Thought Bubble Festival 0

[New School Fool]

I realise there's not many members from the UK here but has anyone been to or have an opinion on the Thought Bubble comic art festival?

I'm thinking of going but not sure how much comic art will be on sale there. A few artists are not responding on social media.

 

https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com/

[zhamlau]

I know their is a market for a lot of this stuff, but I for the life of me have never heard of maybe 90% of these artists. Is this a specialized show for only artists of the last 10 or so years or does it also have traditional 20th material as well? 

[New School Fool]

On 9/28/2021 at 6:18 PM, zhamlau said:

I know their is a market for a lot of this stuff, but I for the life of me have never heard of maybe 90% of these artists. Is this a specialized show for only artists of the last 10 or so years or does it also have traditional 20th material as well? 

I've heard of a few of them...and those are relatively new artists, so from your comment I'd imagine it's all modern day stuff.

[Will_K]

The European members on CAF (judging by the timestamps) post a lot of nice sketches by artists that are totally unknown to me.

Some of them seem to be professionals but since they aren't drawing for the Big 2, most in the US would not know them.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Will_K

[filmboyuk]

I'm going, but it'll be the first time for me, so can't speak to how much art there would be. Looking forward to it though, lots of exciting artists (and writers) on the list.

[zhamlau]

On 9/28/2021 at 5:43 PM, Will_K said:

The European members on CAF (judging by the timestamps) post a lot of nice sketches by artists that are totally unknown to me.

Some of them seem to be professionals but since they aren't drawing for the Big 2, most in the US would not know them.

I think new emerging (unproven) artists don’t get much play with American collectors until they have had multiple runs on different books with five-six figure print runs. Guys get shots but to be known some version of that needs to happen. 

[Garf]

On 9/28/2021 at 5:05 PM, Shin-Kaiser said:

I realise there's not many members from the UK here but has anyone been to or have an opinion on the Thought Bubble comic art festival?

I'm thinking of going but not sure how much comic art will be on sale there. A few artists are not responding on social media.

 

https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com/

Thought Bubble is usually one of the best conventions we have and it will be busy. If there are artists that you are interested in getting something from then then sure try to reach out to them or otherwise just get there early and get on lists or queue. It's no different from any other con though, don't be disappointed if artists who go there and don't sketch or take commissions and are just signing e.g. last time I saw David Aja he wasn't sketching, just doing small remarques in books.

I can't say that I am blown away by the line up this year and may not attend, but that's more about my own personal likes than anything else, I'm sure others will look at it completely differently. Unfortunately controversy has struck again https://bleedingcool.com/comics/frank-miller-no-longer-attending-thought-bubble-after-creator-boycott/ which usually has a ripple effect. It's a shame because I suspect that things are already a bit muted due to the impact of covid.

If you enjoy going to cons just to be around the people and creators then it will be fun, if it was closer to home then I would be going anyway, the exhibitors are interesting and have lots to browse. Generally speaking we don't usually have many OA dealers attending (if any), but established artists will often have some portfolios with them if you are looking for published stuff in particular. Unfortunately we haven't seen a large amount of OA on sale in one place since the last LSCC.

If you have any specific questions sling me a msg, would be happy to try and answer them or it might be that one of the Facebook groups could help. It's the only thing I use it for any more.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Garf

[acharasmaticeagle]

I would highly recommend it. The atmosphere is one of the best of any convention in the country. In terms of art available, you will definitely find a lot of guests and exhibitors selling art, though I have to say, I've tried reaching out to a bunch of artists for months and only a couple of have gotten back to me, so if you're trying to organise a commission or request artists bring certain pieces, you might find it challenging.

Also, you should definitely pay attention to the exhibitor list, as there's some unknown artists which do fantastic work hidden away on that list, some which have piqued my own interest are Effin Birds, Godsteeth (he's not listed, but usually attends), Russell Mark Olson, Lucy Sullivan, Jack Devereaux and John J Pearson.

[New School Fool]

Thanks for the comments guys! :)

[New School Fool]

So the Thought Bubble Festival has been and gone, this is just a follow up in the event anyone else is thinking of going and has the same questions as I did.

The festival was great! I was in two minds about going after I bought tickets but I'm glad I went in the end. In terms on comic art, there was a lot on sale. A select few artists represented by Cadence Comic art and Kirby Comic's art attended, as well as many other artists without reps. There was a lot of original art on sale! Something which I wasn't quite sure would be the case. In Cadence's and Kirby's case, a lot of it - apart from a few select pieces - were already available online. It was great to chat the the artists though, something one doesn't really get the chance to do here in the UK. 

But yes, a lot of the illustrators present would be considered as modern artists which probably are not so known to many here. I should have taken pictures but found the whole process a little overwhelming and the thought escaped my mind.

[IceHole]

I...was not able to attend, but I was able to reach out to a number to facilitators attending to secure commission spots.  Like mentioned above, this show had a good number of great art reps like Cadence, Kirby and Scott's to help secure signatures, sketches and do all my CGC submissions.  And, as mentioned above...these reps do an amazing job of posting original art online, so attending specifically for that could be done at home.  So, I took advantage of chasing rare chances at commissions which could all be done through these art reps...the 3 I'm excited to get back are,

Alvaro Martines Bueno who is doing "Nice House on the Lake"

Michael Dialynas who is doing "Wynd"

John J. Pearson who is taking over the next few issues of "Department of Truth"