CharCon re-cap

Back from CharCon, the gaming convention in Charleston WV and what I now refer to as the Best Little Gaming Con in America! This con is ran extremely well and is ran by some of the best folks out there. These guys know what they're doing!

They asked me to attend last year but I was already booked so they gave me a rain check. I'm kinda glad because I got to spend some time with their other artist guest, the legendary Larry Elmore. Larry and I met down at Con Nooga back in the spring and realized we were both from rural KY and even though artistically we are different our similar backgrounds gave us a lot to talk about. Larry should be considered a national treasure.

We were asked to participate in the Wits & Wagers game. They teamed us up with horror author Edward A. Holsclaw II.

We were off to a rocky start but in the end we decimated our rivals!

The winners with the man that rules CharCon with an iron fist, Travis Reynolds.

Larry and I were also asked to judge the costume contest and miniatures painting contests. My first time judging these types of competitions and it was tough!

The winners received gaming mats that were customized by Larry and myself.

Best in show award was one sketched on by both of us. One hell of an honor to share space with Larry! I drew the zombie BTW...

The winning entry with the award.

We met some wonderful people at CharCon and got to hang out with some old friends. And it was a pretty lucrative trip. We won a copy of Wits & Wagers of course. And then Heather and I got some raffle tickets and tried for some other prizes, 5 to be exact. To our surprise we won three of those! A Zombies!! and Smallworld games and a Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars hardcover book. It was a good weekend...until the flat tire!

Here's to you, Tire God!

Thanks to everyone at CharCon for their spectacular hospitality! Can't wait until next time...

CharCon...here we come!

Just a little plug. We'll be packin' up and headed to the gaming con CharCon in Charleston WV this weekend. We'll be in good company because Larry Elmore is scheduled to be there. Come to see me, come to see Larry, come to play games...Whatever! Just be there, ya goobers!

WHEW!

Gotta take a minute to catch my breath! We're in the midst of the Halloween rush with one more "away game" to go and the rest of our shows are here in our backyard. That seems nice but I really do enjoy traveling. And I love driving. Heather doesn't...Anyway...

Last weekend we drove up to ZombieConX in Milwaukee WI. Our first time in that area. The people were so nice we thought we had made a wrong turn and ended up in Tennessee! Except for the fact that the accents were a little different. And it was colder than a witch's tit. And there was cheese everywhere. Other than that it was just like being in the South!

This first year event held some firsts for me as well. This was the first time I/we had:

...shared Southern accent stories with Edwin Neal.

...Sid Haig eye-hump my art.

...Scout Taylor Compton mutilate one of my shirts.

...Scott Reiniger call me a talented bastard.

...drinks with Joe Pilato, Gary Klar, Jonathan Breck. That was an interesting conversation!

...made some new friends such as Chris from Hop Comics, T. Glenn Bane & Theresa Bane and all the great staff at the event!

This past weekend we headed down to Nashville for the Comics & Horror Fest. Not sure where to start with this one! This one was chock full of weird-os, freaks and ne'er-do-wells! And they're all folks we call friends, both old and new!

I'm just going to run down this list: Daniel & Ami Taylor, Jim O'Rear, Ben & Stacey Dixon, Bobby Nash, Sean Taylor, Samantha Newark, Traci & Ben Eller, Mark Swafford & Renee Mack, Jason Crowe & Roni Jonah, Scott Blair, UrbnPop, Sam Flagel, Mark Kidwell, Jeff Preston, Jeff Gaither, Mike Christopher, Cypography, Garret Blair, Robert Freese and Joel Robinson. The highlight had to be meeting Richard Harrison Green. An animator for Disney he worked on The Rescuers and Beauty and the Beast. A wonderful guy! We bought the Creature sketch from him. Can't wait to get it framed and hang it up!

It was Ami Taylor's birthday so after a raucous dinner we headed out to celebrate. Scott Blair graciously allowed us in his home...and he will never be the same again!

A great show with some great folks. Thanks to Marc Ballard for the hospitality!

Some new self-promotion

Greetings,
I'm just finishing up my trip preparations for ZombieConX in Milwaukee where I'll be Artist Guest of Honor. This will be our first time in that neck of the woods and we're really looking forward to it.

Anyway, before we headed out I just wanted to do a little self promoting. First a couple of online interviews. Vault of Horror did a little piece as part of their new Visceral Visionaries series. If you're not familiar with VoH it is a Rondo nominated blog about...well, horror.

Next, head over to Zombie Info. I met the headless honcho Kevin at GenCon. Great guy and a great blog with a lot of info on...well, zombies.

Lastly but not leastly Zombies and Toys. I finally got to meet Jason at Horror Realm. Another great guy with a high quality site about...well, zombies & toys! (I don't know how these guys come up with these names!)

And now....The video interview! A while back I did a show at Southgate House in Newport KY. It just so happened that J. Gray and his band of merry minions were filming a documentary on said house. Now for the back story: It was 90 degrees that day, the gallery was on the 3rd floor and not many 200 year old houses have elevators, it took me 5 or 6 trips carrying all my merchandise and paintings up the hundreds and hundreds of steps, I was jacked up on coffee, exhausted and, since this was my first video interview, pretty damned nervous! That explains why I fidget a lot in the beginning...and middle...uh, and end...heh.

ZombieConX Milwaukee costume contest

Back from Dark Carnival Film Fest in Bloomington IN. Even thought the show was small it was big on quality. The hospitality was top-notch. The movie lovers and movie makers alike were some of the best. Got to hang out with our booth neighbors George Bonilla and his wife Tammy, an interesting chat with Michael Berryman and had to contend with Tiffany Shepis' kleptomaniacal tendencies ;-)

Up next: ZOMBIEConX in Milwaukee WI!! Guests include Dee Wallace, Sid Haig, Ari Lehman and myself. You won't want to miss it! This will be our very first trip to the state and we are really looking forward to it.

I'll be holding my God Guns & BRAAINSSS!! costume contest there as well. All you gotta do is dress up as Fannie the Flesheater, Zombie Sam or Sgt. Rot. You can win an original drawing of you as a zombie!! It's perfect! ZombieConX...zombie costume contest...zombie portrait...It's like we planned it or something!!

Anyway, just go to http://contest.billytackett.com for details.

See you this weekend.

Dark Carnival & new stuff

Just a little update on what's going on. I'm headed to Dark Carnival Film Festival this weekend in Bloomington IN. Guests include Michael Berryman, John Dugan, Tiffany Shepis & Goerge Bonilla of ZP International...I think it's going to be an interesting weekend. You really shouldn't miss it!

Since we're going to Dark Carnival we won't be at Mid-Ohio con but we'll be there in spirit...and merchandise! The folks at World Of Strange will be there with some exclusive t-shirt designs and a couple of old favorites. I think they will have a special surprise...Cannibal Claus Christmas ornaments!! Stop by, say hi and buy some shit.

I will have a section in the upcomingnon-fiction book Vampire Hunters and Other Enemies of Evil by Jonathan Maberry that consists of an interview and some art. I had the opportunity to chat with Jonathan at Horror Realm in Pittsburgh a few weeks back. The man's got some great stuff coming out that includes Marvel Zombies Return! Ha!

In other interview news a new one was just posted at The Vault of Horror. This is an award winning horror blog and I have the distinction on being the first interview in their new series on artists in the horror field.

Something else in the mix is an art exhibit and sale being sponsored by Billy Tackett Studios and being held at Leapin' Lizard Gallery in Covington KY on Dec 5. We're looking for artists to participate so go to the site and check it out. I'll be posting more next week. New art on the way. Just swamped and a little unfocused lately. It seems as though I'm doing so much but nothing's getting completed. Ugh!

Until next time...