Water, Wind & Spent...

This past Friday night on the cold night in downtown Toronto, it was a warm and amazing experience with friends, family and everyone in the artist community who came out to support the Spent Pencils organized fundraiser Water & Wind for the Philippines relief funds. What you missed if you didn't get a chance to go was amazing auctioned art from many of SP family and other big names in the artist community, as well as amazing food and drinks, and an awesome after party as well. Granted I may have woken up a little heavy headed and with a lighter wallet, but it was totally worth it. And seeing everyone come together and bring some amazing work for charity is an awesome experience, a big thank you to all the artist who took the time and made some amazing art for charity. A lot of these are posted online, so be sure to check them out and I will be posting links to the pages of all the artist who took place in the show as well. If you see anything you like, be sure to contact your favorite artist and let them know. 

Here a few pictures from the evening as well, if you want to see more be sure to check out the Spent Pencils Facebook page, right here, a lot of our event pictures will be posted here, so be sure to check back often and share your Spent memories as well.

The years end is just around the corner but SP is not slowing down, with Ottawa Pop Expo next weekend and the Sketches for Pledges auction coming up, we still got plenty to do before we put this year to rest. And you can count on us to keep the momentum rolling into 2014, not slowing down anytime soon. Before I sign off, a big thanks to Kevin Briones for making this event happen in the first place, an amazing job for a great cause. You did an amazing job Cap'n Go! Also a big thank you to Celena "Pepper Pots" Ho for being amazing as always with helping us set up! And remember to check out all these amazing artist who took the time to donate and help out, they deserve the attention... 

• Mike Del Mundo
• Francis Manapul
• Pearce Cacalda
• Maddsketch 
• Vince Sunico 
• Paul Limgenco 
• Marvin Mariano 
• Kevin Briones 
• Gerard De La Costa 
• Oliver Castaneda 
• Arnold Trinidad
• Heroes of the World 

This just in as well...

"We would like to extend our gratitude for the artists who contributed their talent, time and effort to Wind & Water: Artist Fundraiser for Haiyan Relief on Friday.

Our combined efforts allowed us to exceed our $3500 fundraising goal including the government match!"

Amazing, thank you to everyone who gave a little to make a bigger difference. Keep tuned here on Storm Watch for more Spent Pencils and ChileanStorm related posts and what not. Keep chasing the storm!

The Storm at the Expo...

A whole year has passed. It's crazy but when I wanted to start plugging this blog more and more, it was this time last year, after paying for my Fan Expo table and trying to imagine, me at the biggest show of the year here in Toronto, Canada, simply trying to make a name for myself. I couldn't even imagine it at all, I was scared and nervous, but I was also too hyped and giddy to let that show. And honestly, it's crazy to think back and realize that it just came and went, and I honestly couldn't be happier. But really I think back as well and I can't wait for next year as well, I can't wait for the next shows and all the different events that are coming up in the near future. So how exactly did my weekend go? With four days and three nights to cover, I will do my best to keep this as short as possible, but I can't make any promises, so grab a coffee...this may take awhile.

Day 1:

Set up day, man I was so happy to be there. Artist Alley, you know the guy who was jumping up and down, doing the Daniel Bryan "Yes Yes Yes" chant...yeah, that was me. I was so happy though, I couldn't believe it, me at Fan Expo. And seeing all my fellow Spent Pencils members, not to mention the new additions to the crew, the talented comic book artists and writer friends as well, not to mention everyone who was setting up, it was hard not to be excited. When the show started I decided to do a free warm up sketch, got to get working as soon as possible. It's a good way to get to meet new people as well, and I really do want to interact with as many people at these shows as possible. And before the night was up, I got my first commission of the show as well. 

After the show we decided to go out for dinner, which you know we did every single night, crazy but true. Afterwards a few us shared a few rounds of rum and drinks, which apparently I can't hold too well. Thanks Tea and Carly for letting me crash in the room.

Day 2:

Like any good day, I started this one by crashing to the ground. That will wake you up. Anyways, I had quite a few errands to run all over town, so I didn't get to the show until later in the afternoon. However, I did get to go and pick up the prints that I had ordered from Guerrilla Printing, and a big thanks to those guys on the amazing work as well. So as soon as I got to the show I set up all my prints in the my book and had them ready for everyone to take a look. I did pretty well during the day as well, sold a few of the Pokemon prints and got more commission homework to take home and work on.

But I didn't go home, after the show we went to get some dinner and afterwards it was on towards the Revival club for the Rue Morgue after show party with The Birthday Massacre! Man that show was awesome, I started watching the show at the back enjoying a few drinks, by the end of the night I was right at the very front. An amazing show, love the energy and the feedback with the crowd. I would love to go see them again and you should too, check out there work at this link, here: The Birthday Massacre.

Day 3:

Not much sleep was had, I was up and early to get ready for the biggest day of the weekend. I had to add some finishing touches to one of my commissions, an Adventure Time sketch cover with Marceline beating the crap out of Lemongrab. I loved how it turned out and it was a blast to work on as well, check it out as well and see what you think. After finishing one it's onto the next project, all the while selling a lot of my Pokemon prints and helping out to sell a lot of cap'n Sunico's prints, and any chance I get to help out anyone in my Spent family, I will do so! A lot of friends, old and new came by the table as well and it was great to feel all the love from everyone who has been with me along the way, thank you so much guys! And also a few of the band members from The Birthday Massacre came by our table, which was amazing! I had to hook them up with a few prints, totally blown away on how totally cool they were! Seriously, check these guys out!

The night we went out to Denny's for our traditional Spent Pencil eating joint, with a few of the new members as well! I was starving, I had three orders of food including a couple of pancakes, a burger and a wrap. Let me tell you, no sleep is better then deep sleep. Needless to say I passed out as soon as I got to cap'n Go's place, still ready for one more day.

Day 4: 

At last, the final day of the show, really bitter sweet kind of feeling for sure. I mean it's great to get back to a normal sleep pattern, but I had a blast all four of these days and could keep going on and on. But all things must come to an end at some point. I had all my commissions finished and picked up on this day and surprisingly as well I was able to sell a few of my blank covers that I've done, including a last minute purchase as well, which is always an awesome feeling.  But it was great show and a great experience, I had a blast spending my weekend with the people I care most about in this world, there's nothing I wouldn't do for anyone from the Spent Pencils family. 

And of course any day wouldn't be complete without Denny's.

But I just wanted to say a really big, huge thank you to everyone who came by the Spent Pencils table, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and all the support we get along the way, so thank you for the support and be sure to spread the word, tell friends and family and everyone you can, so we can make this Spent world bigger and bigger. And how it has grown, I am looking forward to meeting and working with all of the new pencils that have been added to the family, welcome guys to the crew and if there's anything I can do for any of you guys and girls, let me know. 

It's a brave and exciting world, and you know what...I can't wait for what comes next. Are you ready? 

Some YouTube Storm Vlog as well...

Do Busy Bees Fly...

Okay, so it's a little crazy how much you can do in just a few days.

I wanted to posted something from all the past days that have past by since my last post, but I am going to have to sum things up a little. You get busy living or you get busy dying as they say. And let me just say to everyone, take every chance life gives you. I know it's a simple philosophy but make the most of your time and have as much fun as you can.

Last Saturday:

A big thanks to everyone who came out and to Gauntlet Comics for having us at the store. If you missed Artist Day, we will back in the summer, so bring your sketch covers and your ideas and we will do it up for you. A lot of drawing was done by all of us at Spent Pencils and it was a full house of talent from the entire crew. I myself got to work on two different covers, a Thor cover with the current villain, the Godkiller. A great story so far by the way, so if you're looking for a great fantasy based comic, check out Marvel Now's Thor, an awesome read. I also did an Avengers cover, with goat Avengers. Yup, goat Avengers. I got to say it was a lot of fun to work on that cover, I may have to do one as well later on. So stayed tuned if you want your own goat sketch cover.

I also sold a few original sketches and my very first sketch cover from Uncanny Avengers. Again, thank you to all the amazing staff at Gauntlet Comics and all the fans who came out to enjoy in the art celebration. I can't wait to come back, a lot of love from Orangeville.

And of course, what kind of Spent Pencils get together wouldn't be complete without a trip to Denny's.

Last Sunday: Wrestlemania baby!

Now I don't know about you, but I had a blast watching this years Wrestlemania. And yes, you could be nit picky about some matches and outcomes, but on my end of the woods, I had a blast watching and enjoying the show with friends. A whole lot of snacks and food made sure we didn't go hungry during the show, and more then enough drinks to boot.

As I predicted earlier, the match of the night was without a doubt the Undertaker and CM Punk. But they also had the best entrances this year, with my vote to CM Punk for entrance of the night, with Living Colour playing him in. Another quick note, I felt that both main event sequels redeemed themselves from their first match ups. An awesome good time, I can't wait for next year.

Last Night:

It's not everyday that you get the opportunity to go see one of the greatest rock acts today out of the blue. But that's exactly what happened last night when I got the chance to go see Muse with three friends, with a big thanks to my big SP brother, I can't thank you enough.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this show, I've heard plenty of different tunes from them but I didn't know how they would play live. Man, these guys were amazing! My one and only complaint was that I wanted the show to be longer. I never thought I would get the chance to see Muse play live, but when they come back to Toronto, I definitely want to go back and see them. And I highly suggest you go see them as well.

Well that's pretty much sums up everything so far, not to mention going to work, catching up with friends and working late on my projects with the SP family. Needless to say it's been pretty hard to find the time to sit down and blog, but when I can I will. So take note and get moving, we got to make the most of the time we have here and now. Get living.

Dave can't believe it's past 2 AM and everyone is still up. :P