Illuxcon 2015 - Part 4

Today I have for you the forth part of my Illuxcon 2015 coverage! If you are not exhausted by the last day of Illuxcon you are doing it wrong. All I knew by Sunday was that I had another full day of the Salon ahead of me followed by take down. It took me close to a full day to get everything packed up and ready for Illuxcon and I had maybe two hours to get it done in reverse. People began to break away and head home throughout the day on Sunday. This is no different from past years and continues to be my least favorite part of Illuxcon... having to go home. When the time came, I got everything boxed up and ready for shipping back to Florida. It took me two hours to tear everything down and to crawl back to the hotel. Not too shabby. ...but exhausting. A rewarding and strangely satisfying exhaustion. 

Illuxcon 2015 was another great event and like each year of Illuxcon attended, a unique and interesting time. Each year is an educational experience and this year was now different. I am still trying to process everything, but I am sure in the coming months I will still be reflecting on my time at Illuxcon 2015. It is wonderful to catch up with friends and to meet new ones. With the move to Reading next year it will mean a whole new experience. I can't wait!

Here are some images of things seen and done at Illuxcon 2015...

The view from the entrance corner to the Weekend Salon.

The view from the corner straight ahead from the entrance.

 The view of the Weekend Salon from the corner opposite the entrance.

The view from the last corner of the Weekend Salon.

The Rebecca Guay alcove.

The happy little Gill-Man is going to a good home! RAWR!

Another sketchbook monster drawing. RAWR!

Finally finished all four of these Ancient Carp sketches. RAWR!

...AND, one last Carp... RAWR!

If you like french fires on your salads... then I know the restaurant for you.

The day of travel began in the sun...

...and ended in rain. And so ends another AWESOME Illuxcon.

Looking forward to next year already!

That's all for another exiting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Illuxcon 2015 - Part 3

Today I have for you the third part of my Illuxcon 2015 coverage! Saturday was the opening of the Weekend Salon and looking back now, I have no idea where the day went. It is now all a blur. I still needed to address a couple of things when I arrived early and when 10am rolled around I was ready to go. I did a lot of drawing and sketching on Saturday. The Ancient Carp artist proofs were very popular as was my new sketchbook.

The second night of the Showcase was almost as busy as the first night. To make things more interesting everyone was in costume to bring a little bit of Halloween to Illuxcon. It was all a ton of fun! J Anthony Kosar did a special makeup application during the Showcase and drew a big crowd. It sure did bring back a lot of memories.

All in all, Saturday was a really amazing day, though looking back now it was all a blur. The hours few by and I met so many great people and talked to them about my art. Fun times at Illuxcon 2015! 

Here are some images of things seen and done at Illuxcon 2015...

Cockatrice sketch in a sketchbook.

Dragon sketch in another sketchbook.

I drew a lot of Ancient Carp at Illuxcon this year. SO many carp. Here are a few of them...

Bossk sketch on an artist proof. RAWR!

The Illuxcon brochure on display...

...in a very public place.

The Allentown Museum of Art is all decked out in its Illuxcon colors.

Saturday night at the Showcase was Halloween fun time and both Freddie Mercury and Wonder Woman were there.

J Anthony Kosar was bringing back all the Hollywood memories with his makeup application at the Showcase Saturday night.

J Anthony Kosar painting on the man with a fishy look.

A little more paint and the Deep One will live a breath at Illuxcon 2015.

The most excellent Sam and Loraine Flegal in their award winning costume.

See you back here tomorrow for more Illuxcon coverage! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Illuxcon 2015 - Part 2

Today I have for you the second part of my Illuxcon 2015 coverage! This year for me, as previously mentioned, was all about the Weekend Salon. Preparing for it, looking forward to it, setting it up, being in it, packing it all up again, sending it home... I had Weekend Salon on the brain.

Since my time at Illuxcon was so limited, for the first time I did not take advantage of any of the lectures or demos. I spent Wednesday evening and all of Thursday taking in the Main Show because I knew I would be spending all of Friday setting up the my booth in the Salon and then would be at my booth all day Saturday and Sunday. I wanted to make sure I met up with friends to see their art, check out the new attending artists in the Main Show, and in general take in everything in a super short amount of time. This did not leave me any extra time for lectures and demos... which all looked AMAZING.

From 10am till 4pm I was in nonstop set up mode for the Salon. I did not stop and there was not a spare moment. I was exhausted by the end of it, but it all go done. There was only one casualty in shipping, the glass on my Krampus drawing broke into three pieces. The drawing was untouched and Sean Murray was nice enough to pick me up a sheet of Plexiglas on his supply run. All in all, I consider myself lucky with this being my first shipment of originals to a show. Now to wait for them to return. The time flew by and at the end of the day my booth was all set up and I think it looked pretty darn good, if I say so myself. After set up at Gen Con I feel like I will just have to accept that I will spend most conventions hot and sweaty for 90% of the event.

The Showcase opened Friday night at the hotel ballroom. It was really crazy to not be behind a table after so many years of setting up at the Showcase. While I did get to look around a little last year I feel that this year's Showcase was bigger and better then ever before. So many awesome people and so much great art could be seen! Really nice to able to take it all in for once... though it was a little cramped for my taste. After everything there was a ton of socializing and fun to be had. Since the Salon began at 10am on Saturday I could not stay up as late as I wanted, but I knew there would be more fun as the weekend wore on.

Here are some images of things seen and done at Illuxcon 2015...

All my boxes and suitcases containing all my art in one place. Now to unpack everything and set it all up... only six hours of work to go!

The one glass casualty. Hopefully the tape that I had put on it saved it from being worse.

Dear wife was a volunteer this year and braved her fear of heights to work on the lighting.

Everything is out of the boxes! The drawings are at least on their was to being done... all the paintings still need to be hung.

I brought a lot of drawings! Many different sizes and price points.

All the paintings and framed drawing taunt me from the floor.

AND.... DONE! Six hours later it was all complete and ready for the opening Saturday morning.

Another view of my booth, now I just need to wait for all the people to come pouring in.

This year I kept forgetting to take pictures of stuff. I was in the moment and enjoying Illuxcon and not thinking about taking pictures for the blog. Thankfully, I remembered to get some images of the Showcase.

Familiar faces and great art!

More of the Showcase. These images may not fully show just how full of people and art the Showcase was this year. SO MUCH AWESOME!

One last shot of the Showcase.

Got my hands on some of these bad boys! RAWR!

Kirby is the best Illuxcon dog ever!

At Illuxcon, in the late hours of the night, you can wield great power with pizza.

See you back here tomorrow for more Illuxcon coverage! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Illuxcon 2015 - Part 1

Illuxcon 2015 has come and gone but the memories and fun are forever. It is that time again for my recap of all the comings and goings of my favorite art event of the year. This time around I will be doing my coverage in multiple parts rather then covering each day separately... the days were really blending together this year and it will be easier to just split up the images and talk about them. If I do not credit the images to the right people immediately, please check back, because I will make a point to make sure all the art and the artist are connected.

This Illuxcon was really special for me. This year I was juried into the Weekend Salon and was part of the artist exhibiting in the Allentown Museum of Art. I have been attending Illuxcon since Illuxcon 2 in 2009 and only missed one year in all that time. I have been part of the Illuxcon Showcase since Illuxcon 3, so moving up to the Salon is a really big deal for me.

It was Illuxcon 2 back in 2009 that showed me that there is another more rewarding side to creating art for games and fantasy related products. There is something more then just fulfilling an assignment or making sure the client is happy, I can make art. I could make traditionally painted works that live in the real world and transcend any assignment. It was Illuxcon 2009 when the spark to make the move from digital to traditional was first ignited. It only took to 2014 to happen, but it did happen... and in 2015 I found myself in the very place I longed to be, but never thought I would obtain back in 2009.

I should also mention that I received many really good, and sometime sobering critiques at Illuxcon over the years and they have benefited me greatly and have pushed me to become the artist I am today. Many of the friends I have in the artist community either began at or were strengthened at Illuxcon over the years.

The point I am trying to make with all this... I am the artist I am today because of my participation and involvement with Illuxcon.

Here are some images of things seen and done at Illuxcon 2015...

Gratuitous plane wing image to start off every Illuxcon.

Another beautiful creation by Tom Kuebler.

One of my favorite halls at the Main Show. So much great art and many friends in this hall.

There was a few harrowing moments when I knew my boxes of art SHOULD be at Illuxcon, but we could not actually find the boxes. Mischief managed, they were found!

A look out into one of the larger halls of the Main Show. 

Gorgeous piece by Forest Rogers.

More awesome Tom Kuebler fun.

Still wandering around another hall of the Main Show trying to take it all in.

USA Today was making Illuxcon a little surreal, and I loved it.

Super awesome masks by J. Anthony Kosar. RAWR!

The wife sharing a moment and talking to Donato about his work.

Ryan Pancoast was painting live in the Main Show while capturing a time lapse of his work. Super cool!

Aaron Miller leading the life drawing / painting event.

One of these Illuxcon I should really take part, but I am usually too busy running around catching up with people. There is also the fact that at conventions is when I actually take a break from working :P

See you back here tomorrow for more Illuxcon coverage! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com