Bill Cox showing off one of the pieces in the live auction

Last weekend, the second Original Art Expo took place in Orlando Florida. I was attending as a guest artist and, while it’s always difficult to capture any event from behind a table, I thought I’d share a short re-cap and review.

To begin, this show is fairly new and still largely under the radar.  It was started by Kasra Ghanbari and Bill Cox, respectively CEO and CCO/cofounder of Comic Art Fans, as a show by and for original art collectors with an emphasis on comic art.  Similar to the Illuxcon model, the show is very niche in its approach and puts the focus on gathering art collectors in a relatively intimate venue with a whole bunch of artists.   I’d heard great things from those who attended the first year and so I was delighted to be asked down for year two as they started expanding the scope to include more types of artists.

The show I know best is Illuxcon, which I’ve been showing at since it started in 2008.  I also did several years at San Diego Comic Con as well as sporadic appearances at NYCC, Dragoncon, Worldcon, various MtG events, and a number of regional SF/F shows.  Over time, I’ve come to see that there’s pros and cons to each type of show.  In simplest terms, I think of each one as being either a “sales” show or a “promo” show.  There’s almost always some mix of the two, but one usually leads the other.  Depending where I’ve been in my career, one might appeal to me more than another.  The other factor that I consider in comparing different conventions is the cost and enjoyment of it.  How much financial risk is involved, how long and far I will have to travel, how connected I feel to any community there, etc.  When I assess all of these things, I currently find myself getting more out of intimate shows and less drawn to the behemoths like SDCC and NYCC.  That’s the perspective that I’m looking from on OAX.

Admiring some originals at the pre-show cocktail party

Original comic art just about everywhere you turn

To start, the show is short.  The doors were only open for business on Saturday and Sunday for seven hours each day.  There were other events happening outside of these hours such as an art auction and several social events (cocktail party, Magic the Gathering casual play, etc.) and overall it flew by pretty fast.

Between sales or promotion, the vibe is most definitely “sales” as I saw little representation of art directors or editors who might be scouting. The collectors I met had interest in all types of subjects, but super hero comic art seemed the common center.  It was clear that there’s an effort to expand this out to include more fantasy and gaming art, but the main hall was a lot of portfolios full of comic pages.  That said, I brought a variety of work including published and unpublished superheroes and non-superhero genre illustration and there was interest all over.  I don’t have any data, but anecdotally it seemed a strong show for sales of originals.  I didn’t bother bringing prints and nobody asked me if I had any.

A late night party to play and teach folks to play Magic The Gathering. Steve Walbroehl (right) playing with original Alpha decks.

The Saturday night live auction

The atmosphere was very enthusiastic.  I knew some collectors from online groups prior and it was clear that everyone was really excited to meet and share their joy of the hobby in person.  It was the kind of community spirit that you frankly only really get in niche shows and a sharp contrast to the exhausted meat grinder vibe I had walking the floor of NYCC a few months ago.  I always appreciate when I get to be a part of an event like this because I know that energy is rare.

As far as attending artists, I didn’t have much opportunity to meet with folks outside my immediate area.  I shared a big booth with my mom (Julie Bell) which we had never done before and it certainly added to the experience for me.  Other artists who I was able to visit with at least briefly included Jeremy Wilson, Dan Dos Santos, Myles Wohl, Simone Bianchi, Ash Gonzales, and George Pratt.  Some folks attending that I WISH I’d been able to talk with included Adam Hughes, Sanford Greene, Paolo Rivera, Jae Lee, and I’m sure many others, but it was hard getting to run my space and also see the show and the comics guys were in another room.

Left: Julie Bell Right: Simone Bianchi

Artists looking through a sketchbook late at night in the hotel lobby

Just about to talk about Marvel Masterpieces with my mom, with moderator Justin Underwood (center) and organizer Jose Caballero (left)

There were also some special exhibits on display curated by some of the attending collectors, including a lot of Marvel trading card art from the 90s and some high end classic fantasy illustration including Frazetta’s “Swords of Mars.”

All in all I had a fantastic time.  I think if I were to hit one point on summing up though, it was the feeling of community that most encouraged me in how this show might evolve in future years.  It’s always difficult to maintain that special magic something that one finds in the early days of something like this, but the best foundation for future success is when genuine friendships are built from it.  Commerce might have been the excuse for many of us attending, but meaningful connection over a shared love of art and creativity was what made it special.