Chalk Art, Illustrations, Digital Painting, and Cartoons by Artist Eric Maruscak

I recently found another video from my appearance at the Chicago Comic Con. This is from the guys over at panelsonpages.com and to be honest 95% of it is about other things, I only appear briefly near the end… but their comment on my work is worth it, and might just become my new favorite catch phrase. Maybe I’ll even put it on my business card.

OK, so I am a little behind on this one, sorry… but I just found these videos online and I wanted to get them posted so you guys could see them.

OK, so a number of people were able to guess what the subject was for my chalk art mural at the Penny Arcade Expo this past weekend in Seattle. I was asked to make a piece of art for the upcoming Bioshock 2 from 2K Games. I was very excited for this opportunity not only because I had never attended PAX before and 2K is such a well known company, but also because it was my second chance to make a Bioshock chalk mural and I wanted to top the previous Wizard World Chicago 2007 Convention Bioshock Chalk Art.

So this upcoming weekend I will be appearing at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington. This is my first, and hopefully not last, appearance at Penny Arcade and I am greatly looking forward to hanging out at a convention with such a different vibe to it. Video games only get minor attention at most of my shows, but here it is front and center am I am really excited. There are sure to be amazing companies with killer games and there is quite the musical line up including Jonathan Coulton whom I highly suggest you check out for yourselves.

The fine folks over at Wizard have re-branded several of their conventions, and the formerly-known Wizard World Chicago is now the Chicago Comic Con. My very first convention appearance EVER was at Wizard World’s 10th Anniversary Chicago Convention in the summer of 2006. The 2009 Chicago Comic Con marked my 4th Chicago art appearance, and my 10th show with Wizard over all.

With Wizard World Chicago (now re-branded as the Chicago Comic Con) fast approaching, I thought I might take a few moments to catch up on some old posts regarding chalk art murals I made at previous Chicago Conventions. Two years ago I was asked to make two murals in the four day span of the show, one as an outdoor chalk mural on pavement, the other as indoor chalk art on paper at a booth on the show floor.

This past weekend was the 16th annual Otakon at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore Maryland. This was my second time creating chalk art for the show and would prove to be another killer piece that would challenge my patience and my ability to keep my fingers from being worn down to the bone. My first appearance at Otakon was in 2008, where I created a 15th Anniversary Otakon Chalk Art Mural, and I was determined to make this one even better.

This past weekend I was very happy to be appearing at the Wizard World Philadelphia 2009 Convention. This was my third time appearing at their Philadelphia show, and my 9th appearance overall with their tour! Philly has always held a special place in my memories because it was where I was first noticed as an illustrator and chalk artist, and it was where this whole chapter of my artistic career got started back in 2006.

Sometimes I am asked to appear as a chalk artist at giant conventions like the New York Comic Con or the Otakon in Baltimore. But I also really enjoy making appearances at smaller, local events. I was recently asked to come to an elementary school art show and make a chalk art drawing. I would work on it over the course of about 2 and a half hours for the kids to watch while they looked at the rest of the show. The idea is that an artist showing their work in progress will inspire the kids to make more art themselves, and maybe try a different style then they normally might have otherwise.

Today was my first experience with paintball. Sure, I play Halo and Call of Duty all the time, but my friend Sean kept telling me that paintball was a fantastic experience. He also assured me that it doesn’t really hurt too bad to get hit. He was right, but it sure does leave a hell of a bruise!