Super SketchPads at Otakon 2024 - Recap

On August 2–4, Substantial Art & Music (SAM) was honored to be a featured presenter at Otakon 2024. Otakon, an annual convention held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC celebrates Asian pop culture which includes anime, manga, music, video games, and its fandom. This year Otakon celebrated its 30th Anniversary. SAM facilitated “Super SketchPads,” a live art and music “jam session” featuring live illustrations by a visual artists and a live beat set by music producers in Artist Alley of the convention. The SketchPads area served as an artist's lounge where spectators observed the guest artists or used the space to work on their art. Drawing supplies were provided and cosplayers were invited to pose as figure models for the audience to draw. SketchPads featured several visual artists and music producers throughout the weekend and was well received by those who participated.

Substantial Art & Music debuted SketchPads in 2022 and continues to grow and travel to various conventions and organizations. The SketchPads program at Otakon 2024 was made possible through the generous support of BLICK Art Materials, Discord’s Black and African American Movement Employee Resource Group, and from multimedia illustrator and storyteller Kenya (KDFoxx) Danino. Special shout out to our artist partners Micah Blacklight (artist and illustrator of the official SketchPads T-shirt design) and Eric Suggs of Artway Alliance, our hosts, Substantial and Javier Starks, and our guest artists, producers, volunteers and supporters.
https://www.subartandmusic.com