Leigh was among the first set of artists I got sketches from three years ago at the Birmingham convention and I've been in touch with him ever since. The series he's been drawing for the past few years, Defoe, has finally been collected as a trade paperback (with more to follow!) so I gave Jenny my copy for him to sign. In return for that honour, Leigh did me a lovely sketch of the immortal Dredd. Such a wonderful man and I very much hope to meet up with him again,  probably in another three years. (London MCM Expo)

As I couldn't attend the London MCM Expo myself (I had the Reign of Death premiere to go to instead), Jenny Clements very kindly offered to get me some sketches while she was wandering around in costume. I had two people on my list and one was Ben Templesmith, the artist of Fell (written by Warren Ellis) and 30 Days of Night, whose work I very much admire. Such a pity I couldn't be there in person but I'll hopefully get a chance to go to the next one in May! I want more dragon sketches... (London MCM Expo)

My last sketch of the convention was caught just at the last minute while the rest of the room was busy packing up. David and Mike Collins were sharing a table at the end of the Asylum Comics stall and I had just wandered over to join Mike on our way to see Star Trek in the IMAX. David was still sketching, mainly because he'd been working on his Cartoon Classroom stall all day and had somewhat neglected his own stack of books available to purchase. The sketch is a landscape study, a definite departure from the normal character portraits I get. In fact, this is the only landscape drawing I've received! (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Kat was manning the Draw the World Together stand with Jason along with an early look at their artwork for Classical Comics' upcoming A Midsummer Night's Dream. This sketch is of Puck and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the fruits of their labours, hopefully by next summer. It's a tough task doing a graphic novel at the best of times, not least a full colour tome based on one of Shakespeare's most well-known works. I wish them the best of luck! (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Andi had another of those eye-catching small stands at the show and was selling a number of his books, a number of which were published by Oni Press. He had quite a wide selection of work, from children's books to more alternative faire about love and fatherhood, but each featuring his distinctive cartoon style. I picked up a copy of Little Star, a seemingly semi-autobiographical tale of fatherhood and the challenges of a new family that takes over your life when your head is still in the stars. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

PJ and a group of other Irish artists have a blog online called Electic Micks where they take turns to post of a piece artwork each day. For the convention, three of them had taken a stand and were selling a book of art from the blog. I'd met PJ at the last Birmingham con when he was showing off an iPhone comics reader so it was good to catch up with him this time and get a sketch. Their stand was always really busy so I took the opportunity when I could to join a short queue. The sketch features Judge Dredd and Zombie Dredd. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Mike was working at a stand selling original comic artwork. I'd actually stopped because I'd spotted some original Tam Patterson artwork amongst some random Buster and Whizzer and Chips piles and I was looking to purchase them when Mike mentioned he'd drawn for Whizzer and Chips in the past. Rather embarrasingly, I realised very quickly that I didn't recognise the strips he'd drawn because they were from the era before mine. I starting reading W&C in the latter half of the eighties, whereas Mike drew his work in the late seventies. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to do a sketch for me featuring The Cloak, Mole and Shortstuff (from Pow!) and Thundercap from Buster. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Jason is Kat Nicholson's partner and they were both manning the Draw the World Together stand at the convention. Actually, this sketch has a bit of a history and was in fact commissioned and paid for at the last Bristol convention in May. Sadly, the challenge of producing a sketch under the theme of 'anything you want' caused Jason to  suffer a terrible case of Artist's Block. So much so that he didn't draw me anything at all, despite taking my money for charity. Therefore, the renewed look of horror on his face when I turned up at his table was certainly worth the wait. Luckily, inspiration finally struck on the Sunday and I was the proud recipent of this Optimus Prime portrait. Probably should have asked him to colour something intead... (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Andy was alongside Garen Ewing on the Accent UK stand. I'd bought a couple of their books at previous conventions, including the Robots anthology, so it was great to see them moving into graphic novels. Wolfmen, written by Dave West and drawn by Andy, looked like a fun alternative heist story so I picked up a copy along with this sketch. Andy's got a very definite monochrome style that looks almost like woodcut or etching. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

If there was a theme to this convention for me, it was the number of books that were clearly inspired by either Tintin or Asterix. I even picked up loads of French and Belgian comics from the Cinebook stand, including lots of Blake and Mortimer. Garen's book is definitely a Tintin descendant and looks a really interesting read. He's got more planned and is currently drawing the second book so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the sequel next year. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

It's difficult browsing the smaller stalls at the comic convention because I'm in no position to buy everything on offer, despite the often excellent salesmanship. Will's work was really interesting and well presented so I bought one of his prints instead of a comic book. This sketch is of his webseries Eckeemoo, a strip that builds week on week often with input from fans. It's an interesting blend of Manga and European art styles. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Dave was sitting at his table surrounded by posters for the series he'd drawn called The Hunter. I was impressed by the quality of the work and the fact that they'd actually managed to finish their four book series! Not always an easy task and I'm the worst procrastinator of all. I always prefer to get a drawing that represents the artist's interests or is something they've created themselves so Dave elected to draw this beautiful dragon. He said that he used to draw little else when he was growing up and it's something I can understand. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Sharing a table with Will Kirkby was a manga artist called Naniiebim, whose actual name I sadly didn't catch when I got a sketch. Never mind! She writes and draws a comic called Mephistos and this sketch is of the characters from that series. She had a collection of great posters available and her style has a really interesting loose line. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

Will's stand was just around the corner from Chris Phillips' and his books called The Sea caught my eye. The covers were really well drawn and coloured and I stopped to take a better look. A purchase later, I was the proud owner of all his books, a poster and this fine sketch. He's got a really confident style that's graphically unique but full of character. Like many at this convention, he's working on further chapters of his book. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)

I've known Chris for a few years now as he was a graduate from Glamorgan Uni's animation course before joining Rare games. About a year ago Chris was let go from Rare and since then he's been working on his magnum opus: a Candleman graphic novel. Chris has been writing and drawing comics based around his character for a few years so it's really great to see him go for a longer form story. This sketch is my second of the Candleman world but this time features the support characters instead. (Birmingham International Comics Show 2009)