Clattertron

[dc]A[/dc]nother convention is in the books. GrandCon came and went over the weekend, like a thing which comes and goes (…a bus? Maybe. A catbus? YES).

I attended GrandCon for the first time this year, which was the convention’s second year. Wearing the mantles of a gaming and a comic convention, GrandCon presented, like every convention I attended in my first year of shows, a learning experience.

Take My Print, Please

I drew an exclusive print for GrandCon, one I thought would do pretty well, as I catered it to the convention’s gaming crowd. After the collaborative print I did for Cherry Capital Comic Con sold so well, I decided to try one on my own.

At C4, I sold 13 prints.

At GrandCon, I sold two. Of the eleven I brought.

So, what happened? A few things, I think:

• This print wasn’t a collaborative effort, so I couldn’t say “get these other guys to sign it.”

• People just didn’t like my style or the look in general, which is probably the biggest reason.¹ I didn’t draw much of the C4 print which was so popular.

• Price? Maybe. It was $10, which is average for an 11” x 17” color print on card stock (same price as C4). I always stressed this was a limited run. I dropped the price to $5 on Sunday, and still only sold one the entire day.²

• I avoided any character fan art for this print (although I heavily referenced Settlers of Catan). This was probably the other main reason it didn’t sell well. The C4 print featured the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are always popular.

• Attendees who were at GrandCon to play games, not buy art and/or comics. A few of my artist alley cohorts shared this feeling. GrandCon was well attended, but the game rooms benefited more than the artists/comic people (which is fine—it is a gaming show after all—I’m not complaining, just pointing out observations).

As the show closed on Sunday, I gave away the remaining exclusive prints. I wouldn’t really be able to sell them at another show (I dunno maybe I could), and wasn’t crazy about bringing so many home.

Keep Me Posted

My latest item, the watercolor postcards, failed to sell too.

These went for $10 each (they are twice the size of my $5 sketch cards, so twice the price–and included a stamp), and featured different designs and themes. The upside here at least is, I can sell these postcards at other shows, or through Storenvy.

What Sold?

My watercolor sketch cards ($5 each) sold well, like at other shows. I sold 12. I cranked out four new cards on Saturday and two sold within moments of the paint drying.

Stickers were popular again too (four for $1). I make my own using home printer sticker sheets.

I managed three commissions (one watercolor piece for $20 and two small $5 black and white).

Lessons Learned

Will I do a show exclusive print again? I don’t know.

Getting stuck with show specific prints at the end of the day on Sunday wasn’t fun.

I need to better display my willingness to do commissions, I think. I made more off one watercolor commission than I did selling two prints (a print I spent hours drawing, inking, coloring, and preparing for printing, versus about 30 minutes on a commission).

Watercolor sketchcards are fun, and sell, although for the amount of work I do I’m probably short-selling myself at $5 each. I could at least get rid of the ‘3 for $10’ deal, and make it ‘3 for $12’ or ‘3 for $13.’

Selling sketch cards for $10 won’t work, I tried that. Heck, I couldn’t sell a postcard twice the size at that price (although I will try again at my next show).

Originals sell pretty well. By that I mean my sketch cards and commissions. Perhaps instead of prints, for another show I’ll focus on making a few large watercolor originals (and really push commissions). I actually had this idea pre-GrandCon, but since it was my first show since buying my Surface Pro 3, I wanted to try making a print digitally.

Perhaps the biggest lesson was, not all conventions are equal in terms of what will sell, the audience, and so on. The artist alley circuit is all about trial and error, and it being my first year this is even more the case.

 

Final GrandCon Thoughts

I wish I attended GrandCon as a board/card game fan. I don’t mean I regret being a part of artist alley at the show. Not at all.

To clarify, there was a lot of fun gaming going on all weekend, and I wish I had time to join in on the action. GrandCon is worth the trip if you love playing games. I swung by the GenCon game library at GrandCon and drooled over all the games available for free play. So many games, and no time to play any.

If your art and/or goods cater to the gaming crowd, check out GrandCon. If not, you might want to focus on more comic/art centric shows.

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¹ Which I understand. Not everyone will love my silly, cartoony style.

² Other artists got complaints about charging $10 for prints of the same size.