Celebration V Experience Part II of III: Portfolio Review!

Man, oh man. Lots more people to thank.

Dave Filoni poses for a quick picture, while some dude looks on. Thanks, Dave!!

As mentioned last week, I got a chance to talk to Dave Filoni briefly at the TFN party, and he even posed for a picture with me! Great, humble guy. It was a real honor! He also was kind enough to answer a question of mine at a Q&A portion of a panel he hosted the next day. It was really great to get feedback from him!

But come on, this trip was initially about one thing for me: The portfolio review with Troy Alders, head art director of Lucasfilm Licensing. This is what convinced me to go in the first place, and without it, I would've never enjoyed the star treatment I was fortunate enough to receive. So, how did it go?

Really, really well! Troy really came off like the type of guy that's really interested in helping artists succeed, and it was such a pleasure listening to him. We only spent 5 - 10 minutes together (my head was spinning, I'm not actually sure how long it lasted) because his message was brief: He didn't have any criticism for my work. WHOA, WHAT?! That was unreal to hear from him!

After asking for one of my art postcards (!), Troy imparted some advice:

• Go talk to the artists in Celebration V's Artist Alley and hear how they got their foot in the door (Which I did....continued in Part III!).
• Get in the faces of Dark Horse, Topps Trading Cards, DK Publishing, etc. because he thought my work was professional enough to get me work!!
• Get to Comic Con. Luckily, it's two birds with one stone, as Dark Horse and co will be there in October!!

Catching Troy after the review!

I also got a chance to meet up with Kaela Croft (a few times, actually!) and Megan Crouse, friends from DeviantArt! Kaela actually waited in line for a portfolio review too, and also got some pretty great feedback!

Meeting up with Megan & Kaela, DeviantArt friends!

Most importantly, out of everyone, I have to thank my traveling companion, my co-nerd, band's drummer, best friend & brother, Joe Sorbera. Joe's been stuck to me through thick and thin, and we've been through hell and back together. I don't want to imagine the 72 hours of Celebration V without him, and luckily I won't have to. Thanks, man. From the bottom of my heart.

Goodbye Celebration V, & may the force be with you!!

But enough of that mushy crap, here's week 7's (of 15) Women of Star Wars digital sketch card...Jaina Solo!!


Next week will be my final Celebration V post...and it'll feature the official Star Wars artists that I had the pleasure of meeting! These are the guys I'm trying to join the ranks of, so you don't want to miss next week's update!