In October 2006, William Terrell founded Sketch Club: a place for emerging artists of all ages to gather, learn and develop their talents in a nurturing environment.
This year, another part of Terrell’s long-term plan will unfold when Lubbock hosts West Texas Comic-Con on Saturday.
“This one is different because it’s a fan convention,” said Terrell, a Texas Tech alumnus from Lubbock, “where we’re bringing in guests for people to meet and get autographs, buy their books, buy artwork from them — which has never really been done here.”
Terrell said bringing conventions to Lubbock ultimately will benefit local artists who want to get their work to the public and need an outlet. He said building a community of working artists is a main goal of Sketch Club.
“I started asking myself, ‘What do we need to make (conventions) happen?’” Terrell said, ”and I realized we needed artists working every day making comics that it was just part of their lives having fun with it.“
Terrell said his own artistic endeavors began when he had difficulties finding an artist to illustrate his writing. He said he believes anyone can learn to draw.
“It’s like learning how to write you know? Learning how to use letters and stuff like that — you’re just learning a language,” Terrell said. “You learn how to draw an eye so that everybody knows that it looks like somebody’s eye. You learn how to draw a mouth so it looks like a normal mouth.”
Sarah Vaughn, a sophomore studio arts major from Lubbock, recently finished a 100-page comic book. She said the comic, which took about a year to complete, was encouraged by her friends at Sketch Club.
“They really got me to push myself and finish it,” Vaughn said. “I wouldn’t have had the motivation by myself.”
Ariel Walden, a senior electronic media and communications major from Lubbock, said she enjoys spending time with other people who share her love of art and learning from artists who are more experienced.
“The cool thing about Sketch Club is you don’t have to be at a certain level artistically,” Walden said. ”We have people who just started drawing and people who have been drawing pretty much all of their lives and we learn from each other.”
The West Texas Comic-Con will provide an opportunity for local and out-of-town comic artists and enthusiasts alike to gather and celebrate their common interest.
“This is our first one,” Terrell said, “and we’re planning to keep doing it and it’s going to get bigger and bigger.”
Vaughn, who has participated in conventions in the past, said she finds spending hours on a product and being able to share it with others rewarding.
“I’m mostly excited about going and supporting my friends,” Vaughn said, “and seeing the other people who are excited about local art.”
Walden said she is excited about the convention because she will be selling her own self-published comic. She said the process of self-publishing was a valuable learning experience.
“I’ve been working on that story a very long time,” Walden said. “I’ve had it since junior high, and it’s gone through various reincarnations. (The characters) are like my babies. I’m very excited that I get to sell it at the show and just kind of show it off to people.”
Sketch Club meets 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays at the Freebirds World Burrito on South Loop 289. Artists of all ages and experience levels are welcome, Terrell said.
“It’s OK to make mistakes with your art,” Terrell said. ”You don’t have to be perfect; you just have to have fun with it.”
