Wizard Chicago 2009: Sketches, and the sketching thereof

I may have bitched about some of the more unsavory bits of Wizard's show this year, but I was able to meet with plenty of creators that I like and either have them sign books or contribute to my Groo sketchbook. Here's the notable ones:

Tim Sievert drew a cool, detailed image in his book That Salty Air:

Jeffrey Brown did a funny Bighead picture inside Sulk #1:

And a cute kitty inside Cat Getting Out of a Bag:

And speaking of cute kitties, Jill Thompson drew these pictures of Scratches in two volumes of Magic Trixie:

Geof Darrow did this one in the back of Hard Boiled:

As for the Groo sketchbook (previous entries from which can be seen here), I got some great entries, including this one by Gabriel Bautista:

Tim Sievert appears to be continuing a fish theme (and going crazy with the detail and motion:

Kevin Cannon does funny:

Jeffrey Brown also does funny, taking the scatological angle:

David Petersen goes for the barbarian look:

And Jill Thompson does classic Groo, a not-bad imitation of Sergio Aragones himself:

I love seeing creators work like this; in some cases, I stood and watched people draw just to get a look at their style and technique. It never fails to amaze me, since I'm a pretty terribly drawer myself. That's one of those really cool things about conventions, and it redeems even a somewhat poor experience. Yay, comics!