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Art Conventions

Philly Wizard World 2015: Entering the Marvel Talent Contest

Marvel Standard Talent Incentive Enrollment Form
by Sam Hice

I’m not going to lie, I procrastinate. Not on a very frequent level, mind you, but just enough to make me not type as many of these as I want to. I have a thousand and one different subjects in my head, and not nearly enough time to cover them all. So, I think I’m going to just start by covering one that my lovely Emma has wanted me to do, the Philadelphia Wizard World Comic Con art contest. As many of you who frequent the site probably know, the two of us stopped over in Philadelphia for a couple of days to enjoy the magic that is the Wizard World Comic Con. There were so many amazing things there, the food, the community, the artwork. I can go on forever.

But, speaking of artwork, yours truly is a bit of an amateur artist. I mainly work on pencil sketches, but I love to draw. I’ve loved drawing since I was in kindergarten. Crayons and markers are always fun, but I will always enjoy the precision of pencils and the permanency of pens. Moving on, the two of us scavenged through some of my artwork and put together a small portfolio for me to enter into the contest along with a Marvel Standard Talent Incentive Enrollment Form. Believe it or not, not a lot of people really entered this little showing. I didn’t win, because I can only imagine the pure skills everyone else had in front of me. But, to be honest, I didn’t mind.

by Sam Hice

I was told that I was in the top ten candidates, but that only a couple of people would have a personal interview with the talent agent who was looking through all of our paperwork. Now, on my end, I don’t really know exactly how many people signed up altogether. I was told that day it was between 50 and 60. So, ending up in the top ten kinda felt pretty good, considering. What that did for me was fuel my passion even more for drawing, sketching, and just plain doodling. Now I’m going to shamelessly add the artwork to this blog.

I’ve included some of the ones I submitted (above), along with some more recent drawings, and others I thought about putting in (below). If you think I should have added these pictures, taken some out, or quit art altogether, and gotten a normal job like flipping burgers for minimum wage, I am open to criticism.

by Sam Hice

In the meantime, I’m going to read an incredible art book from my local book store called DragonArt Collector’s Edition. This book is filled with incredible how-tos for sketching out and creating these incredible works of beauty. This book is worth every penny you spend, believe me. I recommend buying it. 

In the meantime, I’m going to go grab 3 cans of Red Bull and a nice piece of paper, and then crumble it up after 2 hours of work. Then, grab another piece of paper and break down into tears. Until, I grab a third piece of paper, and go fuck it, good enough. Because that’s how I roll.

You can check out more of Sam Hice’s work on Readymag.

Thanks to Wizard World for providing Sam Hice and me with a complimentary weekend press pass to the 2015 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con.

by Sam Hice
by Sam Hice