Rocket City Furmeet 2011, Part 1

Well, I did what I said I’d do.  This past Memorial Day weekend, I went down south of the city of Huntsville, Alabama.  This marks the first time in sixteen years that I’ve been down south.  As I explained in the first part of the Sunnyville origins post, I had lived in North Carolina for a few years.  Anyway, I had gone to Alabama on business.  I attended another furry convention held annually down there known as Rocket City Furmeet.  I went there to network with others and to display my work in the art show.  Well, on with the show!

The event took place at the luxurious Embassy Suites Hotel.  Some of you may have guessed it already – but for the uninitiated, I love to travel.  I’ve stayed in many hotels, but I have to say that the Embassy Suites chain is beautiful and has the most superb service (and no, I am NOT being paid to say that).  Just strolling around the hotel, I could see how exquisite it was.  It was also spacious enough to allow the convention to take place.

There was no shortage of people in costume attending RCFM.  Many of them were fursuiters, whom I did show pictures to all of you in my posts about Further Confusion.

I had plenty to take pictures of.

The many fursuiters (many more than I could take photos of) also got the attention of the other guests staying in the hotel.  Many posed for photos too.

Moving on, I met a number of artists and business contacts down there.  We exchanged business cards.  I also displayed my work in the art show.  Their art show was quite small compared to Further Confusion and Anthrocon.  Out of the four pieces I displayed, three were completely new ones.

"Sick Rusty", Ink and Gouache on paper, 9x12 in.

This piece was meant as another Expressionist piece.  Green is an interesting color – it can represent healing, medicine, and growth as well as sickness and disease.  That’s why I used it for this painting.  You may notice that the ink smeared a bit.  That was an accident, but it works.  I had not let the India ink dry for at least 24 hours.  The smearing and bleeding into the diluted gouache paint actually helps here.  It contributes to the feeling of yuckiness.  This image is also available as a print.

"Life's a Grind", Pen-and-ink on hot-press paper, 9x12 in.

This piece was a lot of fun to draw.  I really have to respect that organ grinder’s business acumen.  I’m sure that gorilla really brings in a lot of money.  Anyway, check out the more linear blocky design of the gorilla and that poster on the wall.  I’ve taken in some influences from the style known as Art Deco.  Oh, this piece is available too at a print.

That’s it for this post.  This coming Saturday, I’ll have more about my trip to Huntsville, Alabama and how it’s helped inspire my work in comics.  And on that note, I’ll leave with some videos I took of the convention grounds.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wasp6iQATFA[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqIlBmIJ-HI[/youtube]