Michigan Antique Festival

This past weekend was our second show of the year. We set up for three days at the Michigan Antique Festival near the car show and sold hot rod art! I had pretty average expectations, but the commission requests from this show are one of the best I’ve had yet!

This year, we wanted to open up the booth a little bit and make it look a little more professional. We traded in our tables on the sides of the booth for these wire mesh stands, which I think display the drawings much better!

I try to have as many of these smaller 8x10s as possible for impulse buyers who need something cool to hang in their garage!

I also like to have a good mix of sizes so customers can see what variety is available for commissions. Also, I try to have a variety of styles and colors including some book page drawings.

This year, I have way more prints available for sale than I have slots in my print rack, so I’ve hung some examples up around the upper border of the tent.

The Camaro and Roadrunner prints so far have been the biggest hits.

While we were there at the Michigan Antique Festival, I did a little shopping of my own: I’m always on the hunt for cool hot rod toys and stuff. I got a great deal on this old 1960s Buddy L pressed metal hot rod, which still has its roof!

I also found this cool old bag with some printed artwork from one of my favorite artists, Keith Weesner!

When we first started setting up, I realized that we were in big trouble because they had put us right next to the kettle corn tent. Jessie loves kettle corn, and we certainly got plenty of it!

While we were waiting between customers, I sketched out a few hot rod drawings. The first was this old un-chopped coupe which I used to experiment backgrounds and lettering with. Lettering is definitely not my strongest point, but I’m getting better!

Next, I drew this vintage bubble top kustom. I had a few customers comment on this one as they visited the booth. I think there’s something about credibility when I scratch out sketches in front of potential customers at shows.

While we were at the show, we made some awesome friends on both sides of us. First, the ladies at the kettle corn tent – Deb & Jodi – were super nice and helpful. I sketched this old antiquedelivery truck for them.

And finally, we made friends with Cindy, the mastermind behind the roasted almonds at the Almond Hut on the other side.

Altogether, it was a really great weekend. We made some great friends, found some awesome scores, and got a lot of commission work! It’s going to keep me busy this month but I’m grateful for all my new customers and their beautiful cars!