The sketch that almost never was.

It's been a while since Dragon Con. A couple months at least. Life throws you obstacles ( work, family) and I just couldn't get into the right state of mind to write something in a meaningful way. This has been a moment in my life where I just feel blah. But i'm trying to get into the right state of mind and feel good about my creativity. Hopefully something will rejuvenate me to where I have all my priorities in check. Right now I'm unglued. I'm hoping this entry will get me in the right state of mind.

I remember it clearly. It was Labor Day. The last day of the convention. Hold on. Let's roll back to Sunday. When you walked into artists alley to my direct left was the Vanguard Publishing table where it just so happens that Bill Sienkiewicz was sitting. 

Now I have been a Bill Sienkiewicz fan for long time going back to his Moon Knight days and I had met Bill the year before at Wizard World Atlanta (r.i.p). I wanted to commission him for a Jimi Hendrix piece. No one draws Hendrix better than Bill. He said he would do it for a reasonable price. Well I also had a table promoting my work so I wound up getting distracted with other things and the sketch never happened. 

Fast forward to the Saturday before labor day. There was  Bill at the Vanguard booth. There was so much going on that I wanted to wait until the right time to approach him. 

Sunday. I walk into artists alley and looked to my left.  Bill is not there. Great. So I start talking to J. David Spurlock the details of the commission. Jimi Hendrix rising into a phoenix. He told me Bill was backed up but he might be able to fit me in and also Bill had been up all night painting nude women so he might not make it down anytime soon. Ugh.  This might be impossible and with the funds I had to offer it didn't look good. So I went home. And I decided not to come back to the show because I was exhausted.

Labor Day. Yaaay. I'm getting my bathroom renovated. The handyman starts today and guess what?                                                                  

I have to help him move a shit load of sheetrock into the house. It was a dreary, humid, rainy day. And it gets better. The handyman's van is stuck in the mud and I have to push him out. Both unexpected workouts caused me some back unpleasant back pain. I decided I didn't want to stick around and listen to this guy tear apart my bathroom so I went back to the con.

 I drive to there and pay 20$ parking. I walk two blocks up hill and then up 2 flights of stairs, into the building, take the escalator down a floor and into artists alley and low and behold Bill was right there on his smart phone. I couldn't believe it. I started going into detail about this Hendrix sketch I want to commission. He would do it! Yes! He told me he likes to use reference because he wants the likeness to be a close as possible. Damn. I left the reference I had brought with me the 2 previous day at home thinking this sketch would never be made. I told him I'll be back in one hour.

 I ran up the escalator, out the entrance dow two flights of stairs, down 2 blocks, into the parking lot. I drove to the cashier at the parking lot and told her I had only been here not very long and is there any way I could get my ticked voided. The cashier told me her supervisor wasn't there and she didn't know. I told here i was coming right back. She told me I would have to find out when come back. So out into traffic I go into the rainy and wet highway racing home to find my reference for Bill. I get home and lo and behold I have a hard time remembering what I did with it. I was in a panic. It was in the waste basket. I grabbed it and headed back to the highway and raced back to the parking lot, two blocks up hill, up 2 flights of stairs, down an escalator and into artists alley. All with a sore back mind you but I made it! I couldn't believe it.  And Bill was there on sending a text. I waited patiently as he finished his text and gave my reference and he went to it. It was awesome. Great vibes all around.  And I got my parking fee voided. Life couldn't have gone much sooner.