EuroSteamCon Portugal 2015

The Eurosteam Con, is a Steampunk convention that takes place in several cities across Europe. This year in Portugal, it was held in Gaia, Oporto and me and Black Curls were invited by the organizing team Corte do Norte to talk at the Illustration Panel. So we packed our bags and jorney to the north of the country to introduce our soon to be released comic, the "Opal Flame".

Barbot House in Vila Nova de Gaia

The event took place at Casa Barbot, a beautiful art noveau residence in the heart of the city. It's a two floor residence surrounded by gardens that once belong to the family Barbot. There's no documentation that proves who was the architect behind this construction, but general belief is that it was built by the portuguese architect Ventura Terra.

Moving on with the historical introduction, with barely just a few hours of sleep we woke up early and set off on the road! It took us about 3 hours to get there, but the journey was smooth. And we arrived just in time to set up our panel and grab a quick lunch just before our presentation.

We shared the illustration panel with two comic artists here from Portugal, Diogo Carvalho and Carla Rodrigues. Their work is great, if you have the chance go and visit their websites.

Illustration Panel - Photo by Corte do Norte

Our presentation ran smoothly and as planned. Marta had organized and prepared the panel presentation while I had worked on an animation video to show at the end of our presentation as a teaser for the story. I'll be sharing the video soon before Lucca Comics and Games, so stay tunned ;)

After the presentation there was chance to talk with old and new friends, take photos and watch other activities that took place.

Awesome Zeppelin handcrafted by Diana Sousa

At the Barbot gardens

A brilliant piece of guncraft (made out of a Nerfgun)

Choose your weapon wisely - really amazing handcrafts

Don't wake up this little fellow

The upper floor and staircase

Our work was also on display for the remaining of the event. A few pages from the Opal Flame, and several articles that I wrote related to the story. We took the chance for a photograph there.

The Opal Flame preview display at Eurosteamcon

Also, we couldn't leave without a souvenir, so we bought the Almanac made by Corte do Norte. It's got everything you can ask for a steampunk almanac. And I do really mean everything, sensational news, never-seen inventions, wacky advertisings, fabulous stories, soberb illustrations, games, puzzles and criptograms. It's even got an obituary. Great work!

Cover done by the talented Corte do Norte member Diana Sousa

By the end of the day, we had to celebrate with a pizza, I will blame the fact that right in front of Barbot House there was a pizza joint x) And we and set off on the road again further to the north, to the inn where we would be staying and earn an well deserved rest.

It was an amazing event, I really do hope to see more next year, and hopefuly with more stories to share ;D but for now, our next stop is just a couple of weeks away: Lucca!