convention sketch

In the photo at the bottom of this page, Seth is holding this drawing, which he did for Guido de Bue, a fan, at ComicCon 2004. (Guido also took the photograph and graciously allowed me to use both of them here.)
I sat with Seth one year while he did fan sketches at ComicCon (probably 2001). We sat at the DC Comics booth, and fans would line up with their black spiral bound books, and ask for a sketch: sometimes something specific, and sometimes just whatever he wanted to draw.
Seth never felt comfortable drawing hastily with someone standing over him. He could draw pretty fast, but doing something that pleased both the fan and himself was another matter. He never wanted to do the same image over and over again as some artists do. He wanted to draw something unique each time.

He finally decided that he did not have to limit himself to superhero drawings. He could do these small humorous sketches that had nothing to do with his comic book work. They were fun to do, light-hearted, and each one was different. Some fans would not understand; they only wanted something that looked like what they recognized from their favorite comic books. But Seth was not interested so much in being understood; he was interested more in being real. This way he could draw something quickly that was fun to draw, unique every time, and just for that particular person. He also could talk with his fan at the same time, and enjoy his or her company instead of worrying over the elements in his sketch.