Sebastian Chow

Comic Cons
Comic cons in the UK have come a long way and whilst they're not as frequent as cons in the US there are now a number of mainstream and independent cons up and down the UK. I've attended London Super Comic Con ever since the first one where Stan Lee attended. This year will be the first year I have booked a table as an exhibitor. That means my very own table in artists alley, selling art and promoting any comics I've made. More on that event in future updates.

I have also applied to Though Bubble 2017 however I am doubtful I will get a place as I think my online presence is weak and currently my comic Catapulted is still WIP. I'm still hopeful and will probably attend even if I don't get a place as an exhibitor.

There are a couple of MCM cons in London however these tend to be super packed and I'm not convinced the artist alley gets much attention as the crowd tends to be a mix of different interests. Also the crowds are large and just attending one day last year felt tiring.

Publish a comic
I have about 20 comic book ideas in storage. These are at various stages but I constantly add to the collection. The idea is that when I finish and complete a project I have at least another idea ready to be developed. Currently I am working on a miniseries Catapulted. See here for the draft cover and for a short description of what the story will be about. Hopefully I can have some prints ready for LSCC2017. I 'm going to try and get it published with a publisher, that process alone will help me see how the publishers see it in terms of quality. Failing that there are many other ways to get published and some of these other methods are ways I want to explore anyway.

Kickstarter
I would like to launch a Kickstarter this year. These can be quite involved but I would like to start small with a modest goal. I see the first Kickstarter as a digital download only comic with various rewards (directors cut, extras etc.) and perhaps a stretch goal for prints or physical rewards.

Webcomic
I did start a Tapastic series last year and had ideas for short 6 panel webcomcis through Tapastic. I would like to continue this, however it won't be a priority. This would be more to take a break from commissions and comic making and draw with no pressure, which seems to help me when I'm try to produce my best art.

Commissions
At the end of last year I tried to advertise commissions a little bit more and to my surprise I got my first commission. Someone had saw the cover to Catapulted and wanted something similar featuring himself in it too. It's currently WIP but commissions are something I'll be doing more of, especially as I prepare to exhibit at my first con.

And that's it for now. Quite a lot to achieve but without goals and plans its unlikely that you will achieve a lot. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want updates in your inbox, use the form on the main page of the blog on the right hand side.

The first of many videos from Paul Kercal who ran the art stand at LSCC 2016 this year.
Thanks for the cool footage and the mention.

There were many stands at London Super Comic Con 2016 this year but one stand I spent quite a bit of time at was the very welcoming art stand run by Paul Kercal and some of his student helpers.

From what I can tell there are various bits of tech and software coming together to help form this stand:

• Promethean hardware: Imagine a flat screen TV that acts as a giant touchscreen monitor, has multi-touch functionality and a whiteboard style marker as a drawing stylus. This was running windows and Art Rage software. This was great fun to use and reminds me of use a big whiteboard with markers (incidentally my current work place has whiteboard paint on the walls which is great for doodling while making coffee in the kitchen). I used this screen twice doing a couple of sketches, one I even managed to colour. 

London Super Comic Con 2016 whizzed its way around the calendar and housed itself in back in the Excel where, incidentally, there was a baby exhibition, a classic car exhibition and a franchise exhibition on at the same time. So making my way between heavily pregnant women, businessmen and car enthusiasts I hurried my way through the crowd to make it to LSCC.


LSCC has definitely improved over the years. Each year seems to see an increase in attendees. Not even the gloomy weather and slight rain could dampen the spirit of cosplayers and comic book fans. I think there were more cosplayers this year than ever, and LSCC was prepared with several panel events and stands dedicated to cosplaying.

However I was there for different reasons. I attended panels on publishing your own comic, sequential storytelling and inking (discussed by Scott Williams). All three of these were enjoyable but I particularly enjoyed the inking panel with Mr. Williams who related his experiences of working with other creators like Jim Lee.





I met various comic creators and Comic Con is always a great place to get feedback, advice as well as network with other creators for future projects. In addition, there was an impressive list of artists and writers from all over the globe including all round nice guy, David Finch, who I interviewed back in LSCC 2013 (as a very obvious novice to doing interviews).

I bought some comics, some art supplies and even spent some time at a very interesting and fun stand (more to come on that). I will make blog posts on each of these aspects in a bit more detail but for now enjoy a few snaps taken throughout the con.