Visiting AX again after a few years' hiatus was a great experience. Granted I've been out of the anime loop for a long time (What the heck is a Vocaloid?) so I found myself leaning over to my younger cousin asking "Who's that? What's that?"

Nevertheless, my favorite spot was Artist Alley. I'm glad they finally got around to putting it alongside the rest of the Exhibit Hall to draw more viewers cuz the artists were sure pleased with all the buzz. I flipped through portfolios that were laying about, adored the cute buttons and chatted with a few artists. All in all, it was great to see all the talent that's out there to admire and to be inspired by.

Later on, we went to the Copic Marker coloring workshop (read: very long sales pitch with some technique tips) Not that I minded her introducing every type of paper to us, it was just a bit much, but I suppose necessary. Her demonstrations really opened my eyes as to what those markers can do. I am slightly annoyed by the fact that it has so many colors (300+ seriously?) because it means that I need to buy three colors just to shade an object correctly. In the meantime, I'm holding off on them and will just admire the marker-y goodness in my sketchbook from the test markers they passed out.

At some point, my younger cousin spotted a few people dancing to Love & Joy which apparently is a popular dance since some others went and joined them at some point. (If you are in the dark as much as me, fear not, at least we're in the dark together)

Another workshop we went to was How to Draw Manga headed by eigoManga's Jin. It was good to see a live demonstration of facial and body proportions. Often times those things don't sink in until someone is telling it to you live. Also, he gave a fantastic general overview on how to draw hands. I'm considering visiting their booth tomorrow to ask for a quick tutorial on feet too.

One more day of Anime Expo! Until then!