Art and Inspirations at MoCCa Fest 2013

Before my first experience at Museum of Comic and Cartoon Arts Festival (MoCCa Fest) this past weekend, I did not know much about indie comics/illustration. After attending some panels and browsing through the art, I gained a better understanding about this world and managed to add many artists to my to-read list. This event is also associated with Society of Illustrators and took place at the Armory building on 25th and Lexington. http://www.societyillustrators.org/Mocca_Event.aspx?id=8605

Throughout the weekend there were panels on comics, art, animation, and history. I was surprised that the panels were held in a rather humble room in the lower level, given that the Indie Game convention I went to had such a huge number of rooms etc. The main attraction was the ground floor with publishers/artists/studios displaying their works. There were also author signings/personalization available.  I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of tables/booths on the first day and decided to take it easy. The museum had several collected works on display. One was called “Day Job” and features famous people in creative industry and what they had as on the side.

Memorable Panel Moments

Zippy
I arrived toward the end of this panel when Bill Griffith was showing some funny segments of the comic and themes like bowling, laundry, and how to become a daily syndicate. He also shared how he keeps up with the news and current trends to include in the comics.
http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aabillgr.html

Business Sense
The panel shared several tips: Make deadlines. Learn to work with people (agents, publishers, referrals, assistants, interns, etc). Ask for legal consultation to protect work and negotiate favorable rates. Study the market and trends. Most of all, don’t work for free. Having been to several career events, these things are not that surprising to me. But it’s good to see no matter what industry you are in, consistent work and good inter-personal relationships are always important.

Animation and Storytelling
This was my favorite panel. The guests started out by sharing their experience switching from illustration to animation. While repetitive drawing is required, brining a character to life is worth the work. After viewing their animation clips, I noticed all of them possess a knack for storytelling and for translating stories into beautifully rendered animation. 

• Twins are Weird “Cee Cee’s Bedtime Story” made the entire audience laugh/cry. Go watch it! http://twinsareweird.com/shorts/
• Signe Baumane “Rocks in my Pockets” project was really moving and deals with the subject matter of depression. Need to look for it when it’s completed.
  http://www.rocksinmypocketsmovie.com/
• Bill Plympton http://www.plymptoons.com/
  I wanted to see more of the project with cowboys. The Simpsons couch gag was amazing too.

Loot

[art book] [freedom comic] [greeting card] and
Two little booklets from the Swag Table
the lawn and dirty diamonds

Food / Drinks

Shake Shack [link to custard calendar]

Saturday special is Salted caramel. I recommend pairing it with vanilla or chocolate. Thank God for B line for saving us from the burger line that almost reached the Flat Iron Building.

Gregory Coffee [link]
Great latte that comes with latte art in a real cup to stay. Also liked  seating and art on the wall. The lighting is really unfortunate though. Doesn’t make it easy for people to linger.