I'm continuing on with my convention tips.
Your Artist Alley Table:
It has been my experience that if you can get a corner table it would be in your best interest. Corner tables usually give you a little bit more room to maneuver and you'll receive better traffic from con-goers since your not squeezed between several other artist. Another good tip is if you can get a table near a entrance, exit or even near the bathrooms then you could possible receive alot more traffic. Reason being is because people will be constantly walking back and forth from these points.
Your table set up is very important. You'll want to make everything organized and easy to read/see. I learned this the hard way. Con-goers are usually in a rush trying to look over the whole convention so you want to make sure your table is easily viewable as they are walking by so you'll have a better chance of them stopping to take a look at your art. Metal Wire Crates and Pvc pipes are great for displaying your work. I mention this because for what ever reason people tend to want to view things at their eye level. They are less likely going to want to bend down to view all your art work. If you have art work at their eye level by placing some art on the pvc pipe display or on the metal wire crates as well as placed neatly on your table you'll have a better chance at making a sale or having them view your art. Be sure to take a look at other peoples tables and get ideas as to how to set up your table next time. Take notes and photos.
Another good point is if your stuck in 1 genre of art then you should try to break out of that. Conventions these days are not all male orientated as they may have been back in the day. You now have children and women who love to attend conventions too. Its a good idea to cater to many audiences if you can. This will give you a better chance at making a sale. Anyone that knows of my art work knows that I draw alot of females (and I mean alot). Its pretty obvious that my target audience is males 20-50 years old. This doesn't mean that this is the only thing that I can draw. I also draw chibis, anime characters, realistic art, portraits, caricatures, comic heroes, sketch cards, pinups, narrative art, original characters, etc. I try to have something for everyone at my table. At Baltimore Comic Con I had a young girl purchase a Chibi Sailor Moon drawing from me. So that goes to show you that children have cash to spend too; given from their parents.
Ummm... I think thats all I got for now. For next time I guess I will discuss convention etiquette, critiques, pricing, commissions, etc.
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