After a month, I ask myself "Would I do Wondercon again?"

Andy Winegarner, Mike Jacobs and me, the Three Musketeers!

I can't believe it has been about a month since Wondercon! I had been to a couple of comic cons, but never had the seller's perspective of watching the sea of people go by for three days. Before I sold my art at Wondercon, I had a hard time summarizing what “Panda and Me” was about. By the 3rd day, I had my pitch down:

“Panda and Me is about a Panda spy who travels around the world and all the beautiful women that keep him in line. It's a mashup of Mad Men, Austin Powers and Hello Kitty.”

It was so nice experiencing all of this for the first time with my college friend Andy. Our friend Mike walked around the entire convention spreading the word about our booth!

The Hello Kitty Wonder Woman print got everybody's attention. Panda prints and original paintings.

Some thoughts about the selling process and whether I want to do this again:

1. Have a showstopper piece, especially if your characters are unknown: My Hello Kitty Wonder Woman print drew people to my booth and sold out. A lot of moms on Saturday pointed out this print to their kids. Teenage girls and young adults too were drawn to this. My Melody and Kuromi cosplaying as Thor and Loki were big attractions too. I got the sense that women were reconnecting to their childhood when they saw my Hello Kitty print.

2. If your characters are unknown, see what current trends you can adapt your characters to: People really liked my Zombie Panda and Werewolf Panda artwork.

3. Find out the shopping preferences of your audience: Three of my necklaces and 1 tiny painting sold. Wondercon is more about affordable prints.

4. Take time to soak in the good stuff: It was so rewarding to see people's eyes light up as they are hearing my Panda pitch and looking through my artwork. I could see that my story telling and visuals were coming together well.

5. Be selective on who you interact with because not everybody is going to be interested with your art: Originally I was giving everybody a free bookmark that walked by. Quickly I learned to select and choose recipients because I was running out of bookmarks! When I could see somebody give my artwork a second's glance, that is when I “pounced” and offered them the bookmark. The bookmark is an icebreaker and opens up the conversation to what Panda is about.

6. God, rejection in-person sucks! Sometimes people who I thought were interested said “no thanks” to the free bookmark. Other times, people looked at my portfolio and didn't say anything. I did my best to stay cheerful and remind myself that it's not personal.

7. People DO want to get on the mailing list. I started a mailing list form on Saturday and continued Sunday. I was surprised when people barely looked at my artwork but then immediately sign up for the list. I wish I started this list on Friday!

It's a sign! The Wondercon sign! =)

Originally I wasn't sure if I wanted to do Wondercon again because the audience is more interested in prints than original paintings. My intention with “Panda and Me” is to sell original paintings because that is what I am, a painter at heart. However, selling prints is good too since it makes my artwork more accessible to the mass market. Seeing people connect with the concept of Panda was very moving. In the end, I just want to make people smile and escape into Panda's retro-cool world. For those reasons, I DO want to do this again. =)

"The Pink Panda" another painting for Wonder Con

“The Pink Panda” 6” x 6” by Sandra Fremgen

The Story:

Panda and the Girl are hanging out in Palm Springs! It's a sunny afternoon and they are driving down the desert road heading towards their next mission.

The Back Story:

I was inspired to create this painting after my husband and I went to Palm Springs. Every time we visit Tom's family in Palm Springs, I always appreciate how open the land is. There are no sky scrappers, excessive billboard signs or tacky strip malls that block your view of the desert and its mountains. Many of the buildings, especially the ones in downtown Palm Springs, still have their 1950's charm. In the middle of downtown Palm Springs is a giant sculpture of Marilyn Manroe posing in her signature blowing white dress. At night, the stars are always out and the air is so clean. For us ladies, it is easy to spend a day in Palm Springs with a beautiful headscarf and glamorous sunglasses.

The color palette of bright pink, silver, yellow orche, turquoise and gray is mid century modern. The silver geometric pattern in the background is atomic space age. Panda is wearing a 1950's cardigan. The Girl's outfit is a mix of 1950's and throwback fashions I have seen on the fashion runway.

This painting is on sale in my shop!

Panda Squares- tiny 4" x 4" paintings for Wonder Con

For the month of March I have been preparing for Wonder Con. Most of the merchandise sold will be Panda 8” x 10” prints and necklaces, but I wanted to have some original pieces as well.

Hence, I painted two 4” x 4” “Panda and Me” Squares!

“Panda Square” 4 “ x 4” by Sandra Fremgen

The Story about Panda's square:

Panda is suited up and ready to mingle! As you can see by the space age wall paper, Panda is hanging out at a mid century modern home. What kind of trouble is he getting himself into?!

The Back Story:

This painting is inspired by my love of mid century modern. The Popsicle orange, sea blue and silver are cheerful and optimistic. The background pattern of floating shapes and lines was inspired by the “Space Age” patterns of the 1950's. Since I am a pattern designer in my day job, I wanted to integrate those elements into my personal work. All of these loves were reinforced by a recent trip to Palm Springs when we went to visit Tom's family. I wanted Panda to look suave like Frank Sinatra.

“Fez Monkey Square” 4 “ x 4” by Sandra Fremgen

The Story about “Fez Monkey” :

Fez Monkey is one of Panda's many villains. He is the world's best jewel thief and steals more for the sport of it. He is a hipster and has taken over a year to grow his huge beard.

The Back Story:

This painting is inspired by my love of mid century modern. I kept the colors cooler (compared to Panda's bright and cheerful oranges) because Fez is a villain that wouldn't want to spread joy. The “Space Age” patterns in the background are more subdued than Panda's background design. I love the idea of patterns reflecting the mood of the characters.

Both of these paintings can be found in my etsy store! 

Panda will make his debut at Wondercon 2014!

I am so excited to share that Panda will make his debut at Wonder Con this year! Wonder Con is a smaller version of the San Diego comic con that takes place in Anaheim CA.  As soon as my friend Andy snagged a table (he was on the waiting list), I jumped at the chance to share it with him. This is the first con for the both of us, and we're excited to get everything together in less than a month. 

Andy and I met in the transfer student dorms at UC Berkeley in 2003. It was fun having someone on my floor who was also an art major as well.  Like most art students, we both worked hard and worried about what our futures would be like outside of school. It's funny how things work out because Andy ended up publishing two graphic novels while I landed in the stationery/gift industry.  Ten years since our graduation, we are collaborating once again for Wonder Con AND writing a book together about art advice for high school students. I'm grateful for still being in touch with someone who went through the artistic transformation with me!

Check out some of Andy's work:

Gilgamesh Graphic Novel

Peaceful Warrior Graphic Novel

Andy Winegarner's official website

Andy (on the right) visiting Tom and I in our apartment in West LA. Do you see my hello kitty collection in the background? :)

Andy and I visiting the Chagall art show at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 2003. Back in the day when we were art students and had so much free time!

Finished! "Red Panda's Volcano Hideout" 8" x10" Acrylic on Board

"Red Panda's Volcano Hideout" 8" x10" Acrylic on Board By Sandra Fremgen

STORY:

In this painting, we finally get to meet Panda's arch rival, Red Panda! Just like Panda, Red Panda was a top notch agent at the CIA. He and Panda were the dynamic duo that saved lives all over the globe. Eventually, Red Panda grew tired of helping others and saw how much he could gain if he worked for himself. With all of his secrets of the CIA, Red Panda left and formed his own evil organization. Now he will stop at nothing to take over the world!

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THIS PAINTING:

In the summer of 2013, I was working with a friend to possibly turn Panda into a video game. I created many worlds and different allies and villains for Panda to encounter. I thought Red Panda would be the ultimate bad guy because his design could be the "evil" version of Panda. Panda is dashing and cute, while Red Panda is more angular and harsh looking.  For this painting, I wanted to explore more of a red, orange and gold color scheme.  I also wanted to play around with the concept of broad brush strokes. Hence you see Red Panda's face is more abstract and less rendered than the Tiki. 

ART TECHNIQUE OF THIS PAINTING:
This painting features bold brush strokes that show up on the surface of the board. The style is graphic to show Red Panda as a menacing character in a simple way. The hot color palette of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows is balanced out by cool browns. The sparkling diamond is rendered in different shades of browns, grays and blacks.

Here's an early sketch of Red Panda for the video game.