Gencon and Chesley Awards

I’m just catching up with things after getting back from GenCon on Monday. It was the first GenCon I’ve attended, and for an artist looking to work in the RPG gaming industry, there’s no more important show to attend. Virtually all of the game publishers are there, so you can see what’s out there to see where things are going, as well as to make contacts with potential employers. It’s also that rare show, outside of Comicon or Illuxcon, where so many artists are at the same show at once. Putting faces to names and artwork is invaluable. I’m always impressed and amazed at the depth of the camaraderie that illustrators have. It’s basically four days of hanging out, sharing stories and swaping tips about art and business. I meet a lot of artists there who I only knew from their websites and published work. It was also a wonderful to see their original paintings and large high res prints. It’s also a great place to meet with the fans of the games and the artwork. I must have signed countless cards, and drawn on more playmats and AP cards than I can remember. A big thanks to Barbara and Diesel for organizing a great show. Oh yeah, and I even got a 1st place ribbon for my painting, Skyward Eye Prophets.
When I was there I also pleasantly surprised to find out that I won two Chesley awards, one for Best Hardcover Book, and one for Best Product Illustration. It’s a tremendous honor to have won, and a huge Congrats to all the winners and nominees!
You can see my winning pieces here and here, and a list of all the winners here.

P.S. Thanks to Llereni for sending me a scan of a something I sketched for her at the show