Ok yes the title is a bit ... tantalizing isn't it? I'm sorry, to my own disappointment, I'm not really talking about women showing off their assets. Yes I will not lie that there were women who were wearing costumes that did just that, but overall that was a minority. What I'm really talking about here is that the male female ratio had dramatically changed since the first time I went to Otakon in 1998. I was a teenager still in high school back then and the only thing I knew about anime was Dragonball and that Street Fighter 2 came from the same country. Back then it was considered a good number of females attended the con. I think from my memory it was a 70/30 male to female ratio back then. Also I remember seeing more stereotypical otaku guys... you know the fat smelly kind with large thick glasses. This year the male to female ratio to me was closer to 40/60. It's like almost a complete reversal!
I have not been to Otakon for about 3 years, but I decided to venture to it again because some of my good friends decided to get an artist alley table and I really wanted to see them again. I've been behind an artist table many times before, but it was more following around artist friends than actually pursuing to show off my own work or talking to people admiring it. This year was a complete different experience behind the table. I actually took commissions! I never really done that before, which I only now regret. It's fun if you can get the right kind of client who will let you run a bit free and wild. I know that I am late to this concept. My artist friends from my past, who are all highly successful, will laugh at me now.
I wasnt expecting to enjoy a convention ever again (hence why I havent gone to one for a few years) but now I am really excited to go to my next one. I want to have more art to show and hopefully can get to meet new and aspiring artists. It's something I notice about myself. Meeting new artists who have great potential makes me remember all my dreams and aspirations when I was their age. It makes me all hyped up to work on my personal projects again. I also enjoy giving them advice when I can especially when they think I am a person who can give good advice (alas if only they knew most of my advice stems from the lessons I learned from huge mistakes I've made in my life). That also is something new to me. I always give advice to friends but never to strangers face to face. It's really exhilirating, but can sometimes be annoying too especially if they go off in a tangent. I need to admit though my social skills need a lot of polishing up especially compared to my friends at my table.
Overall I had a great time at Otakon 2008 even though I barely went anywhere but the artist alley. I hopefully can make it to Katsucon 2009 and have tons more artwork to sell.
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