Comic Con as an Illustrator

While preparing it was very difficult to find useful information, like how much stock do artists usually take with them? What kind of prints are people interested in? Is it even worth it to participate in a convention as a nature illustrator?

I'll be sharing some of my numbers and insights so hopefully this information will be useful, because all I could find personally was people who made thousands in profit and had really cute/cartoony drawing styles.

Spoiler alert - I didn't make back the money I spent 🙈

So where did I go wrong?

Expensive inventory was my biggest mistake.

• Custom card sleeves for Magic: The Gathering. These were really expensive to make and I didn't sell any of them, which is a little surprising. I was expecting some fans of the game, but only 1 person I met there even played it at all.

Personally, I actually really like them, they're exactly something that I would like to hang on my wall, but it seems black and white prints are not popular at all 😄

• Not enough big prints. This was also very surprising, but a handful of people wanted bigger prints, up to A3 size. I had some illustrations only as postcards I realized I should have made each illustration available in different sizes.

Bestsellers

There were very clear two designs that sold best and were mostly asked as bigger prints:

• Riso prints. Generally making riso prints is much more expensive, but I really wanted to try making some, because I love how they look. In hindsight, I should have made just 1 design instead of 3 if I wanted to test it out.

Wood-burning

Probably the most unique items in my inventory were the wooden slabs and magnets I wood-burned by hand. I didn't sell a lot of them, but it was really nice to see people curious about them and asking how I made them 😄

Numbers

Everything is a rough estimate, because I didn't count everything exactly and please bear in mind that I paid for both me and my boyfriend, who was there to help. I also live in a small country so expenses and the amount of inventory you need may differ!

• Expenses - around 600€

• Income - around 300-400€

The amount of inventory I had and sold (I didn't keep perfect track so some numbers are approximate):

• A4 prints - had 30, sold 5

• A5 prints - had 120, sold 15-20

• Postcards - had 240, sold 35-40

• Sticker packs - had 25, sold 10

• Magnet packs - had 15, sold 5

• Wood slabs - had 10, sold 4

It was very difficult to decide how much stock you exactly need, so I hope these number are helpful. I'm actually glad I have leftover stuff because I can just take it to other markets now.

Final thoughts

So are conventions a good place for illustrators like me? My honest thought is actually no, not really. People come to the artist alley to find something they relate to and I think my art misses the spot here.

HOWEVER! This experience was very motivating and after experiencing so many positive and supportive people that stopped by it motivated me to finally open up an online store. I also really want to participate in other markets now too, because it was actually a very fun experience. I'll just need to find those that have more of my target audience.