With barely enough time to catch my breath from Magfest, Interrobang Studios put in an appearance at Gigacon, a small arts & animation show put on by the Art Institute of Washington. We made quite a splash. Watchbabies and Spinks in particular were a big hit with students, staff, and guests alike. I got to chat with a lot of seasoned pros of the animation and design business as well. Most notably...

Sam Ellis -- Got to talk to him about pitches for television and stuff. He ran a demo on putting solid pitches using sequential art. He's done on a lot of comic work as well as some "Adult Swim" projects.

Garette Johnson -- A fashion designer and illustrator. She had some very lovely watercolor work on display as well as some pretty sick "My Little Pony" designs. I was bummed I missed her watercolor demo. *sigh* Maybe next year....

Massa Kuwana-Muelhaupt -- An animator from New York. She also had some nifty knitted gear at her table. She was very nice and even came by the booth to buy a couple Spink books.

Joe Weatherly -- An INCREDBLE fine artist specializing in drawing/painting animals. His was another demo I sadly missed, but I was able to pick up his book, The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals.

David Colman -- Speaking of amazing animal artists, I DID get to sit in on David's demo on shape exploitation and WOW! did I get some useful info out of it. Picked up his book as well, The Art of Animal Character Design, and haven't been able to put it down since I got home. He's done a lot of feature film and TV work for Disney, Blue Sky, Cartoon Network, and Fox. And he's a very fun and personable guy to boot! (of course, pretty much everyone was)

Thanks and cheers to all the guests and staff--especially to Fenia Norville, who invited us to the con, and Bryan Tillman, who put it all together and ran one heckuva tight ship. Next year, Gigacon plans to expand with more space and guests. We've already been invited back for that show, so expect more info on that as things begin to take shape. I, for one, am really looking forward to it.

Next up, I'll be prepping for the Society for Children's Book Writer's & Illustrators Winter Conference in New York City. I'll be participating in the portfolio exhibition as well, so that's where most of my concentration will be in the coming month.

Good times!