I am super excited.

Photo courtesy andreatarr.com

Our 18' SUPER TABLE! So much stuff!

 Much like at Baltimore Tattoo Convention earlier this year, the attendees also seemed to be more interested in looking and hanging out rather than buying stuff. There was an overall attitude to the crowd this year that kind of rubbed me the wrong way- like 60% of the people attending had no interests in anything. Guys that were 'too cool' to get excited about stuff. Indignant boyfriends who got annoyed if their girlfriends stopped to look at our table. Lots of teenagers who obviously spent their whole 'allowance' getting to the show so they have a place to hang out with their friends all day unsupervised. People were also being, for lack of a better word- cheap. Like agonizing over purchases that were less than $5. And people trying to haggle over single item purchases right as they came to the table. And believe me, I'm all about value and deals at my table- if you engage me in healthy conversation and build a rapport with me and then end up buying a few items- I will most likely throw an extra few buttons or a sticker or other goodies in your bag. But to just roll up and demand an item clearly marked as $18 be $15? I'm sorry, but no. Also with my attempting to make vending at conventions a viable portion of my career, I need to take a serious look at the numbers and economics of this endeavor. I keep records of how much I sell and break that down into what I would consider an hourly rate. Shows with especially long hours like tattoo shows eat into that rate as there are longer lulls in sales and an overall lack of urgency when compared to shows with shorter hours.  If at the end of the day I don't reach a certain monetary goal with my table, I may as well pack it in. There comes a point where if I do not make back my expenses such as travel, hotel and table costs then I am hemorrhaging money and would actually be making more money staying at home. Which is actually what ended up happening on Sunday at Visionary, plus Fenny and I were going to drive all the way back to Maryland and wanted to beat beach traffic.

Photo courtesy andreatarr.com

Photo courtesy andreatarr.com

 I got a lot of the reseller assumptions as well- where people literally do not realize that I drew and made all the merch I sell until I tell them. And for every person I tell, I'm sure there's another 3 people at least that I don't explain myself to who just assume I just get all my merch from somewhere and flip it. Which can be frustrating, especially when I've already invested a lot of myself into maintaining a table and all the merch upon it. While most people are out getting blasted on Friday/Saturday nights- I'm at home drawing and cutting and making in preparation for shows like this. Maybe it's that I'm used to working comic shows for so long- when the attendees are all nerds who by nature are obsessive they tend to come in to a show with an understanding of how conventions work (like artist alley is where artists are...) and with a clear set agenda that includes making purchases. Even the most jaded fan is still a fan of *something*.

Via youdontknowjersey.com

 With all of that however I will say there were some very nice people that I met at the show as well as people from last year who were kind enough to swing by and say hello. I discussed portrait commissions with some potential clients and hopefully will see that come into fruition in the coming months. I also greatly appreciate all of you who came by and bought stuff or made my day go by a little easier with some engaging conversation. Also I liked the hotel we stayed at- The Empress and the area around it on the boardwalk that I had the chance to visit- especially the crepe and Korean taco stands. My only gripe about the hotel was the price (hella pricey for what it was...) and there was no little store in the hotel (only a vending machine- which sold snacks, soda, Alka-seltzer and condoms. No water. WTF?). But the balcony was delightful- GREAT people watching. Especially on a Saturday night- we must have seen at least 3 separate people get busted and hauled off in cop cars, it was great. My husband and I plan on taking an actual trip FOR FUN down to Asbury soon so I can actually enjoy everything there without thinking about work. 

Via youdontknowjersey.com

 So with this in mind I may have to rethink my venture into tattoo shows- I gave it a shot and it has it's ups and downs but for as expensive a venture as it is to do these, it may not be entirely worth the risk. It seems my true home as it always was is among the nerds. Also those 12+ hour days kinda destroy me.

Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival 2014 is THIS MONTH

 Billboards for the 2014 Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival are popping up in New Jersey and I am super duper excited!! This is one of my new favorite shows to attend and it will be happening at the end of the month (July 25-27) right on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ and again the show will feature my art for all of it's promo materials. Check out my recap of the show last year here. My BFF Little Asian Sweatshop and I will be there to hang out and peddle our awesome wares. If you're in the area it makes an awesome weekend getaway- check out the show, hit the boardwalk, breathe in the beach air and get a tattoo!

Neat!!

One of FOUR this year!

Progress pics on some comics-inspired pieces

After a super-stressful and work-intensive last couple of months, I'm happy to take a step back and chip away some less demanding pieces for art shows, future merch and the like.

Wonder Woman

After having several customers at various shows in recent years ask me for Wonder Woman merch I *finally* sat down and drew everyone's favorite Amazon. This of course being a chibi version I plan on using for mini prints and magnet sets- so keep a lookout!

Original inks on vellum- colored with paint pens and colored pencil.

Blue lined pencils.

Inking on vellum!

Coloring with paint pens!

Supergirl

Since I tend to do my chibi pieces as two-packs I figured I'd draw Supergirl as well to go along with my Wonder Woman. I decided to go with the more casual animated version, since that seemed more fitting to my style and I think encapsulates the character's personality better.

Supergirl original inks on vellum!

2nd pass of pencils on top of rough blue lines.

Color progress.

Ladytron 
 I drew Ladytron from WildC.A.T.S. for an upcoming art show- From Spawn to Saga: Image Comics at 22 at the One-Shot Gallery in St. Marks Comics, NYC. I've always been a big fan of the character visually and thought she was criminally underused in the comics she was featured in. However as visually arresting as she is I can totally sympathize with any artist having to draw her, because MAN WHAT A NIGHTMARE. Personally I've never been a fan of drawing tech. I'm also pretty sure I haven't drawn anything this 'futuristic' in 12-15 years. Fortunately I had some ball-jointed dolls to look to for reference which helped greatly.

Digitally colored version. What I love about Ladytron is that she's basically a bionic Brody Dalle.

Inks.

Toned vellum version that will be on display at the art show.

Tattooed Sailor Girl 
What was originally going to be the artwork for this year's Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival poster is now going to the poster for the 2015 show. Which I'm actually totally fine with as they are going to use the teaser poster I put together back in February for the official poster for this year, and I have the poster for next year already like 85% finished. Either way, I'm playing with coloring the original inks for the sailor girl for the now 2015 poster because doing stuff like painting my originals is strangely relaxing for me. I dunno.

Also, my new addiction:

I'm pretty sure I now have this instead of blood.

Aftermath: Baltimore Tattoo Arts Convention

Some of the goodies I had for sale!

Baltimore Tattoo Arts Convention was an interesting experiment in vending outside the world of comic conventions. After the massive success of Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival last year, I figured I'd try my hand at a bigger tattoo show in my hometown of Baltimore, Md. I had a corner booth, as tattoo shows do not have Artist Alleys like comic cons do, that I shared with my partner-in-crime and hetero-lifemate Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop.

Partners-in-crime

I did ok financially, but the long hours and the expensive table fees kinda soured any financial success to be had. The hours were especially brutal as most days were at least 13+ hour days (including prep/travel/closedown time) letting out at midnight, and most food establishments of any quality being closed by this point. Oh how NYC has spoiled me. So alas, Fenny and I had to skip our traditional post-convention celebration of steamed crabs on the Baltimore waterfront.

Chilling out a few nights before the show

The overall attitude of many of the general populous of attendees also left me a little non-plussed. I found several times that I had to explain myself and the fact that I drew/made all this lovely merchandise you'd see before you, and that it didn't just HAPPEN. Also I had to explain what it is exactly you do with prints at least 4 times. ("you slap it in a frame and put it on your wall, dum-dum...") So yeah. Attendees of this show versus others I noticed really took things for granted. Many seemed only there for the spectacle and to gawk at the freaks. Some were even downright rude. Perfect example being on Sunday morning when a fellow walking around asked me how I was and I stated that I was tired but good. He replied asking if I was out all night partying. I said no, just being here working for 3 days straight is enough to physically destroy me and he was all oh yeah I guess this *is* a job to you guys, and that that's kind of depressing. And I was like, REALLY? Don't you judge me, dude. Like at least I'm free to be myself in a (normally) fun work environment representing myself and my own brand. What does he do that allows him to be so expressive? Ugh, yeah but that rubbed me the wrong way a bit.

Forgot my glasses on Friday and no one recognized me.

So yeah, will most likely not attend this show again next year, but hey I heard Awesomecon in DC a week or two ago was pretty sweet. It was also pretty funny how much I was plugging Baltimore Comic Con coming up in September. I had the pleasure of meeting a few young artists who were interested in my work and pursuing their own creative endeavors and I told them they definitely need to come back for BCC and check out Artist Alley. I was actually amazed that many people had never heard of it. But for every 10 yokels there was an awesome, receptive customer/fan/attendee who understands and appreciated the hustle and labor of love it is for me to come out to these shows and make the merch and be socially on point for hours upon exhausting hours.

So there's a strip club giving out boobie stress balls and FENNY GOT THREE AND SHE IS SO HAPPY.

Aftermath: Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival

One of many giant posters of my flyer for the show!

Holeeeey crap whatta weekend! 

The Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival in Asbury Park, NJ was a fantastic experience!

This show was on par with some of my most successful comic conventions and I look forward to designing the flyer for and attending next year's show.

(Which means I need to top this year's flyer, which is one of the best things I've designed ever- but no pressure. ;P)

Asbury Park by the way is ADORABLE. I'm by no means a beach person, but I absolutely must come back and enjoy the sights on an actual day trip (and it's only 1.5 hours away by NJ Transit!). Not only is the Asbury Park Convention Hall a beautiful, grand building but the boardwalk has cool stuff like a pinball museum (that I regrettably was too tired to go into after the show). 

The beautiful and historic Asbury Park Convention Hall

Taking place right on the beach at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, the Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival  was a helluva show. This being my first tattoo show I attended professionally I was set up with a booth right at the entrance of the show and right in view of the stage where they had burlesque, suspension, sideshow and a pinup contest that I actually got to judge in for the title of Miss Asbury Park! They even blasted rock music on the show floor and served beer and liquor at the concession stand. HELL YES. It was a welcome little break from comic shows (not that I don't love my comic shows...) and recharged my batteries creatively and gave my confidence in myself and my work a much-needed boost after a few not-so successful shows this year.

My booth!

My artwork and merch was incredibly well-recieved. Which when you consider how 'scary' all the bikers, metalheads and heavily modded folk at a tattoo show would be (and some were at first glance) it was great to see how happy and friendly everyone was. Moreso even than some comic shows I've attended. I brought a 4" thick stack of postcards, 100 moo mini cards and 200 stickers and they were ALL GONE by Sunday evening. It was crazy! My booth location was beyond cherry. Everyone who entered the show had to pass by me and my wares. 

The shirt for the show featuring my artwork!

It was kinda like this at the show:

(not really but it's hilarious anyway...)

I def want to thank Shannon and Jon Jon of Triple Diamond Tattoo in Brooklyn did an AMAZING job of putting the show together and inviting me to take part in the festivities. Seriously I can't wait til next year. I'm already planning on having Little Asian Sweatshop as my booth buddy so we can just tag team the show floor with our super sales powers. And I can take more breaks, cuz omg 12 hour Saturday shifts physically destroyed me. But made the 8 hour Sunday shift a piece of cake. Go figure.

12 hour Saturday shift: Before

12 hour Saturday shift: After

It was also strangely freeing being at a tattoo show compared to a comic show- other than my friends directly involved with me at the show and a handful of artists I had no idea who anyone was. And other than me plugging the fact that I did the poster for this year's show no one had any idea who I was either! No childhood heroes to stalk? No established comic artists to win over? No editors to pay mind to? No worrying about what potential job creator just watched me be a jerk to a table barnacle? No cosplayers? No FANDOMS? NO CON DRAMAZ? 

(At least not from my perspective. I'm sure the regulars have all sorts of inside info on what happened after hours and at the hotel bars and after parties, but I was in a fool's paradise. Which was a welcome change of pace to the 15 years of anime and comic conventions I've attended.) 

Tattoo show hours DO NOT FUCK AROUND

It was also awesome to be at a show where everyone who attended had a point of reference for familiarity with my work already coming into the show, with the flyers, tshirts, coasters and billboards all emblazoned with my sword-swallowing mermaid, tattooer Tillie and victorian-styled logo. As opposed to the underlying feeling I constantly had something to prove as I tend to feel at comic shows, I was able to relax, hang out and enjoy the scenery. It was interesting too to be one of the few artists attending who wasn't a tattoo artist and thus was free to interact with walk-up customers instead of hunched over a person's leg or back to the rear of the booth. I definitely would like to look into even more tattoo shows in the future to vend my merch at, as it seems a perfect crossover for me.

So yeah, any tattoo shows interested in a swanky flyer for themselves get at me! Maybe we can work out a deal? ;)

Visionary Tattoo Fest is THIS WEEKEND YOU GUYS!

Meanwhile, on a billboard in New Jersey...

Visionary Tattoo Art Festival is THIS WEEKEND, July 26th-28th in Asbury Park, New Jersey!

I'm a GUEST! And I'm selling stuff! 

I designed the flyer for this year!

I hope I see you there!!

There's also a pinup contest, ladies!!

The Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival!

Check it out, all! I did the flyer for the Visionary Tattoo Art Festival going on in July at Asbury Park, NJ and will also be a guest artist all weekend and will be vending my wares as well as Little Asian Sweatshop's. I hope to see you there!

I completed this flyer in about a week and a half, the deadline was pretty tight with the shop that runs the show getting approval for it to go on later than normal because of damage to the beach from Hurricane Sandy. So this is the 'unfortunate' result of me being bad at time management and artwork negotiations/consultations with friends who are fans whose enthusiasm for my work is contagious. Especially when they're feeling my ideas and give me lots of creative control. Before I've put pen to paper I've promised them (and myself) the moon and stars because you know, I'm THE Paige Pumphrey! I can do MAGIC! AND it involves impressing a subculture from which I at one point in my life felt excluded from? Oh MAN, ALL THE BUTTONS.

We wanted to make the branding of the Festival more light and beachy and family-friendly as opposed to previous years where it had a more 'come out and get some nails in your dick/metallll wooooooo!' vibe. After being shown examples of the beautiful facade of the Convention Hall, with it's Victorian sea monsters and copper plating, I was inspired to make the design an early 20th century/Victorian themed beach poster. Looking at the works of JC Leyendecker, an all-time favorite artist of mine, as well as the art and feel of the Battleship Bay area of Bioshock: Infinite (which my husband has just arrived at in the game) I knew I had quite an undertaking. My clients also really liked the layout of my Saints and Sinners flyer for my artshow a couple years back- of having two characters framed by very detailed typography. We chose a sword-swallowing mermaid and the Asbury Park mascot Tillie (who is similar to the Coney Island funny face) in old-timey swimwear to be the 'hosts' of the flyer.

Rough sketches of the mermaid and Tillie.

Tight pencils.

Inks. (Scanned in Photoshop.)

Flat colors.

Slowly starting to lay out the flyer. Originally I was going to use Victorian clipart to save time, my husband however looking over my shoulder suggested it would look soooo much better if I drew all the filigree and framework out. Begrudgingly I agreed with him.

Printing out what I had at 40% opacity, I drew out all the elements by hand- the banners, the gold railing, the sun-shaped caption for the date. I even added a sea monster as a call back to the building facade.

Scanning the sketches for the elements, I traced and built them out of vector shapes in Illustrator, then ported them over to Photoshop for placement on the actual flyer. You can notice some of the changes elements went through during the process.

Coloring in all the elements individually, adding shading, texture and slowly figuring out my palette. In the end the only clipart I ended up using was the background filigree and the seashells on the the gold railing. 

Interview with Tameeka Time!!

Back in May '10 I was interviewed over Memorial Day weekend by my good friend Tameeka Ballance, who is a videographer and runs a blog called Tameeka Time that features art videos (including graffiti by my former dayjob boss man Cortes) and Jersey Shore recaps (if you're into that sort of thing).

Give my girl some love and go on over to her site to check out more videos!

Check out the full Paigey coverage over at Tameeka Time here!!

All the world is waiting for youuuuu

So with the help of my pal Cyn Rudzis of British Ink in Washington DC I committed my love of Wonder Woman in one of the most permanent ways possible. You might remember Cyn from when I got my Kitty Pryde tattoo on my right arm last year. I absolutely adore her work and I always have so much fun getting zapped with hundreds of ink-filled needles by her that I decided it was time to make good on the trade her and I had talked about. (I *love* doing art for tattoos by artists I absolutely adore!!)



She really outdid herself! I love the red outline on the lasso and she worked in the Invisible Jet!! She even gave her the New Frontier-style boot guards and sword! BADASS!!!



In exchange I'm going to do a portrait of Cyn and her fellow British Inkers as a comic book cover. I'm leaning towards a Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD by Steranko type vibe with a little retro 007 movie poster thrown in. Once I start it of course, it's gestating at the moment. ;)

If you're in the Washington DC area and want to get a pinup tattoo (or really anything- check out her portfolio! The nature/animal/flower work she has is incredible as well) I can't recommend Cyn enough- her sense of composition, detail and color are sick, sick, SICK and her girls are some of the cutest around.