Anime Los Angeles 2

Artist Concourse

The Artist's Concourse will be larger this year, with room for more artists. This year we're restricting what you can sell -- it has to be stuff that you've done by hand, or finished by hand. So hand-colored prints, or hand-painted t-shirts, are okay, but regular prints or screen-printed t-shirts are not. We want you to show off your one-of-a-kind art, and take commissions to make more of it. (And if you're ready to graduate to a table in the dealers room, we want you to make room for another just-starting-out artist.) Send us an e-mail to find out how to sign up.

Here are the Runner Ups in the Mascot contest

The decision was very hard to make; we had some strong entries that we really liked. Here's a look at what were choosing from.

First runner-up: "Ryan" by Christina Patterson. A slightly obsessive Final Fantasy fan, crossplays on occasion, sometimes gets a little confused (like trying to throw fireballs at a water elemental). We liked this one enough that we've used it on our official "Your membership has been confirmed" postcards.

Second runner-up: "Yuki" by Elena Montalto. Note the purple bear hat, his signature item. This character was used on our promotional postcard that went out in December to a number of shops, people who've asked for packets of flyers, and to every member from last year that we had an address for.

Third runner-up: "Squirrell" by Christina Patterson. The squirrelly girl shows up in some of Miss Patterson's comics, and we asked her to submit it as another mascot entry.

Honorable mention: "Luna" by Kim Jennifer. An elf with long pink hair.

Honorable mention: "Alanna" by Andy Pak. Girl with a parka, short skirt, and woolly boots -- dressed for the schizoid weather we get in sunny Southern California in January. Note the palm tree on her head.

Honorable mention: "La Japonesa" drawn by Cat Sze, suggested by Robert R. Barba -- an actual Los Angeles spirit, a Japanese catgirl ghost. Said to have been brought over by Spanish sailors who visited Japan during the late Tokugawa period, a nekomusume is said to live in the town of El Monte, a suburb of Los Angeles. Though most of the sightings occur in El Monte, she has been seen in other L.A. area towns as well, with the most recent sighting being in San Gabriel in 1999.

Honorable mention: unnamed bear, by Christina Patterson. Seen in the corner of another of Miss Patterson's drawings. The chair has asked if he can adopt this bear as a personal mascot...

View the forums for this Department.