Artist Alleys need to grow!

Conventions and other events, fandom, stores, manga-ka, animators, and other people, etc
Post Reply
User avatar
Animusubi
Posts: 612
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2012 9:31 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989
Location: Planet Shining
Contact:

Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by Animusubi »

Artist Alleys are a big part of any convention, and I remember at my first anime convention in 2000, they were fairly small and almost always forgotten. And back then, it seemed alot more pure. There were even people doing trades and swaps for old anime merchandise. Definitely more fanzines, doujins, and of course the prints were better.

Nowadays, while the selling has gotten alot stricter (some even enforcing no fanart) and the artist alleys constantly selling out in seconds, with long waiting lists of over 100+ artists, I think it's time that Artist Alleys are taken a bit more seriously.

I have only been selling at Artist Alleys since 2009, my first being at Kumoricon (I had won their mascot contest that year!) in Portland, OR. That convention changed my life. I got to work for a great local music company doing their album covers, which to this date I still do. And there was one experience there I'll never forget. I had given a small starting out anime club a group picture commission, and when I had given it to them, they walked a little ways from my table, stared at it in happiness, and some started crying. I always think back to that moment when I work on my art.

The reason I bring this up is that selling art at conventions has become a stressful experience. Alot of the times they are never run properly, with alot of disorganization and little communication. Alleys are selling out within seconds because the computer is the only way to register now, now people have to be SUPER LIGHTNING FAST to even get a table. There's no control at times, so people are selling alot of things they shouldn't be. It's been a bit chaotic.

I feel like now they need to either take alleys more seriously or have conventions dedicated to them.
animusubi
Resident Ranma 1/2 Appreciator!
twitter | instagram
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by greg »

ryoran wrote:The reason I bring this up is that selling art at conventions has become a stressful experience. Alot of the times they are never run properly, with alot of disorganization and little communication.
I've never been to an anime convention, but isn't this above true about anime conventions in general?
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
User avatar
Animusubi
Posts: 612
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2012 9:31 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989
Location: Planet Shining
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by Animusubi »

greg wrote:
ryoran wrote:The reason I bring this up is that selling art at conventions has become a stressful experience. Alot of the times they are never run properly, with alot of disorganization and little communication.
I've never been to an anime convention, but isn't this above true about anime conventions in general?
This is true, alot of anime conventions (compared to comic conventions) are poorly run and disorganized. In fact, a local convention in my area, Aki Con, is probably one of the worse ones. Sakuracon can be like this as well in general, which is really sad, as that is my first convention, and one of the ones I've gone to the most.

The only conventions I've gone to with minimal stress were Kumoricon and Fanimecon. Though Kumoricon did have a venue issue a few years ago that was a bit unpleasant, the artist alleys for both conventions when I attended were pretty well run.
animusubi
Resident Ranma 1/2 Appreciator!
twitter | instagram
davemerrill
Posts: 1235
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:38 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1984
Location: the YYZ
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by davemerrill »

There are gosh knows how many anime cons and gosh knows how many AAs at those anime cons, and they're all run differently. I know every convention of any size has had problems over the years with AAs - with staff issues, size issues, bootleg and counterfeit artwork, etc. There's some communication and crossover between AA staffs, but not nearly enough (in my opinion).

AWA's AA has moved to one of the big exhibit halls in the main convention center - it shares space with the art show, but there's an upper limit to how big an artists alley can get before you begin to reach a point of diminishing returns, where the sheer number of artists in the room overwhelms the potential customers - whose budget is already under assault from the dealers' room to begin with.

(I also miss the days when AA meant you could sell fanzines and old toys, promote your fan club, or whatever.)

As with the dealers' room, there's a waiting list and usually some kind of necessary vetting to ensure that the artists are actually artists selling art and not the guys selling rugs and flags out of a van on the side of the road. Because if you let them in, they'll be there.

I realize that it's a shame that not everybody who wants a AA table gets an AA table. Not everybody can get a dealers room table or a table in the yard-sale event. Not everybody can get a hotel room. Space is limited, and the line has to be drawn somewhere.

I personally think an event that was just a large artists alley would be a great thing, an anime art festival or something. I think the artists would support it wholeheartedly. The question is, could you get the customers to come to an AA-only event? Or is it too connected to the anime-convention experience as a whole?

I would love to see an event like that, something free or with a nominal cost, set up like the arts fairs you see in public parks. Something away from the typical convention model.
Heero
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:32 am
Anime Fan Since: 1980
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by Heero »

davemerrill wrote:I personally think an event that was just a large artists alley would be a great thing, an anime art festival or something. I think the artists would support it wholeheartedly. The question is, could you get the customers to come to an AA-only event? Or is it too connected to the anime-convention experience as a whole?
I'd be REALLY curious to see an American Comiket (a con that's essentially just AA and Cosplay photoshoots), but the big problem is the ramp up. I think it could do great once it's established, especially considering the direction cons have been trending, but selling people on the initial concept would be a tough slog. Especially if you consider how most artists are now more like dealers in "mentality". (first question to a prospective con always being "what is your attendance number?")

You'd also need industry to at least tacitly support it considering the fanart angle. (if aiming for "original" stuff, there's already several events for that, Staple! in Austin, TX springs immediately to mind since it is local, isn't APE that kinda thing too?)
davemerrill
Posts: 1235
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:38 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1984
Location: the YYZ
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by davemerrill »

It may be that the launch window for an American "comiket" has come and gone. Most large markets have their own established anime conventions taking up all the energy and time of the local fans. I'd love to see an AA show that was all about fanzines the way Comiket is. American fans don't seem to produce as many fan comics - tons of kitschy CG-rendered pretty boy art, but very little in the way of narrative.

On the other hand, many cities are starting up their own "nerd yard sale" events which seem to be thriving - the one in Toronto gets more traffic every year, and they just started one in Atlanta that was very successful. If the director of this theoretical AA show keeps it cheap and keeps the focus on getting people in the door to check out the art and drop some cash, it might work. So many critical factors and variables to think about.

The thing about spinning the AA off into its own thing is that the AA itself is a big draw for the anime convention, and the anime convention might not want to let it go or see it diminished. Lord knows that most areas of an anime convention have their own supporters who feel their thing is the Most Important - the costume contest, the dealers room, gaming, video, AA, guests, the dances, the anime music video events, etc - but a good anime con is a mix of all these things, all interacting with each other.

There's a show here in Toronto called TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and it's the template for what I'd like to see in the convention world of the future. They work with the city, it's held in the central library downtown, admission is free. They generally have a roster of invited guests from the comics world, they sell tables to a vetted list of publishers and artists, they have a kids area, readings, panel discussions, autographs. It has a great casual feel because people can wander in and out, sample new books, get sketches, and socialize. It's downtown so you can leave TCAF and get a meal or go shopping or wander, not like most conventions which are held in convention centers out by the airport. TCAF has a large space set aside for small press comics, webcomics, and new media artists - much of the artwork feels like what you'd see these days in an anime con artist alley, more cartoony, 8-bit video game, mascot character pop-culture inspired stuff.
Heero
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:32 am
Anime Fan Since: 1980
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by Heero »

davemerrill wrote:It may be that the launch window for an American "comiket" has come and gone. Most large markets have their own established anime conventions taking up all the energy and time of the local fans. I'd love to see an AA show that was all about fanzines the way Comiket is. American fans don't seem to produce as many fan comics - tons of kitschy CG-rendered pretty boy art, but very little in the way of narrative.
I think it's a combination of the stigma and legal questions around "parody" works. The VAST majority (if you include Touhou, which is debatable) of works at Comiket fall into the "parody" category and it is a good way for artists to "cut their teeth" before trying to do their own works. Plus, it allows for fans to easily identify areas of interest. I don't think it's very realistic to think that America could support a Comiket consisting of nothing but original works. ComicCon has lost a lot of real estate to Hollywood and gaming and even without that it's not the same size.

It also hurts that we don't have the same culture of appreciation for comics. The ONE way it could have a shot is if someone tried to launch a "WebComiket", since the barrier of entry is so low and webcomics DO have an established base for a wide range of material. The big problem would be consolidating artists all in one place since many artists would either have budgeting issues or EXPECT a "guest" type of scenario. Which wouldn't work in the Comiket model.
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Artist Alleys need to grow!

Post by greg »

davemerrill wrote:On the other hand, many cities are starting up their own "nerd yard sale" events which seem to be thriving
One nerd swapmeet started in Phoenix in 2011, and I took this video of the event. Unfortunately, it disappeared for a couple of months, only to return in a much reduced floorspace location, unfortunately. According to their website, I guess it's still going. Thanks to this, I was able to sell my dusty childhood G.I.Joe, Transformers, and GoBots toys to a couple vendors just before I moved to Japan. I got about a hundred dollars from it all, so that was a real lifesaver.
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
Post Reply