Thought Bubble Festival 2015

I was lucky enough to have shift working as a student ambassador at ThoughtBubble festival this weekend so I arrived early to have a look around all the stalls and see what it was all about. I never thought I would find myself at a comic arts festivals because comics have never really interested me that much. However, the practitioners who were selling work stretched so far beyond comics there was something for everyone. Looking round the different stalls was really inspiring, it was great to see so many different styles and ways of working all in one place. 

I've got a bit of a thing for zines now that I've learnt a bit more about them. I like the small ones, a bit smaller than A5 because they just feel like little personal notebooks. I bought one about a girl's relationships with all the hats she has owned and the stories behind each of them. And I also bought one about moving house which I thought illustrated the process so simply yet it was really emotive. 

I spoke to a friendly man who was selling comics by a few different artists and he gave me this one for free. He said it was by his friend who has no confidence in his own work and he is trying to give these out at comic book festivals to raise his profile and give him some confidence. I thought the drawings were great and even though this isn't a style of artwork I would usually connect with, I really like the front cover. It made me think about my own work and how I can lack confidence to put it out there for people to see but it just shows that however good you are, this can still be a problem you have to battle with. 

I really got the bug from being here, I came home wanting to make things and organise myself so I could maybe get a table somewhere and sell things. Seeing some of the third years with tables made me realise that it is within reach to do something like this. Their work looked really professional and there was really no way you could tell who was a professional and who was still a student - it doesn't even matter anyway! If someone likes something they will buy it!

Walking around the stalls made me think more about how to price my work. This is something I always struggle to do and whenever I do sell any of my work I always find myself wondering what a reasonable price to charge is.