First off I’d like to congratulate Eleanor Davis, who won the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award for her work on Stinky. If you haven’t seen it yet you should check it out. The Eisner Awards Ceremonies were very cool and it was an honor not only to have been nominated for the Russ Manning, but also to be seated among so many talented people that I’ve admired for so long, like Sergio Argones, Mike Mignola, Terry Moore, Neil Gaiman and many many others. This was our first year at the con, but evidently the awards were in a brand new venue to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the convention, and so things were a little swankier than I’d expected. I had looked up some previous awards on YouTube, and expected casual convention going attire to be the standard dress, but this year people were in suits and long dresses, although there were a lot of suits with sneakers. I was almost relieved when I didn’t win, because I felt so underdressed. If I’m lucky enough to be up for anything in the future I’ll be sure to bring some snazzier clothes.

I enjoyed the con a lot. I did a bunch of sketches, some of which I’ll be posting later this week and sold a bunch of books. This was the first con that I’d brought some sketch books to as well, and I sold a bunch of those, so I’ll be bringing them to future cons also.

It was bit hot and very very crowded, but otherwise very fun. Of course I was at my table sketching and selling books most of the time, so I didn’t get to see nearly as much of the show as I would have liked, but I did get up to see some things and meet some people. I stopped by Phil Foglio’s booth to say “hi” and pick up a signed copy of the latest Girl Genius trade. I also complimented him on his masterful ability to keep things moving at the Masquerade, despite the rowdiness of the crowd. Phil was one of the very first people to respond to our earliest emails asking other webcomicers for feedback. He’s also local, so I get to see him at ECCC every year. I also stopped by to chat briefly with Christian Scott Sava of The Dreamland Chronicles who seemed to be doing gangbusters. Unfortunately I missed the chance to meet Tracy Butler, who does Lackadaisy. She literally sat behind me for the entire convention and I didn’t get up to go say hello until Sunday, and although she still had people at her booth she had just left to catch a plane. Drat. Because it’s such a large convention you can expect that during the peak hours you might have a little trouble getting to anyplace you’d like to be, but if you want to see something or someone on the show floor, early morning seems to be the best time, since that’s when most attendees are upstairs at panels or movie screenings.

Woot! I have been nominated for the 2009 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award. It will be given out during the Eisner Awards Ceremonies at the San Diego Comic Con this year.

I was nominated by a reader which makes this even cooler to me, because I didn’t even submit myself!

I’m really excited and nervous about this. While this is not itself an Eisner Award it is a very cool one, and it will be presented during the Eisners, and many of the previous winners are now really well known comics artists.

For those not in the know, the Eisner Awards are the Oscars of the comics world. If you are interested you can read more at [link]

Upcoming 2009 convention appearances.

Olympia Comics Festival [link] in Olympia WA on June 13th

Comic-Con 2009 [link] in San Diego CA July 23rd – 26th Table L11

I'll have copies of Wayfarer's Moon issues 4 and 5 at both cons, as well as the previous issues.

Come by either con or both con’s if you can. I’ll be doing sketches, selling prints and books, signing books, and just hanging out.

Please email me at leigh.kellogg@gmail.com for commission information.

2009 Convention Schedule so far.

April 4th and 5th - Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle WA. [link] I’ll be at the Wayfarer’s Moon table (A-12).
April 18th and 19th I’ll be at the Stumptown Comics Fest [link] in Portland OR.

Table numbers at Stumptown haven’t been announced yet, but it is listed under Wayfarer’s Moon/Jason Janicki. Jason’s the writer for the comic and since he registered us they just used his name.

This will be my second year at ECCC and my first year at Stumptown! I’m looking forward to both.

We'll have copies of Wayfarer's Moon issues 4 and 5 at both cons, as well as the previous issues.

Come by either con or both con’s if you can. I’ll be doing sketches, selling prints and books, signing books, and just hanging out.

Updating my 2009 convention schedule and commission pricing sheet.

Conventions in April 2009

I will be attending Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle Washington on April 4th and 5th and also the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland Oregon on April 18th and 19th. I will continue to update my convention schedule as it firms up.

Commission Pricing Information:

Contact me at leigh.kellogg@gmail.com to request a commission.

2 ½”x3 ½” card
Single Character
Pencil Sketch $10.00
Ink Sketch $15.00
Ink and Color $25.00

8 ½”x11”
Single Character
Pencil Sketch $35.00
Ink Sketch $50.00
Ink and Color $65.00

11”x14” or 11”x17”
Single Character
Pencil $65.00 Add Background $75.00
Ink $75.00 Add Background $90.00
Ink and Color $105.00 Add Background $180.00