The last day of Comic-Con is always bittersweet. The air buzzes with positivity, inspiration, and camaraderie, but in the back of your mind, you know it may be another year before you see some of these friends, old and new. Sure, we always have the Internet, but there's something special about meeting in real life that can’t compare to flipping through a portfolio of sketches, laughing out loud with your peers, and supporting artists’ hard work right then and there.
There was rarely a moment when one of our seven kiosks wasn’t occupied by an artist. Young or old, newbie or professional, digital or traditional, the chance to sit down and create art was difficult to pass up with inspiration coming from every direction.
A view from the deviantART booth, looking out at the convention floor.
With a handful of deviantART staffers standing by to answer questions, hand out swag, or grin with delight when they met a deviant they’d been following for years, every one of us walked away from the convention with hearts full of memories we'll never forget.
It was great seeing families come up to our booth, excited, wanting to share the community with their kids. Usually it's the other way around — teenagers trying to explain deviantART to their parents. There was some of the latter, but primarily what we noticed was the older generation wanting to pass the community on to their kids, or even grandchildren in some cases.
spyed watches a young pre-deviant use deviantART muro to draw a landscape of his favorite game.
Every year deviantART is a part of Comic-Con, we learn more about how to make the next even better. This year, we had more panels, more schwag to hand out, more ways to make the artists in the alley feel the love. And we have a whole year ahead to come up with how awesome we know Comic-Con 2013 will be.
And don't worry -- we'll soon be releasing video of every aspect deviantART could capture on film, so you can experience what it was like to attend from the comfort of your home. Get excited for some exclusive interviews with artists, insider tips and tricks from our hosted panels, and so much more.
Not all Poison Ivys at Comic-Con were cosplayers. Leeahd took the time to make this villain digital.
As we mentioned in an earlier recap, we’re looking for ideas on how to make meeting up with large groups of deviants even more frequent. You may have read about our Paris deviantMEET, our London deviantMEET, and our first-ever Gallery Show in London, and we want to hear from you.
- What conventions should we go to in the future?
- What towns does deviantART need to visit next to hold a deviantMEET?
- What sorts of get-togethers would be perfect for deviantART to show up and crash?
- Please leave your ideas in the comments below!
All deviantART staffers in attendance take a moment to pose beneath our rotating sign!
Much was achieved with our sponsorship of Artists' Alley; however, none of it would have been possible without makepictures and techgnotic. Thanks to their tireless efforts and passion, we were able to further deviantART's commitment to entertaining, empowering, and inspiring the artist in all of us.
Ultimately, though, we need to sincerely thank each and every deviant and/or art lover who stopped by our booth and warmed our hearts with tales of their artistic journey. It's thanks to them, and deviants around the world, that deviantART is able to provide an environment of creative integrity and purpose.
~Heidi and TheLaurenVerse
Read more:
Comic-Con: Day 1
Comic-Con: Day 2
Comic-Con: Day 3
Comic-Con: Day 4
