So for a couple of years now all I kept hearing is "you need to do C2E2!!". Naturally the intrigue was running pretty rapid and I when I looked into the event 6months prior I had found out they were booked solid. "So that sucks" I thought. For something to book up that far in advance is pretty major. But then by the power of the nerd Gods the art coordinators felt compelled to reach out to me when a spot opened up. Before I get into it I have to say first that this event...is AMAZING and rivals Comic Con pretty hard.
    I started realizing that these cons get pretty overwhelming and so I decided to start picking up helpers at my booths for the thousands of people rolling through. This time around I was fortunate enough to snag up me best friend and fellow creative juggernaut Chaz Schoenbeck all the way from Vegas. Keep an eye out for his film/photography/writing here in the future. We even have a comic book in the works. You're welcome in advance because yes its that awesome.
    After catastrophically navigating the McCormick Center where C2E2 was held and schmoozing a food vendor to let me use their huge pizza cart to load in my work we were ready for the nerdtacular nedation to begin. I brought a lot of new pieces which ended up being some of the most popular things I have ever done. Notably a Shredder which had a waiting list of 5 people hoping that the first potential buyer would fall through.
   

I mentioned to the others waiting that I would be finishing up a couple more pieces for the following day which included another Shredder. It was the first time I got to experience people showing up the next day and waiting for me to get their so they could beat others to the punch. I had never been on the other end. By the way in case you're wondering I will be releasing prints of these pieces here on the website.

I do have to say that my favorite new piece would have to be my Skeletor. The original is still available which I cant say I'm horribly upset about because it means I get to have it with me a bit longer. This time around I did a lot of 80s cartoon characters (mainly villains) and I'm really pleased with how they all came out. The roster included what you see here, Dino Riders T-Rex, and Mumm-Ra. Up next: Cobra Commander, Monstar, Scareglow and a few more surprises.

By the way while finishing that Shredder piece at 3am on a Friday, Chaz doodled an Apocalypse on the corner of a piece of scratch pen testing paper while trying to take viruses off of my computer. I say Im going to ink it in and he tells me to also make a bunch of destructive stuff behind him. Maybe it was the lack if sleep but I decided that the most appropriate thing was to make him planning to turn a cupcake into an evil cupcake which afterward was dubbed "the velvet hate cake".  

   
I met a ton of cool people and was visited by some great friends which reconfirmed how many sweet and giving people there are in the world! Thank you all for the gifts and love!

We pulled through to the half way point and myself, Chaz and the bearded wonder Professor EJ Bocan shoveled down some mediocre all you can eat sushi (this was answered by eating at Sushi Yaki later on which is the greatest sushi place I have ever gone to. Its worth the trip out to Arlingotn Heights alone). On the final day Chaz and I only then FINALLY got to venture out on the floor and see what awesome stuff lay before us..only to have it pretty much become null and void when Travel Channel's Toy Hunters asked to film us as I inquired about a $7500 7 foot G.I.Joe aircaft carrier from the 80s. So when you see a guy acting like a total idiot on that show....its definitely me. That is the one thing I can say I am envious of. You guys get to walk around and see all of the cool stuff! So jealous. Still though, it was a pretty spontaneously fun AND may have resulted in a possible opportunity of amaaaazingness. I dont want to give away too much just in case nothing comes of it but you'll be frantically updated if and when it does happen.
    When the event closed up we set back out to scour through the great nerd treasurers (short of all of the artists I wanted to look around at). It takes a while for figure exhibitors to pack up so theres the opening for nerd hunting. And because of all of my hard work I decided to treat myself to something I have always wanted but never had the full set up of. The original Skeletor and Panthor WITH armor. Preeeetty big deal. Yeah I know..I'm cool.

    We headed back to the booth only to find that it was the last booth sitting there in artist alley. Just a sea of nothing and some jerks who STILL hadnt packed up yet. Yikes. We loaded the grids and everything else up onto a rolling recycling bin I found ( I'm starting to sense I should invest in a dolly or cart of some kind) and took off home for a much needed night of sleep which in fact just turned into a full night of designing a new t-shirt.  So in the end it was exhaustion at its most devastating but nothing a little Kumas Corner with a nickle size Cthulu couldnt help fix. Until C2E2 2014 folks!

A big thank you to the city and community of Chicago for all of your support at RAW! It was such a cool event and I encourage every one to ditch a couple of coffee drinks and drop $10 on a night on art, music, fashion, and photography. Plus this summer I will not only be a featured artist in a showing but will also be performing my original music. Go check out www.soundcloud.com/adamwmichaels for a little sneak peak