A Tardy Illuxcon Report

I exhibited the painting above at Illuxcon. It’s a book cover for “Stonefather” by Orson Scott Card published by Subterranean Press. It’s a cleverly written story that has the feeling of a fable but with a gentle humor you wouldn’t expect. I got a chance to do a few pen & inks for this book as well. I looked it up and it seems the book is sold out already. Below is one of a few doodles I did at Illuxcon. I'm putting them between paragraphs:As far as I know I’ve always liked fantasy and science fiction. Over the years it has only gained in meaning for me. This is due to a greater appreciation for science and for literature. So at first when I heard of Illuxcon it seemed wrong to separate the art from the literature. After all I like keeping the science in the science fiction and I like to read.The thing that most appealed to me about Illuxcon was the chance to meet many artists I’ve never met before. And I did meet some but not as many as I would’ve liked to. Nonetheless, you can see a few pictures from that event on my photo-blog Shutterbuggy Kidd. I’m a bit strange in that it usually doesn’t occur to me to take a picture of someone unless they’re doing something interesting -- I need to be prompted.The idea of bringing artists and people interested in art together was a great success. Illuxcon was small in size but large in content and I think it will continue to grow in all directions.There were two highlights of the convention for me, one that I thought was funny and another that I thought was a lot of fun. The first night there was a small party and because so many people didn’t know each other the hosts suggested we write our names on stickers and wear them. Pretending to be an illiterate artist I drew an airship on mine. Well into the party a young woman was talking to my friend Omar Rayyan, looked at my name badge and exclaimed, “Are you Gnemo?!!” I felt a certain childish pride that I could be recognized by a drawing.The other thing I enjoyed greatly was doing demos with Michael Whelan, Bob Eggleton and Matt Stewart. That was a total blast. Above is a painting Michael started and I made something of a story around by making him or her embarrassed at being caught naked. Modesty does not become him. Below is a demon Michael started, Bob worked on and I turned into a painter I call “Bob.”And finally, below is a painting I call "Untamed Muse." I started this one and Michael worked on it.