I was excited to return to NYCC for my 6th year. There’s always so much to see and so many people to meet. The great thing about comic con is that there are many panels regarding working in the comic book industry. These are always appealing as you have multiple artists and writers who take the time to answer several questions about their experience. I like to attend a few of these every year, but because its comic con, these sessions are always packed with people and there’s a small chance I’d actually be able to ask my questions. This is why I’m really glad comic con has an Artist Alley.

Artist Alley is a big part of NYCC, it is stationed separately from the show floor but is just as important to many fans. Artist Alley is where the fans can talk one on one with their favorite artists and writers. Each guest is given a spot with a table to display and sell their work. One of my personal favorite artist who inspired one of my own personal projects is comic book artist Todd Nauck.

Todd Kauck has been drawing for different comic book companies for several years and has recently working for Marvels X-Men series. Todd Nauck recently started a series of post-it drawings that were done to practice and work quicker. I was inspired by this because I love to draw but haven’t had the time to concentrate on big projects. I wanted to do drawings on post-it but wanted a way to keep my drawings. So I started drawing in a small sketchbook but the drawings are highly detailed.

I was excited to show Mr. Nauck the drawings I had made.

The response I got was really great, it was really informative. He told me that he really liked my book and that he felt touched that he inspired me. He also told me several things about getting into comic books. His advice was that if I wanted to draw for a comic book industry that I need to let my drawings tell a story without the words. My drawings would need to be able to explain to the viewer what is happening in the story without the words to tell them. He also recommended me to draw comic book pages and that the demand for comic book pages requires one to draw these pages really quickly. He also informed me more about the markers I use. I told him that I was using Prismacolor because I couldn’t afford the more expensive Copic Markers. He told me this is okay because the artist can use anything and still make it look good, as long as he or she has the skill. I was also told that he chooses Copic markers because in the long run they are cheeper because of how much he uses them and only needs to buy replacement cartridges and not the whole marker all over again.

I had a really great time talking to one of my favorite artist and I hope to one day inspire others like he has inspired me.