Bats Day 2014: Wrap Up

Composited Sketch for "Little Leota's Fortune Telling Kit for Beginners" made up of 5 separate layers.

So many things to report about this year's Bats Day since I didn't do my usual multi-post ramp up to the event as I did last year.  Overall it went well.  There weren't as many attendees this year, which I think was due in part to the Hotel.  The hotel they had been using in previous years raised their prices and the organizers had to find a new one.  Sadly this place wasn't as large and there was a dentist convention the same day so I think a lot of people had trouble parking.  BUT, the people who did brave all the dental congestion were awesome!  Got to see some friends, make some new ones, meet some followers and just have an all around great time.

The final painting, unframed and cropped to the size of the mat's bounding.

Friday night was surreal.  Last year, the night before the Black Market was spent frantically trying to finish my limited edition Bats Day hair clips before the morning.  We didn't get to enjoy any of the festivities or go to the Gallery999 preview night.  This year, everything was all made and ready to go by Friday evening so we got to go to the Nightmare Before Bats Day Dark Park thingy and the Gallery999 Preview.  More importantly (for me)  I got to finally dust off a dress I'd purchased for our company Christmas party and finally wear it!  (Pin Up Girl clothing is the best for girls with curves, and I pretty much bought over half of their halloween line last year.)  We dance a little bit and just observed people.  We also tried our first Monster Energy drink.  All I can say is DAMN PEOPLE!! How the hell do you drink that crap on a regular basis?!  It was disgusting and kind a looked like your mouth after you rinse it at the dentist office.  I'll stick with pepsi for my caffeine, thank you very much.  :P

The framed painting prior to dropping it off with the curator of the show.

Saturday started earlier than we had been hoping it would.  After the party Friday night, just as I was dozing off and planning table layout in my head, I realized I left my print rack at home.  So, Saturday Morning started at 6am with a quick jaunt back to Burbank to pick up the print rack.  We got back just in time to meet my ever diligent assistant and buddy Tashi and got the 'real' day started.

Carlos and Natasha are always the best assistants for these things!

We  had a fairly decent spot this year, only down side was it was right in front of the DJ booth.  I have horrible hearing to begin with so imagine me talking to potential customers with a DJ booth right behind my head.  The Disneyland Tourist stickers were a hit, which I was hoping for.  Sold a couple of the mini paintings and a few prints of the Godzilla and Mothra paintings.  I'm thinking that if I do it again next year I'm going to need to come up with a bunch of new stock, though, because most of the stuff was the same as the previous year.

Above you can see the designs and finished stickers that were made especially for this year's Bats Day Black Market.  They will be added to the Crypt of DOOM's inventory when the shop reopens June 1st.

Sunday, the actual Bats Day in the Fun Park was entertaining to say the least.  The whole day was one of those days where strange little things would go wacky.  We tried to get on Big Thunder and it broke down after we were 30 minutes into the 50 minute wait.  When we went back, we got on the ride this time, but it broke down with us on it just before we got to the end of the ride.  Plus side to that was that it was in the mine shaft so we weren't out in the sun AND we got to do the behind the scenes evacuation.  They did also give us a fast pass good for any ride so we totally went on Space Mountain with it!  We over ate all day because there were limited edition Bats Day treats and we went on a scavenger hunt to find them all and we never seemed to run into any of our other friends, but those are all minor little things.  It was a great day overall.  Great weekend.

Many of the special "Bat Day" treats they had around the park for the occasion.  Wanted to try the Red Velvet cake but settled for a cookie and cupcake.

Next up on the Docket is the reopening of the Crypt of DOOM!! for the summer.  The Crypt will only be open as long as I'm on Hiatus from my day job.  Once I go back to work, the Crypt will close up so I can focus on that and try to not stretch myself too thin.