EVENT: Chromacon 2017

Chromacon, the indie arts festival returns this weekend! Taking place at the Aotea Centre in the heart of the Auckland CBD, Chromacon celebrates the coming together of creativity, artistic excellence and community. Freely open to the wider public, Chromacon connects all New Zealanders with the best homegrown illustrators, comic artists, designers, animators, game developers and more.

At Chromacon, you will find original artwork and creative projects from independent creators of different media, styles, and genres. You will also be able to purchase self-published work or even one-off originals directly from the creatives themselves. The intimate nature of the event offers you the chance to meet and connect with creatives you may already admire or others creating new and exciting work that you weren't aware of. Furthermore, the event will be hosting live events, drawing/painting demos, and artist talks/panels on a variety of subjects throughout the weekend.

Chroma Connect will be returning in the form of industry sessions running in parallel with the main festival - featuring top local and international speakers. International guests include: OJIRO FUMOTO aka 'MOPPIN' [JP]  - Creator of the award-winning indie hit game Downwell, JOHN MUELLER [US] - Art Director at Blizzard Entertainment, creator of OINK - Heaven's Butcher and founder of Skyshine Games, creators of BEDLAM, KEI ACEDERA [CA] - Award-winning artist specialising in concept art, visual development, and character design for film, Art Director at Imaginism Studios, BOBBY CHIU [CA] - Award-winning artist, Founder and Creative Director of Imaginism Studios, Schoolism and host of the CHIUSTREAM, and DAVID FOLLETT [AU] - Prolific character designer, comic creator and illustrator. Creator of Uncle Silas published by Dark Horse Comics. 

On the local front, cartoonist Toby Morris - best known for his regular non-fiction comic, The Pencilsword (serialised on ‘The Wireless NZ’) - will be discussing his creative journey from developing his craft to quitting the day job and pursuing an independent artistic career full-time. Toby will give his personal insights into his life as an father, illustrator, cartoonist, comic artist and using comics as a medium for accessible journalism, social advocacy and raising awareness of important social issues. His talk will be hosted by Hicksville author, Dylan Horrocks.

NZ animation studio Mukpuddy will also be giving an in-depth retrospective of their animated series, The Barefoot Bandits, from development process/pipeline and 'script to screen', to designing memorable characters and bringing this ambitious passion project to life.

For tickets and information on the Chroma Connect talks, visit the Chromacon website HERE.

Anyone with an interest in art, in particular storytelling in visual and interactive mediums, is invited to this weekend celebration of Kiwi creativity. Whether you’re a fledgling artist yourself, or simply curious about the amazing original work created by independent creators right here in New Zealand, this event is for you! There is over 100 local creatives attending - check out the full line up HERE, so make sure you clear your weekend schedule and bring some cash to pick up some one-of-a-kind artwork!

Chromacon is open April 8th - 9th at the Aotea Centre, from 10am - 5pm daily. For more information and updates, visit the Chromacon event page on Facebook HERE, and the official website HERE.

- AK!

The Coming of Chromacon 2015!

After a year on hiatus, Chromacon is back for 2015! Held this weekend at the Auckland Aotea Centre, Chromacon is an indie arts festival that celebrates the coming together of local creativity, innovation, artistic excellence and community.

This FREE event connects New Zealanders with the best homegrown illustrators, comic artists, designers, animators, videogame developers and more. At Chromacon, you will find original artwork and creative projects from a range of media, styles, and genres.

You will also be able to purchase self-published work such as prints, art books, comics or even original artwork directly from the creatives themselves.This event was conceived by Auckland artist/illustrator Allan Xia, who felt there was a lack of accessible local events for artists/illustrators to showcase and sell their work at outside of exclusive design/advertising events like Semi-Permanent, which aren't always affordable for emerging new artists or the general public. 

The first event in 2013 was a great success, and Xia has taken the extra development time to really fine-tune and expand the event, starting with this Friday's Chroma Connect –  a creative summit focused on professional development, and the sharing of ideas to promote networking amongst local creatives.

Attendees will have the opportunity to attend master-classes, panel discussions, case studies and networking opportunities. Key areas to be examined include: established and emerging traditional/digital creative practices, transmedia strategies and business models. Chroma Connect enables participants to explore past insights, analyse present challenges, and identify future opportunities.

Chroma Connect will feature four internationally renowned creatives, exclusively attending this week's events:

J.A.W. Cooper (USA): Illustrator

J.A.W. Cooper was born in England and grew up in Africa, Sweden, Ireland and various other locations throughout Europe and California. J.A.W. Cooper currently lives and works as a freelance illustrator, gallery and sketch artist in Los Angeles, California.

Jacky Ke Jiang (USA): Animator

An experienced animator who has worked for Disney Studios and the Cartoon Network on award-winning movies and cartoons like Frozen, Wreck it Ralph, Paperman, and Adventure Time.

Benjamin (China): Illustrator and cartoonist

Benjamin is a prolific Chinese Manhua (Chinese Comics) Artist and illustrator whose work has been published in many different countries and languages.

Wenna (China): Illustrator

Wenna specializes in large-scale mural arts, illustration, ceramics and sculpture. Her diverse living mural projects can be found across major cities of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanchang, Jingdezhen, Leshan etc.) as well as Taiwan, Europe and many other nations and cultures.

All four guests will be giving talks during the event, as well as talks from local art and animation guests: including Mukpuddy animation, and Weta concept artist Paul Tobin. There will also be panel discussions on New Zealand Indie Games and of coarse, New Zealand Comics.

The New Zealand Comics Panel will be an informal discussion with four great local cartoonists including: Jonathan King, Li Chen, Gregor Czaykowski (aka Loading Artist) and Jem Yoshioka. 

Above: An illustration by Jem Yoshioka. cc-by-sa Jem Yoshioka Creative Commons NZ 3.0 license, 2015.

Jem Yoshioka is an illustrator and cartoonist from Wellington. Her work is influenced by the city and her Japanese heritage, and she uses visual narrative to explore themes of human nature and culture. She works both digitally and traditionally. And at the last Chromacon's in 2013 she won the Comic Award for her story Sunshine. Other comics include Concrete.

Above: An illustration from Loading Artist by Gregor Czaykowski. Copyright Gregor Czaykowski 2015.

Gregor Czaykowski is the cartoonist behind the very successful webcomic Loading Artist, which thanks to his Patron supporters he is now able to work on it full-time.

Above: An illustration from Extra Ordinary by Li Chen. Copyright Li Chen 2015.

Li Chen is of the cartoonist behind the webcomic, Extra Ordinary, which has had a series of highly successful Kickstarter campaigns which have allowed her to publish 3 collected editions and work on the webcomic full-time.

Above: An illustration from Threat Level by Jonathan King. Copyright Jonathan King 2015.

Jonathan King has contributed to Faction Comics, including the upcoming Climate Change special High Water, and is also the film director of the films Black Sheep, Under The Mountain and Realiti.

They'll be talking about their work, art process and upcoming projects.

There will be over 40 local comic creators exhibiting at this weekend's main event, including: Ant Sang, Aimee Cairns, Amy Her-Lee, Anthony Pini, Ben Stenbeck, Benjamin Gary Richards, Braden Gordon, Brendan Boughen, Chris Slane, Cory Mathis, David Ogilvie, Dylan Horrocks, Li Chen, James Davidson, Jason Upchurch, Jem Yoshioka, Jeremy Hanna, Jonathan King, Joshua Drummond, Kayla Oliver, Kirsti Hogan, Ralphi, Linhan Ye, Loading Artist, Marc Streeter, Michel Mulipola, Nick Fedaeff, Orion Mabelle, Pablo Espinosa, Rachel Smythe, Sam Orchard, Simon Fletcher, Sloane Kim, Stacey Robson, Stuart Hallam, Stuart Thomas, Tim Gibson,Toby Morris, Zak Waipara, as well as small press publishers and collectives: Earth’s End Publishing, Pikitia Press, Funtime Comics, and Square Planet.

And that doesn't even include  the animators, illustrators, sculpture and craft creators, concept artists, videogame creators and so many more attending the event. So if you're looking for a short of creativity this weekend, or to stock up on some great local comics before winter sets in, Chromacon is the place to be this weekend - and it is FREE to attend!

I also had Allan Xia join me on the National Radio Nights show to talk about the upcoming event. If you missed it last week you can listen to the full interview HERE.

For more information, on Chromacon and Chroma Connect, visit the event website HERE.

- AK!