Philly Non-Sports Card Show

Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 10am-5pm
Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 10am-3pm
Merchants Square Mall
1901 S 12th Street
Allentown PA 18103

For more information:
http://www.reightershows.com

Fraggle Rock #1

Available from Archaia.
Illustrated by sketch card artist Katie Cook.

Click the link below to the Newsarama 8 page preview.
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album_view.php?gid=1948

The Last Unicorn #1

Available today from IDW.
Illustrated by sketch card artists Renae DeLiz and Ray Dillon.

Click the link below for preview pages on Diamond's website.
http://previewsworld.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=6&s=781&ai=94323

Interview with Brent Schoonover

How did you get involved in sketch cards/What was your first sketch card job?
First set I ever did was the first Marvel Masterpieces set. My friend Grant Gould suggested me on it and they contacted me. I had seen all the fun he was having on sketch cards and wanted in on it.

How do you feel about working on such a small surface?
Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. It's a challenge like anything. My favorite thing is creating a scene with multiple cards.

What media do you like to work with for your cards? Is that different than what you normally use to produce artwork?
I pretty much stick to pencil, ink, markers, and color pencil. Plus the occasional white out trick here or there. I'd say those are my go to tools at conventions as well.



How do you feel about the entire sketch card process?
The companies have been great, deadlines haven't been too bad. Sometimes there is a quick turn around but that's fine with me cause that usually helps crack the whip mentally for me.

Is there a lot of ‘prep’ time when you begin work on your cards?
Yeah I usually create a list of characters I want to draw. If it's a Marvel set I really tried to find rare characters to do as the sets progressed. For stuff like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Dead@17, I needed to explore those worlds a little more to find cool characters I may have forgotten about and might not have thought of off the top of my head. From there my list got filled out and it was really just a matter of whether or not I need reference handy.

Do you have a lot of contact with collectors regarding your cards?
Yeah, some will contact from my site, or I'll pop in at the Scoundrel boards and post some new stuff which is good for generating interest in Artist Proofs or personal sketch cards.



How do you feel about some collectors wanting more detailed cards versus what sketch card artists are paid to work on the cards?
Honestly I don't pay much attention to that. I draw what I'd like for that set. If someone contacts me personally and mentions they'd like something some way I am happy to do it but otherwise I just do what I'd like and have time for. There were some Marvel Masterpiece cards that I really enjoyed doing and they were simply done in color pencils.

Have you had any bad experiences with collectors?
Yeah, I've had one. It was early on when I was working on them and someone wanted me to do a style that wasn't mine and then got mad that it wasn't the look he was looking for. Ended up working itself out. Otherwise when there was the weird Marvel card mix up due to people breaking rules on Artist Proofs I had already sold my AP's and I was told I needed to have those people mail them back to Upper Deck. That didn't go over too well as you probably imagine.

Bad experiences with companies?
Slow payments!

Has your career as an artist benefited from doing sketch card work?
Being a sketch card artists was a great move for me. It has gotten my work out there to a market that may not read comics. It's made my commission list grow as well as selling more books. I really owe the sketch card market a lot for helping be where I am today.



What was the most difficult sketch card set you have worked on to date?
Doing both the Indiana Jones Crystal Skull and Heritage cards back to back were tough. I love those flicks but I quickly learned that there were not many characters in the films that really worked to make interested cards (my opinion). So I felt like I was limited. I prefer doing more characters than scenic cards so that made for a couple trying sets. Also doing the likenesses was a challenge in both these and the Star Wars sets.

Are there any cards that you are particularly proud of?
There are some 70'S Marvel horror cards I did that I really liked. The Spider-Man Archive set was a blast to do and I think a lot of those turned out well. Also some of the Indiana Jones ones turned out nice.

Some companies provide return cards or Artist Proof cards for working on sketch card sets. What do you do with yours?
I post them on my site, the Scoundrel boards. Sometimes I'll do whatever I feel like on some of them and put them on Ebay.

Do you see yourself continuing with sketch card sets?
I'd love to keep doing them and I am sure I will to some capacity. My main thing is I think we need to diversify the type of sets that are coming out. I have never done a set of DC Comics characters and think that'd be fun. I'd also kill to do anything related to the Universal Monsters or 80's wrestlers. I think those would be fun to do. I am getting a little burned out on Lucasfilm stuff and Marvel sets. No disrespect to those properties.



My main focus on sketch cards now is I am using my personal sketch cards that I do at conventions as a way to raise funds for Parkinson's. My mother was recently diagnosed with this disease and I am trying to my part to fight it. I do "Sketch for the Cure" cards at conventions. $5.00 gets you a penciled card, $20 gets you a full color card and 100% of the money goes to Parkinson.org.

Any advice for people wanting to break into the sketch card ‘biz’?
Yeah, just keep working on drawing. No different than any other art job you'd want. If you want to do it, you gotta work on it all the time. Plus you gotta be fast.

Where can people see more of your work?
You can go to my website www.brentschoonover.com or my Facebook fan page.



What are you currently working on?
Currently I've been working on some samples for different comic projects as well as slowly working on a new graphic novel. I have a single issue of Vincent Price Presents coming out in June from Bluewater that I wrote and drew as well as final part of Astronaut Dad finished and should be out soon.

Thank you so much for your time, Brent!

The Looking Glass book

From Bill Pulkovski: "...an art book featuring 17 artists in the industry (Matt Busch, Loco Duck, Gerlach, etc.)..."
For more information www.thelookingglassbook.blogspot.com

Interview with Saiful Remy Mokhtar (eisu)

Do you have an educational background in art?
I did go to a local college here in Malaysia (or at least it was a college, it just got upped into University a couple of years ago) called Lim Kok Wing Creative Institute. I took a major in 2D animation but we still learn Figure Drawing and some Graphic Design stuff so, yeah, I honed my artistic skills in the 3 and a half years I was there.

How did you get involved in sketch cards/What was your first sketch card job?
I'm a friend of Irma Ahmed or more widely known as Aimo and I saw her doing a lot of Sketchcard jobs, particularly from Topps involving Star Wars and stuff and I got interested but didn't join yet. Then I saw a call online for artists to join in the Marvel Masterpieces II sketchcard gig from Upper Deck and, hey, big Marvel fan here, I applied straight away and got in.

How do you feel about working on such a small surface?
It's very restricting but challenging. I do erase the initial skethces I drew A LOT, but I'm used to it now so it's actually pretty cool. And I like the fact that I can draw a full drawing with backgrounds and everything and not worrying about whether I filled the space enough or not, because the small space means, even if you don't have a background, it's filled, ha ha ha. Naw, just kidding about that, I do try to fill up empty space with colours so that it'll look full.



How do you feel about the entire process?
It's pretty much the same with what I've done before, which is drawing comics (mostly local), so the deadline pressure from companies and all that isn't anything really new to me. But, new or not, I somehow always manage to drag the work til the last minute and pull all nighters so that I can finish the job. I really gotta stop doing that.

Do you prefer to work with a specific media (pencil, marker, paint, etc)?
Pretty much pencils, brushpen and markers for me. I'm not much of a painter cos I'm not as well-trained on that (my own fault, never having the patience or attention span to learn it well) but with markers, I really love using them. It might be the instant application without worrying that I might smear the colours or something like or just the fact that it's like using a pen or a brushpen but with colours that makes me like it so much, I dunno but markers have always been my weapon of choice when it comes to colouring.

Do you have a lot of contact with collectors regarding your cards?
When I started my commissions, yes, but I've been making a mistake of not putting myself out there in the sketchcard forums and communities so it's been dwindling down. I guess I should start being more pro-active in this sense so that I can continue to work on sketchcards, personal or otherwise.



How do you feel about some collectors wanting more detailed cards versus what sketch card artists are paid to work on the cards?
Well, when it comes to official APs, I usually charge by the specifics of what the collectors want. The more detailed it is, the higher I charge. I haven't really done that for my commissions yet because so far I've been getting commissioners that are pretty okay with just asking who they want without going into specifics about the details they want the card to be like, but I feel that if the collectors want more detailed card, the sketch card artists should charge a bit more for the specifics, because drawing something when asked like, "Power Girl please" is easy cos you can just draw her in whatever pose you want but when someone asks, "I want Power Girl flying down towards the camera carrying a tank above her head and looking like she's going to throw the tank at you and I want the Metropolis skyline in the background but make it look sort of blurry as if Power Girl is moving really fast" is actually quite difficult as you have to make it look, hopefully, to match the descriptions and that takes a lot of planning and time to make sure it comes out just right, so yeah, collectors should be prepared to cough up a bit more for the artist's hard work.

Have you had any bad experiences with collectors?
Thankfully, no. So far the collectors that I've had to work with have been very civilised and patient (seriously, sometimes I would drag on a commission for so long, I'm surprised the collector haven't hired a hitman to kill me... though I guess they wouldn't since that would be more expensive than the commission they're asking me for anyway, ha ha ha ha).



Bad experiences with companies?
I've worked with Upper Deck, 5Finity and Sadlittles so far and haven't really gotten any bad experience from them yet like getting stiffed for payment or anything, so, again, thankfully, no. Maybe when I put myself out there, I'd get a company that would screw me over then I'll get to chalk one up for the bad experience score, ha ha ha ha.

Has your career as an artist benefited from doing sketch card work?
Can't really say right now. Like I said, I'm not really that pro-active in the sketchcard biz so I'm not really seeing any huge changes in my art career currently but hopefully once I get more time and can spend a lot of it to just put myself out there, I can maybe lift my career up to a better status.

What was the most difficult sketch card set you have worked on to date? What made it difficult?
I have to say, to date, is my latest job, Pin ups and Puppies (P'ups). I had fun drawing it, yes, but at the same time the pressure of trying to draw the right Puppy breeds to make them look accurate was so difficult for me. I did get frustrated in the middle of doing the job at one point and felt like I don't wanna see anymore puppies but in the end, I finished the job and am pretty happy with the result.



Are there any cards that you are particularly proud of?
I have one in the P'ups one that I'm proud of but I'm not allowed to show it, ha ha ha.

Some companies provide return cards or artist proofs for working on sketch card sets. What do you do with yours?
I put them out for commissions. Well, about 80% of my APs anyway, the other 20% I like to draw something I want and sell it. I myself am sadly not a card collector and wouldn't know what to do with the cards so the only way I can see it being of use is to actually put it out there and let someone who is a card collector keep it and treat it well.

Do you see yourself continuing with sketch card sets?
I do. I enjoy drawing these cards especially interesting sets like Damsels & Dinosaurs. That one is fun... I'm not fully done with it yet so I have no previews to show of it, but hey, stay tuned to my Deviantart, I'll post there as soon as I finish the set and get approval for it.

Is there any advice you would like to give to people wanting to break into the sketch card ‘biz’?
Just have fun. The cards are small but that adds up to the challenge and upon finishing a set, there's always a sense of satisfaction but you gotta have fun doing it. Take it too seriously and you might grow to hate it, so just have fun with it. There's a lot of creativity that can be shown in a single card but it won't appear unless you have fun with it.



Can you tell us what future sketch card sets you'll be working on?
As I mentioned above, I'm working on the Damsels & Dinosaurs set right now and I also two other Sadlittles set I'm doing, Rantz Angels and Dreamers of Darkness. I also have a Rittenhouse project underway but I have no idea if I'm allowed to talk about it so I'll just keep it under wraps for now. Hopefully I'll get to do more sets in the future when I'm done with these and are able to post them online as part of my "Putting myself out there" mission.

What are you currently working on?
I'm actually underway of drawing a test script for Marvel comics hoping to get hired as an artist and am still working on an online comic I'm collaborating with Bobby Crosby called Marry Me ( http://marryme.keenspot.com/ ). There's also another comic I'm working on for Heavy Metal magazine but I dunno of the position whether or not I'm able to talk about it so... yeah, ha ha ha ha.

Where can people see more of your work?
My deviantart, eisu.deviantart.com is where I frequently put up any new artworks I do, but I also have a blogspot at nonameart.blogspot.com and a livejournal and darkkof.livejournal.com. I also have an online comic that is currently on hiatus called No Pink Ponies at nopinkponies.com. Yeah, those are places you can go to to check out my artworks.

Thank you SO much for your time!!

Sketch card artists at C2E2

List will be updated throughout the weekend!

-Grant Gould

-Uko Smith

-Katie Cook

-Allison Sohn

-Andy Price

-Brent Schoonover

-Adam Hughes

-Josh Howard

-Colleen Doran

-Scott DM Simmons

Interview with Rich Molinelli

How did you get involved in sketch cards/What was your first sketch card job?
I met Cat Staggs on a forum called Digital Webbing. She introduced me to the editor from Topps and here I am. :) My first card job was Lord of the Rings Evolution being a huge Fantasy and Lord of the Rings fan, what better first job to have.

How do you feel about working on such a small surface?
At first I loved it. I could do smaller detailed work but after some recent jobs where I was allowed to draw much larger I have felt that the smaller surface hinders the vision I have sometimes.

What media do you like to work with for your cards? Is that different than what you normally use to produce artwork?
I LOVE working with my Copic Markers, for almost every set I worked on I use my Prismacolors and my Copics. Normally I use the computer to color all of my work, but I have been using markers on some new pieces.

How do you feel about the entire sketch card process?
Hmmm I think it is a great way for an artist to get his/her feet wet and starting learning about things like composition, what companies want and working within deadlines. I mean nothing is more important to me than the meeting the deadline. I have only missed ONE in my whole career and that was because I was trying to work with a dislocated elbow.

Is there a lot of ‘prep’ time when you begin work on your cards?
Yes. I break down my cards based off time and pay rate. For most sets now I do no more than 100-200 cards. If the set is for 100 cards I take 25-50 of them and do the whole thumbnail, pencils, inks and if time allows color. But as I said it all depends on time allotted to me.



Do you have a lot of contact with collectors regarding your cards?
I used too. The hobby market has changed so much from when I started these 4 years ago that I don’t have as much contact as I used. Anyone that goes to Scoundrel Art Community can see from my post count that I used to post quite a bit. I still try once in a while to interact with collectors.

How do you feel about some collectors wanting more detailed cards versus what sketch card artists are paid to work on the cards?
This is an issue that is never going to make anyone happy, artist or collector. It is very similar to the never-ending battle between He-man and Skeletor. I fall on the side of I feel an artist needs to maximize their time, effort and money. And this answer might not be so popular but it is how I feel. If company X offers me $1.00 per card, then I need to look at it from the business side and decide if I am going to do 6 full color cards a day with planning and all the trimmings and make $6.00 a day for the next 3-4weeks. If I am doing 100 cards that means for one project I make $100 for the month to pay my rent, food, car insurance, art supplies, etc. Now I know some will say that we get Return/AP cards to sell with as we please, but don’t factor in that these return cards can come anywhere from 2-3 months AFTER we complete the work. Usually when a job like this comes up I take on 2-3 more jobs with the hope that they all balance is out. It doesn’t always work like this though, especially when working freelance which is usually feast or famine and I may have 2-3 paying jobs but I need to make sure that each client feels I’m giving them my full attention by meeting said deadlines for them to meet their own deadlines to get product out. Hence why I tend to do repeat inked drawings so that at least the collectors get a drawing I put some time into. My honest answer to some who have questioned the repeats, if you really want a card or drawing from me or any other artist then maybe collecting return cards or private commissions are the way to go.



Have you had any bad experiences with collectors?
Up until last year, no. I wouldn’t call them “bad” per say either. Just some rudeness from people, I tend to do some repeats in most sets I work on and I understand that some don’t like this. I hope that by reading my earlier post that maybe I could help you understand where I, as an artist/businessman, may be coming from. Some don’t like the characters I selected for sets either but what can I say I tend to like the more out there characters from X-men, Spider-man and Comic Book based properties.

Bad experiences with companies?
Who hasn’t? It comes with the job. You just hope at the end of the day that fans and fans of the property like what you have done.

Has your career as an artist benefited from doing sketch card work?
Oh yes it has. I learned to work in a deadline and do quality work in said timeframe, learned to make a business model that usually works LOL. Sometimes things get out of whack, but usually it works. I mean how many people I went to school with can say that they have worked with Marvel, DC Comics, Thundercats, Ninja Turtles, CSI, Doctor Who and Star Wars as there job? Not many I know. Unless of coarse they work as an artist ;) most of the work I have gotten is due to my work on these sketch card projects.

What was the most difficult sketch card set you have worked on to date?
1. Heroes. I never got into the show; I found the characters not fun to work with and dealing with the headache of a short deadline, made the whole job not fun at all.

2. Woman of Marvel – Just a bad time in my life and I was being tested for stomach cancer while drawing the cards in the hospital room and in doctor’ s office. If I could go back and redo that whole set I would.

3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – Didn’t like working on something I had no previous opinions of, nor had I seen anything to make me say "Wow".



You recently did a Star Wars base card, correct? What was that process like for you?
This was awesome! A dream comes true for me. When Topps editor Dave Waldeck came to me and asked for me to create my own vision of something off screen in the Cantina, words couldn’t describe how overjoyed I was. Not only did I get to draw something printed for Star Wars I got to create something of my own. And what did I come up with? Jawa Arm Wrestling with Kabe and Muftak to see who buys the next round of drinks. The process for this was not very different as doing my sketch card work, but here I had to have each step approved along the way up until Inks. So the thumbnails were sent to Dave he looked them over and chose which one he likes, then rough pencils are sent in and phone calls are made to tell me what needs to fixed and what they don’t like. But in the end I have a piece of Artwork that I am very proud of.

Are there any cards that you are particularly proud of?
Star Wars Galaxy Series 4, I went in with a different mind set and drew the characters in my own vision. Most fun I had working on a set in a long time. I'm also very proud of the work I did on Legends and Lore.

Some companies provide return cards or Artist Proof cards for working on sketch card sets. What do you do with yours?
I sell almost all of them. Some I have kept for my own collection but over the last few years bills have needed paying I had to let them go. Though with the economy lately I have seen a bit of a down turn in moving the cards as quickly.

Can you talk about your own sketch card set "Childhood Dreamers"?
Sure it is in the planning stages at the moment. I have some great artists attached to this set. Nathan approached me about doing an artwork of “Ram” set but I didn’t think that would fly off the proverbial shelves for sadlittles.com, so I pitched an idea where I could get a group of artists to draw about their childhood fantasies. So what this set will have is various childhood fantasies of being an army infantryman, astronauts, Pro-Wrestlers, Mermaids and Big Foot Trackers! I feel that our fans will love to see what we as child’s use to dream about. Some name attached this project are: Jess Hickman, Jeff Chandler, Don Pedicini Jr, Phil Hester, Ray Anthony Height, Nik Neocleous, Khoi Pham and many more. A full artist list will be revealed soon. The set is set to be released in early 2011 and will include sketch cards.

Do you see yourself continuing with sketch card sets?
Yes I do, but in a much more diminished capacity.



Any advice for people wanting to break into the sketch card ‘biz’?
Arrive. Raise Hell. Leave. LOL – stole this line from Stone Cold Steve Austin.
By this I mean come in get some work, get your names known, build a fan base, make some contacts, show you can meet a deadline, do some kick butt work and then realize when it is time to move on and build that portfolio WHILE working on sketch cards. I had a hard time admitting the last part but I am fixing that now. :)

Where can people see more of your work?
My personal website – http://www.mankindram.com/
Facebook Users can join my fan group – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rich-A-Molinelli/148493592638?ref=ts

What are you currently working on?
Right now I’m working on Star Wars Empires Strikes Back 3D from Topps, Golden Age Comics from Breygent Marketing and Damsels and Dinosaurs from Sadlittles. I’m also working on base cards for Rantz Angel’s and a 2 page Illustration of Thundercats for Cereal Geek Magazine. Also just did a little pitch with Nathan for a sketch card project, this is a top secret project, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Thank you for your time, Rich!

Step by Step from Joe Corroney

http://www.joecorroney.com/comics101/index.shtml?20091105