Kris Black Digital Studio

Last weekend at Heroes Con was, I think, a successful trip for networking with industry professionals. I presented my portfolio to several people, some of them are really big in the comic industry. My lettering idol, John Workman, was in attendance sitting with Tommy Lee Edwards at theBLVD Studio tables. We caught each other up with the happenings over the last few months and he gave me some great tips on hand lettering.

Afterwards, I spoke with Tommy Lee Edwards about his charity print he did for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation back in May. I told him how much I loved the print and that it is now hanging in my son’s room over his crib.

Tommy was delighted to hear about his art hanging over my son’s crib and then gave me a little inside scoop on his idea for the 2009 print. I’d share his idea on my site but I don’t know if he’s officially announced it. I don’t want to be the one to speak out of turn and spoil the news for everyone. Besides, he could change his mind about his concept. I will say this, he plans on sticking with bike themes for these prints for as long as he continues to create them.

I did a ton of photography for the Dollar Bin which you can view on the Dollar Bin Flickr account or the photo section of theDollarBin.net. We gave away about half our stock of the sketchbook we assembled featuring bios and artwork from Indie Island creators we love so much.

I would have to say that the highlight of my weekend was having Erik Larsen review my portfolio. He gave a great review and pointed out a couple of minor elements to correct in my lettering. This was the third time I had the opportunity to show Mr. Larsen my portfolio: Heroes Con 2007 and Baltimore Comic-Con 2007 were the first two opportunities. He’s such a legend in the comic industry, that it took me a year to muster up the courage to approach him. I’m such a fool though, because he has to be one of the nicest guys in the industry I’ve ever met.

To be honest, everyone I spoke to was super nice. I love attending Heroes Con. It’s the best experience I can have at a comic book convention.

I uploaded several pieces to my portfolio sections. New print ads, a banner, t-shirts, lettered comic pages, business cards and a comic book design. I’ve been really busy getting ready for Heroes Con 2008. I’m due to be pulling out of my driveway in five hours. Nothing like the last minute to take care of some business.

I’m attending Heroes Con with the Dollar Bin and will be interviewing creators, recording panels and mingling with fans. I’m looking forward to a fun weekend. I hope to come home with many contacts for my freelance lettering and design to land more work or simply make new friends.

The Dollar Bin wanted a special shirt to wear at Heroes Con 2008. After throwing around several ideas the one that stuck was to create a shirt that was reminiscent of 80’s metal/rock. We wanted the shirt to tie in to all the popular crossover, epci stories that were happening in the Marvel and DC universes. Thus the Countdown to the Secret Corps Final Invasion World Tour 2008 T-shirt was born.

The design called for a skull on the front that looked like a Skrull skull linking the shirt directly to the Secret Invasion happening in the Marvel Universe. The back of the shirt has tour dates and locations – some cities are real, some are not. I’ll leave it to you to figure it out.