Gen Con A Go Go!

So, Gen Con Indy is coming up this week, and Wed morning we set out in quest of good gaming, good company, and drunken debauchery! With my latest commission turned in and my school tenure coming to a close, I can't think of a more perfect situation right now than the convention. 

It's my fifth or sixth year going now, not to stake claim in the artist alley (not yet), though I do plan to have a portfolio review there and meet up with as many people as I can between game events. And maybe celebrate graduation a little early. 

Last year I spoke with artists such as Larry Elmore, Michael Monte Moore, and Raven Mimura to name a few. This year I hope to add to that list people such as Jeff Himmelman, and American Academy of Art alumni Aaron Miller. 

Looks like things are going to be pretty laid back during the convention, no early morning events (unless I plan on playing any), and I am only running one game module a day so it seems. That leaves me plenty of time to wander around the convention hall, maybe try out a few new things, and something else I have been considering: walking the city around the convention center and our hotel and doing some quick sketch paintings. 

Ok, so as much as I am looking forward to the break the convention will offer, and as much as I can't wait to finally get my degree there's still a big part of me that is really going to miss school. No, not the homework assignments or the commute, but the atmosphere and all the people I have come to meet in my time there. My teacher's been trying to get me to loosen up my approach to painting and do things naturally instead of what is expected....and since I will be missing a few days of study work in his class I think some nice speed paintings will impress him when I get back. 

Anyways, it will be a nice departure from plaster casts, and nude models for a while and delve deep into the heart of another time and space that is not Chicago, nor really quite Indianapolis.....but the Land of the Geek. I embrace my inner geek. Art geek, gamer geek, whatever. People will be clad in all sorts of costumes and walking around the heart of the city and it's social hubs full of 'mundanes' who have little to nothing to do with convention days, offering up a nice juxtapose between the norm and the strange. 

Things are packed, and tomorrow after school I will head out to my friend's place to crash the night before we  head out to the Land of Geek. I look forward to slipping into a pair of Jynx's boots and blowing up stuff in the Star Wars Galaxy. To each their own. See you when I get back!