Commission Facilitators for conventions? 2 2

[ExNihilo]

Hi, not sure this is the right place to ask this, but an artist is offering a limited number of commission spots at SDCC.  I won't be in attendance but was wondering if there are people who offer services similar to Signature Series Facilitators?  People who will take a sketch book to the artist and help put your name down?  For the record, I'm talking about a take-home commission type piece (as opposed to artists who will sketch/remark on the spot).  I assume it's a matter of providing the payment/deposit which can sometimes be a large amount to entrust to a third party.  Any idea if this is a thing and if there are other aspects to the process that I'm not thinking about?

(PS: if this is the wrong place for this question, @CGC Mike please feel free to move it to a section more befitting for it.)

Thanks.

[comix4fun]

On 7/14/2022 at 12:09 PM, ExNihilo said:

Hi, not sure this is the right place to ask this, but an artist is offering a limited number of commission spots at SDCC.  I won't be in attendance but was wondering if there are people who offer services similar to Signature Series Facilitators?  People who will take a sketch book to the artist and help put your name down?  For the record, I'm talking about a take-home commission type piece (as opposed to artists who will sketch/remark on the spot).  I assume it's a matter of providing the payment/deposit which can sometimes be a large amount to entrust to a third party.  Any idea if this is a thing and if there are other aspects to the process that I'm not thinking about?

(PS: if this is the wrong place for this question, @CGC Mike please feel free to move it to a section more befitting for it.)

Thanks.

SDCC is an absolute madhouse. Anyone who's attended likely won't be offering themselves out to help unless they're a very very good friend of yours already or the commission is already set up and to be picked up without much additional to be done. It's not like other conventions where getting sketches might be a minor inconvenience. SDCC is more like Herculean trials by fire, hand to hand combat with other fans, and 45 travels just to make it through the crowd from one side of the convention hall to the other. 

I wanted to mention that in case you didn't get a lot of responses. Most folks that offer to help get something as specific as a spot on a sketch list or to set up a commission at SDCC may not have tried to do it before. A lot of facilitators limit their services to signatures for that reason. If they're offering help with sketches it's likely an artist they are working directly with for the show. 

[ExNihilo]

On 7/14/2022 at 4:49 PM, comix4fun said:

SDCC is an absolute madhouse. Anyone who's attended likely won't be offering themselves out to help unless they're a very very good friend of yours already or the commission is already set up and to be picked up without much additional to be done. It's not like other conventions where getting sketches might be a minor inconvenience. SDCC is more like Herculean trials by fire, hand to hand combat with other fans, and 45 travels just to make it through the crowd from one side of the convention hall to the other. 

I wanted to mention that in case you didn't get a lot of responses. Most folks that offer to help get something as specific as a spot on a sketch list or to set up a commission at SDCC may not have tried to do it before. A lot of facilitators limit their services to signatures for that reason. If they're offering help with sketches it's likely an artist they are working directly with for the show. 

Thanks.  That explains why the handful of signature facilitators I reached out to said they wouldn't be able to assist.

I've never been to SDCC so I have absolutely no idea what effort is required for any of this, though after what you said, I'm a bit nervous.  I was able to reach a family member who goes to SDCC every year who offered to assist, but he usually goes to the con one or two days and has no experience with the comic collecting side (he usually goes to see panels, pick up Funkos, and maybe other merch).  This time though he has a 4 day pass and offered to try to stop by the artist table Thursday morning.  I pretty much told him to scope things out and if the line was too long, to just forget about it (as I'm sure another opportunity will present itself down the road, I would just need to be patient).  Given that he's never signed up for a commission list, and I've never gone through the process (I've done mail away commissions or in person sketches at smaller, more accessible cons), what does the process look like?  If he is able to navigate the crowds, I'd like to make the process as painless for him (and the artist) as possible.  I guess in my head I just figured you go up to the artist table, ask if they are accepting commissions, tell them the type of piece you had in mind (size of piece, pencil/ink/color, number of characters, head/bust/full body, etc) and then provide contact information and a deposit or upfront payment.  Then the artist just contacts you when it's your turn on the list and they have time between projects.  Is there anything I've overlooked?

[cloud cloddie]

Yeah, I’ll echo comix4fun. Getting sketches at SDCC can be very hunger games. Do you mind me asking who you’re getting a sketch from? A good amount of the artists set stuff up pre con, if they even do them. 

[ExNihilo]

On 7/14/2022 at 9:27 PM, cloud cloddie said:

Do you mind me asking who you’re getting a sketch from?

At the risk of creating competition (), Chrissie Zullo.  She commented in one of her Instagram posts that there would be limited spots and different options available at her table.  To the best of my knowledge, her commission list has been closed for a while except for limited spots she makes available at some cons.

[cloud cloddie]

On 7/14/2022 at 10:22 PM, ExNihilo said:

At the risk of creating competition (), Chrissie Zullo.  She commented in one of her Instagram posts that there would be limited spots and different options available at her table.  To the best of my knowledge, her commission list has been closed for a while except for limited spots she makes available at some cons.

Gotcha. Best of luck, and if SDCC doesn’t work out, one of the smaller cons might. 

[timguerrero]

On 7/14/2022 at 11:22 PM, ExNihilo said:

At the risk of creating competition (), Chrissie Zullo.  She commented in one of her Instagram posts that there would be limited spots and different options available at her table.  To the best of my knowledge, her commission list has been closed for a while except for limited spots she makes available at some cons.

Apparently this is the case with Chrissie Zullo. A friend of mine was commenting how he wanted a commission from her at Heroes Con this year and she was not taking any. So when this week Amateur DD was on an a Chrissie Zullo commission came up for sale I jumped on it.

[JadeGiant]

On 7/16/2022 at 11:34 AM, timguerrero said:

Apparently this is the case with Chrissie Zullo. A friend of mine was commenting how he wanted a commission from her at Heroes Con this year and she was not taking any. So when this week Amateur DD was on an a Chrissie Zullo commission came up for sale I jumped on it.

I asked her at Heroes as well. Nice addition - love her style. 

[alxjhnsn]

I've been to SDCC once and it is way different from any other con in terms of difficulty doing anything. It can be fun, but you do have to work at it.

I caught Chrissie at a Rose City Comic Con, a small, but excellent show, and she was friendly and approachable. She'd recently worked on Vertigo's Fables spin-off Cinderella and I asked for Cindy. Worked out pretty well for a con sketch.

It's clearly based on one of the covers to the mini-series. She picked the pose. I just suggested the character. Click for the bigger CAF image and description.

Edited July 20, 2022 by alxjhnsn