There and back again. Our ninth Pensacon is in the books, and so marks the completion of the first convention of 2025. As with most Pensacons, it was a blur of folks and fun. This year,3 things were a little different. The impending threat of bad weather required a complete reorganization of the guests and artists. This meant those outside the convention center needed to be moved into the center at the last minute. And when I say last minute, there were three of us who had just arrived to set up and were told to wait while everything changed. In the end, the outside people moved into the area the guest artists usually held, and all of the guest artists got an upgrade down to the celebrity floor. They were able to fit us in, and we received more room, better lighting, and a chance to rub shoulders with some of the celebrities. We were in the room with two actors from the Mandalorian. Here is a look at my larger, better-lit booth from this year!
The Grand Bazaar at Pensacon 2025!
With all the changes, it was hard to gauge this year's Pensacon to the previous few. Sales were a little down from last year, but last year was a crazy, fantastic year, so I am not considering this year as a step-down. Our average sale amount for most of the con was up overall. Even though we were in a different place, on a different floor, people found us, and we saw so many familiar faces. The big hit of the con was the Mystery Print Bundles that sold out early on Sunday. I could have sold many more if I had them. I couldn't be happier with how they were received. I will definitely need to dig deeper into the boxes and see what else I have.
I didn't have any panels this year, and we kept things quiet for the most part after hours. We enjoyed meals with friends and with just the two of us. There were a lot of laughs and a lot of fun to be had. Needless to say, I returned home NOT exhausted, which is a welcome change. I am already hard at work on the next piece for book two and looking ahead to the rest of my conventions this year and Pensacon in 2026. Here are some photos from Pensacon 2025.
Another shot of the booth with over 15 linear feet of monsters and art.
The new retractable banner was a dream, and I am so happy it arrived in time for the show.
I drew on the backs of a few Magic the Gathering artist proofs this year.
This was a fun commission at the show. Their only request was that it needed to be a monster.
This was my big splurge of the convention, to get a commission from Mr. GI Joe himself, Larry Hama.
I commissioned a drawing of my first GI Joe figure, Flash, and I could not be happier. It is now framed and hangs just to my left as I type this. It makes me SO happy!
This was the big event of the show.
This is the largest piece that I have ever created for the books and one that was a personal challenge to complete. I am thrilled it is going to a good home where it will be loved.
We couldn't go to see the droids, so the droids came to us.
There may have been a war criminal among them.
This Jawa was PERFECT! No notes!
I finally remembered to get some shots of the room we spent the weekend in. At times, it was utterly packed, and they had to limit the number of people coming in at any one time.
Another shot of the room from the corner of my booth.
The most excellent Allan Henry (AKA Kong) and Jessica Etchells!
It was a true pleasure to meet Allan and to have a chance to hang out and talk over dinner and at our booths. You need to look him up; his resume is impressive, his work impeccable, and he is one of the nicest humans I have crossed paths with recently.
Allan gave me a full Kong demonstration, and it was AMAZING!
This is the magic of Pensacon!
A MASSIVE thanks to the entire Pensacon staff and volunteers, especially Mike Ensley and Julio Diaz (and too many to list - sorry, you were all amazing, and we couldn't have had as great of a show without you all!!!!) And heartfelt thanks to everyone who came by the booth this year. You all keep me coming back and ensure that the next book keeps getting closer and closer.
That is all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week! Until then...
