"oh, i don't really like those..."

so maegan and i went to chicago for the kramers ergot signing. i get so excited for stuff like this, and at the same time so nervous i'm going to be a buffoon or piss someone off that it ends up being altogether exhausting. pretty much everyone was really nice despite my inability to make much conversation with most of the guys.

in addition to drawings inside the book and on the fancy letterpress print that came with the book (all of which are wonderful), i asked some of the artists if they would be willing to do pee-wee herman related sketches in a pad i had brought along. earlier in the evening some were willing to do this, some thought about it and then seemed to forget / get distracted, and later on, when the line was more crowded, they thought for the sake of time and flow it would be better to pass (i can't blame them for this). too bad because kevin huizenga seemed keen on the idea. even so, i managed to collect some boss sketches, and i plan on maintaining this theme sketchbook for the next time i get to a convention or signing event of some kind.

ivan brunetti depicts himself as pee-wee

john hankiewicz provides a rather dour yet creative take on the iconic red bow-tie.

dan zettwoch (left) and sammy harkham (right) doodle in an attempt to figure out how to draw chairy. here's how they stack up to the real thing:

and dan zettwoch offers a great rendering of a scene from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. this had maegan and i giggling the whole time he was drawing.

it would have been nice to have sammy, souther, kevin, anders, chris, and ron provide their takes, but you can't have it all, especially when there is a line of at least fifteen other people behind you, all of them lugging enormous heavy books.