Another BEST WEEKEND Mid-Ohio Style

[sllamky01]

WOW it seems like it has been forever since I have had a best weekend to share with all my fellow crusaders. But this past weekend was a Mid-Ohio best weekend.
First off, I have to say how great it was to see Joe again. I was afraid that with his two girls in collage, I would never get to meet up with him again.  Plus the fact that every time I drive by the museum he has his phone turned off. I was starting to think. He got sucked into the.  Matrix.
But that is not the case. He indeed did come for the whole weekend.  It was great to see you again.
OH ya.  That Billy guy was there too. Hhahahahaha.
Another one to make it to each show with me this year has been my big truck. It has served as my hotel for all 3 shows Pittsburg, Motorcity, and now Mid-Ohio.  It was a bit challenging to find a place to park and still be in walking distance.  So far so good.  It sure is great not having to spend money on a room.  It leaves more for artwork and drinking.
Speaking of drinking, this year the crazy guys that put the con on had an open bar for all the venders and artists, you guessed it I snuck in there somehow.  I would hate to see that bar tab.
So where do I start.
Ok since it is October. I will re show my Arthur Saydam  Zombie-Shi.  Joe told me he never got to see it. So buddy this one is just for you. Here is the ugliest Shi drawing to date.

Next up we have. A Shi drawing from a really nice guy I met him and his wife in Pittsburg and again the Motorcity con. They are really fun to party with. After talking with them He told me he is a big Shi fan. So I had him do my first commission.  I like how he did a double sided sword. He wanted to be a bit different.
His name is David M Bancroft  dmbillustrations@comcast.net


Before I go to a Con, I like to check out the guest list to see who I would want to do commision for me.  Well my targets were David Mack and Billy Tan.  I saw David right while he was setting up.  Unfortionly he does not do commision at the show. He only dose quick head sketches. So that was not going to cut it. But he gave me 6 of the 9 issues of his latest story. He really is a nice guy.  (No Mandy at this show.)
Well next was Billy Tan.  When I first went to his table I looked at some of the stuff on it. And I just was not impressed. Add to that he was charging $100 for a bust $150 for half body and $200 for a full body. Well that was just too much I thought. So I decided to pass.
Well I was kind of disappointed I did not know who to get to do a commission for me.  It seemed like I was just was only going home with the one.
On Sunday I walked by Billy Tans booth. He was working on a drawing; he was really putting a lot of detail into it. So I decided to go ahead and book a half body commission for $150.
Later that day I walked by his table again. He called me over and said he was done.
This is what he handed me.

I was shocked!   I had been duped.

So now for ever more when you get a bad drawing from someone, and they over charged for it. Plus they would not do anything about it when asked.
 It will be known as getting Billy Tanned.

[sllamky01]

Now the con was coming to a close. And I still had no great work of art to take home.  I decided to take Joes advice. And get Mike Gerell to do one for me. But it was very late in the day Sunday. And he was pretty well booked. He told me to check back at 2:00 then 3:00 the con closed at 5:00 it was not looking. Good. But I was very persistent. And at about 3:30 he said ok.  I was thinking that it would be just a quick sketch. But no. he worked on it more than an hour. He was right across from Billy. So as we were starting to break down the booth. He called me over. And this is what I received.


 He told me he was very pleased with how it turned out. Mike also cursed Billy for putting all the dots in the costume.  It was a great call there Joe. Wish I would have listened before I got Tanned.
Well at this point you would think I would be done. With my art collecting. But the story goes on.
At one point Tan came over to Tuccis table. I had to leave so I would not go off on him. But I guess Joe had some words with him. Joe told him he did not like it. And Tan made some commits about ruining Billy’s character, and that maybe Tucci could do some shadeing on it.
Well Billy told me he might be able to fix it while we were waiting for dinner. And that is what he did. He tried to fix it. But looking at what he had to work with it was kind of hard to do. But it is a lot better than it was. 

And a really cool thing is the way Tucci signed it. You might see this new signature if you ask for a Rock drawing.

Wait I’m still not done with the story. While Billy was working on it, our waitress came to take a look at what Billy was doing. After talking to her a bit, I found out she is an art student.   And that was all I needed to hear. I said “Prove it.” (That is my favorite line to use in the bar). She said that is not the type of art she dose. But said she would give it a try. So I gave her a copy of WOTW #3 and off to dinner we went. When we came back she shocked me with this stunning drawing. 

She wanted to do more to it but ran out of time.  I gave her a real big tip. And plan on asking her to do another for me.

Well that is about it.
No no wait one more thing. I forgot to share with you.
I am now a published artist. Yes that’s right. No not for a drawing but for one of my photos. It was selected for an honorable mention in a national magazine.

My name in print, Watch out Tucci, Slammy is on his way.
Keep on truckin

[jsniderfamily]

SLLAMKY01, you are a lot of fun to hang out with.

Love the Mike Grell and the artist you had do a sketch over dinner.
Even if you were Tan'd you made out pretty well.
The best thing I bought was a poster of Johnny Depp for a neighbor girl that loves him.
Oh, and the Billy commission of Tomoe, that was good too.

Meeting Joe Kubert was awesome also.

[dawnsawaking]

sounds like everyone had a blast and that is some great art, sorry about the Tan Slammy that sucks, but at the cons you win some and you lose some, I know we have had our share of those lol

[kikuchiyo]

I am in no place to say anything, but that Tan piece sucks. For as good as he draws, to charge you what he did for that, is highway robbery. $25 maybe, and from a "nobody" would be understandable. Even Billy, with all his talent wasn't able to save it. There are a couple good things about the drawing, but overall, I wouldn't have accepted ANY money for delivering that. The waitresses drawing is really cool though. It is cool to see different styles of a piece that I am familiar with. At least you made out with a couple cool pieces though.

[Skwerly]

Just wow. What an adventure. 
Did you get the waitresses contact info?  Maybe she has a website with her artwork?

[Delvie]

HOLY CRAP! Grell finally did a SHI?! That ROCKS!

Congrats on your picture being published. Good shot.

[Skwerly]

durrr...I was so wrapped up with your adventures in commissions that I didn't even comment on your photo.
Congrats!  I love the shot, especially the smoke and glowing lights; it gives it a lot of atmosphere. 

[BillyTucci]

Sorry, I haven't been posting.  Will be back from now on -- it was great seeing you Scott and Joe!!!

[BillyTucci]

So which truck is yours?
 

[Delvie]

The one just out of the picture... in the shop for repairs.

[sllamky01]

Thanks everyone. you know how i love going to these cons and adding to my Shi Art collection.

I have great hopes for some new additions coming up at the Texas Wizard show.
That will be the last show for the year for me. I am really looking forward to it
Sgt Rock will be out


For thoses of you who saw my truck photo go over to the Truckin with Slammy to read the story
ITS A SHOCKER