On the weekend of April 20th, three members from Centre for Arts and Technology packed up their rental van and headed down to what was sure to be a weekend never to be forgotten! What better way to touch base with aspiring animators, storyboarding artists, character designers and concept artists than to enter their own version of Mecca: the 2013 Vancouver Fan Expo!
Held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, this event covered over 750,000 square feet, and saw over 100,000 like-minded fans in attendance. It was thrilling to get to speak with people so passionate about art, technology, fandom and cosplay and talk with them about ways to turn that passion and drive into a career!
This event truly had everything, including young, budding artists who didn’t fail to impress with their skills at our Centre for
Arts and Technology’s booth’s computer stations. A nice break from the constant crowds and chaos, passer-bys were able to escape into our enclave, take a seat at a computer with a Wacom© Tablet, and draw away!
Created before us included mythical creatures, anime characters and some classic super heroes and each artist was able to leave with a professionally printed copy of their art and a bag of Centre for Arts and Technology goodies to add to their memories of the weekend.
Those in attendance also took the opportunity to look at and admire the student work on display, created in our Animation Programs! We are always proud to show off the work of students and in a place such as this, the alien creature sculptures, 3D weaponry renditions and spooky environmental mock-ups were adored by those who play the video games and
watch the movies which have been inspirations to our current students and graduates. What better way to be apart of the industry than to actually help create games, film and visual effects?
So, what else was at the convention? What about a life-sized R2-D2 that moved, talked and posed for a multitude of pictures! He was there…and he had ventured out on his own, leaving C3P0 at home.
Not to mention the first lady of Star Trek, Nichelle Nicoles (Uhura) was in attendance, looking “stunning” as always!
Despite his character’s recent and very awkward death in The Walking Dead, Michael Rooker was busy signing autographs for fans l
ooking not zombie-ish at all in his most excellent fedora!
And for anyone who enjoys indulging in their geek-dom, this was the ultimate place to spend money on everything from zombie board games and jell-o molds, all the way to the tower of t-shirts that shed a shadow of awesome over the whole event.
Also in attendance were some of Centre for Arts and Technology’s own! Two of our 3D Animation Alumni – Svend Gregori, senior artist at Yeti Farm Creative and Ian Moir, design artist at Nerdcorps Entertainment had tables in “Artist Alley” where they sold personal artwork.
Will we be back next year? Most definitely! This event gives us an opportunity to interact with
potential students on a personal level, really get to know them and let them know about the amazing opportunities that await them at Centre for Arts and Technology Kelowna!
If you’re planning to go, be sure to stop by and say hi!
Special thank you to our guest blogger, Kristin Stratulat (pictured top left with Ivan Sampson), for providing us with an inside scoop!
Check out our grad’s work!
Pictured second from bottom: Svend Gregori: www.be.net/svendgregori
Pictured at bottom: Ian Moir: http://ian-moir.blogspot.ca/ and his Deviant Art http://one-swordslinger.deviantart.com