I had made appearances at the Otakon Conventions in 2008 and 2009 but missed 2010. So I was really happy when they asked me to come back for their 2011 Convention in Baltimore, MD. If you haven’t been to the show you are missing an amazing time as it celebrates Anime, Manga and all things related to Asian pop culture. It truly is a sight to behold when thousands of people descend upon the Inner Harbor in some of the most lavish and detailed costumes you are likely to see at ANY show. As always, I had a great time, the people were wonderful and the convention was a big success.

It was tough for me coming off the San Diego Comic Con appearance the weekend before (photos and time lapse to come soon) as it didn’t leave enough time for my fingers to properly heal. By the beginning of Otakon Day Two they were bleeding (something that doesn’t normally happen until I am right at the end of a mural) and I fought through another 15+ hours rubbing them raw.

In the end, everything turned out better than I could have hoped. The artwork they had me recreating was from their program cover, an original illustration by Julia Lichty. You can find more of her Julia’s art at www.ghostfire.net. There was a wonderful response to the art, I got to see a lot of old friends, and hopefully introduced a bunch of new people to my work.

My wonderful girlfriend Mary was able to be my assistant at this show, and I don’t think I would have made it through without her by my side. She stayed long hours and was a real trooper, and I was very happy that I got to share some of Baltimore and the Harbor area with her for the brief free time that we had. Plus, she got to watch the showing of The Last Unicorn on Sunday so that made her very happy. She also did a wonderful job of offering my mural work to the author Peter S. Beagle, so who knows, maybe there is a Last Unicorn mural in my near future.

Enjoy the mural, and as always please let me know what you think in the comments below.