Muskrat Ramblings
The LUCCA Comics and Game Convention
posted by JOHN

To all my friends in Italy,

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will not be able to make it to the Lucca Comics and Games convention this year.

It is with great sadness that I say this – Lucca is one of the most fun, vibrant, amazing conventions in the world. There is no better convention anywhere. I have even started learning Italian in preparation for the convention this year.

The good news is, you will not be subjected to my very rudimentary Italian just yet. I promise I will redouble my efforts so that when I *do* come back – as soon as I can – I will be able to speak your beautiful language much better than I do now. (NOTE: It will still probably not be very good, but at least it will be better than I do now).

Lucca is a wonderful convention, run by amazing people. I have made many friends there, and I will miss everyone. The laughter, the excitement and the spectacle of Lucca make the show one of my favorites in the world, and I promise that I will return as soon as I can.

I love everything about Lucca, and over the weekend of the convention, I will raise a glass of good Tuscan wine to you all!

Missing you all,

====== John

If you’re at Lucca this week, in Italy…here’s my signing schedule. The “Area Performance” is live painting (where I’ll be coming up with something for the charity auction – more Boobies, perhaps?) I’m not sure what I’ll be yakking about, yet, for the Sunday talk, but I’m sure it’ll be, um, riveting:

Thursday.

11.00-12.00: Autographs and Sketches (A211 Raven)

13.00-15.00: Area Performance (A709)

16.00 -17.00: Autographs and Sketches (A204 Nexus)

Friday.

11.00-12.00: Autographs and Sketches (A204 Nexus)

13.00-15.00: Area Performance (A709

16.00-17.00: Autographs and Sketches (A211 Raven)

Saturday.

11.00-12.00: Autographs and Sketches (A204 Nexus)

12.30 -13.15: Talk in Sala Incontri (SI1)

15.00-16.00: Autographs and Sketches (A211 Raven)

Sunday.

11.30 -13.00: Autographs and Sketches (A204 Nexus)

14.30-15.30: Autographs and Sketches (A211 Raven)

16:00 – Charity auction

Click here if you wanna see that in Italian

John

Here are some of the panels I’ll be on at MisCon. Unfortunately, I won’t be at the con on Monday, but Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be chock-full of Muskratty goodness:

Blending and Shading
Proper blending and shading is essential part of making your art look realistic. Panelists will discuss various media.

Cartooning as Art
How is cartooning an art form? Going from line art to a digital file, to publishing it online, how does it differ from traditional artwork. Tell the process and details that go into cartooning.

Game Art
John’s worked with Munchkin and other games ~ He’ll us about it. Talk about designing, developing and having fun creating artwork for games!

Artist’s Workshop
John’ll be critiquing artwork submitted by attendees, answering questions about art and his profession.

Web Comics: The How & Why
John Kovalic and fellow web-comic artist Alina Pete will discuss how they started their web-comics, why they decided to do it and why they continue to do so.

What Were You Thinking
We’re asking all our Guests of Honor to answer questions about their work. We have attendees who will be bringing specific items and questions and presenting them to the guests.

Comic Books vs. Comic Strips
John Kovalic and fellow artists will discuss the major differences between published comic books and online/printed comic strips.

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I’m feeling utterly overcommitted. I fear MisCon may be my last convention for quite a while…

No Origins, GenCon, CONvergence or Comicon. Need to take the summer off. As I just tweeted, I need to stay home and play with my baby girl, this summer. As it is, I barely see her for an hour after I come home from work, before her bedtime – and that’s not nearly enough. I need the weekends with her, too. Much travel these last two months have really hammered home how much I miss her when I’m away.

As far as Lucca and Warpcon go, I very much hope Louisa and Judith can come along to those…

John