For the last few months, I’d been on a self-directed mentorship. I hunkered down and retrained myself to be more methodical and analytical of my work. So, when I decided to go to the San Diego Comic-Con, I had already finished one phase of personal improvement, and then I’d spent another 2 months adding a few new illustrations to my portfolio. All the new work was designed to give an impression to art directors a feel for my strengths, creativity, and style.
The San Diego Comic-Con is — for anyone who’s been there — a mega comic book fan affair. It was my first time going this year in 2026, and although I knew going into it that it was going to be a huge event packed with vendors, artists, fans, and celebrities, I still wasn’t prepared for the enormity of it. Hearing about it and seeing it online doesn’t begin to do it justice. I’d been to plenty of other smaller Cons in the past, so I knew there would be booths of all types, but I was still impressed by the talent and the companies that spared no expense to showcase their brands.
I took my portfolio to companies I thought whose brand I was interested in and that I could fit into. Overall, my portfolio was well received. Some gave out pointers, but mostly they wanted to see more industry-specific kind of work. Ravensburger was very happy to see my work. Marvel liked my work, but I could see they would’ve loved to see their characters in my portfolio. Most other comic companies wanted to see more comic pages.
It’s a funny thing about portfolios and the people to whom you show your work. They all want to see their brand in your portfolio. Or that’s been the case in my experience. I’d love to be able to give them a personally catered portfolio, but there’s only so much time in my day and life. More importantly, I create work that I want to do and like. The rest I leave to the will of the simulation gods in the hopes that the algorithm favors me that day.
As I’ve said before, my artwork is an expression of my desire to be my best self. Through it, I endeavor to challenge the limits of my intellect, creativity, discipline, and resilience. I can’t please everyone, and I honestly don’t expect to. I can only do my best, and if that’s not good enough, well, then I guess those are the cards god dealt me, and I just have to play my hand.
I came away with some good advice. Some of which I intend to act on. Most of it required a few tweaks, and I could call it done. Other advice is well-intended, but it’s their opinion. In both cases, I listened attentively, respectfully, and thanked them for their advice.
The nice thing about art making. Unlike many professions in which there is a gradual decline in performance, art is something that, as long as you can see, feel, hear, or speak… you can continuously improve. There is no end goal, only an ongoing road in front of you. One in which you will discover things about yourself and life.
ON A SIDE NOTE:
I’d like to say more about the Con, but unfortunately, I didn’t see much of it. I spent a lot of time networking and hustling for work. What I did see blew me away. It was so amazing that if I weren’t so focused, I would’ve spent the day drooling all over the creators and vendors there. If you can make it out at least once, it’s worth the trip. I’m pretty certain I’ll be going again.
