The Artists Alley of Dreamhack 2024
Whenever I get the chance to go to a Supernova or an Oz Comic-Con, one of the areas that I like to explore is the Artists Alley. These locations are generally filled with incredible pieces of art, handmade trinkets and even the odd unique piece, so hearing that Dreamhack Melbourne 2024 was going to have one, I knew I would have to stop by.
Now there were almost 100 vendors in the weirdly shaped Artists Alley, as it was less an alley and more like a super stretched out lower case W. The vendors covered fan art, original art, handmade earrings, custom magnets and even wooden pins, there was a lot to see. Now while I spent a good amount of time walking around and scoping things out, there were a handful of booths that caught my eye, so I wanted to highlight them for you.
While the photos below were taken by myself, all of the art was created by the respective artists, so if you wish to share their work, please attribute it to them.
Smell and Smile
Website | Instagram
The first stall that really caught my eye, actually caught my nose first, as it was Smell and Smile, a scented candle stand. While custom made candles are everywhere, these really stood out to me as they were insanely bright and colourful, but also full of charm in the shapes that they were in. Most candles you buy are just in a cylindrical shape, these were anything but, from a muscle bear candle to the tasty looking (please don’t eat candles) corn candle. The smells were so delightful that I bought a little succulent themed one for myself and while I have year to light it, as it looks too good to use, the smell of it on my desk is just refreshing.
Meekor
Website | Instagram
The only other booth that I bought something from was Meekor, who specialises in art embracing Australian birds. When I first spotted the booth, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, I was seeing what were clearly pins, but they were not metal or acrylic, as was common. No these pins were wooden, outside of the pin part that is and they are all made in Melbourne. It wasn’t just the pins that drew my attention, the patches (again featuring Aussie birds), the art cards both post card size and bigger and even a dash of Pokémon fan art at the back. Everything looked stunning, so much that I picked up the Crimson Rosella pin, as the colours of the iconic bird just popped for me.
Loveliness Studio
Website | Instagram
Almost right next door to Meekor was Loveliness Studio, a stall specialising in hand made jewellery, that was unlike anything I had seen before. One of the items that caught my eye were a pair of earrings that are potion bottles, but then have little adornments all around them. When I asked the person at the booth, what their favourite was, they pointed out to the coffin shelf earrings, that are filled with little details like the crystal ball, skull and more potion bottles. It wasn’t all only items that hung from your ears, they had a big selection of rings, necklaces, music boxes and even knitted flowers. While I personally didn’t buy anything, I am not an earring guy after all, the amount of detail in each piece just blew me away.
Mushroom Folks Fibres
Website | Instagram
If there was one constant among most of the booths, it was that Pokémon was everywhere, so when I saw a booth that didn’t stock items from the popular series, it was something I wanted to see more of. When it was a mix of mushrooms and frogs, I was even more intrigued by what was on offer. One of the biggest items in the stall was the frog plush, which looked great, but angry. Speaking with the artist, they confirmed that it was meant to be, as it was inspired by their father who was known to be cranky at times. I currently own more plushies than I have space for, which was the only thing stopping me from hopping back to this booth and picking one up.
J J Tsans Food Mart
Website | Instagram
Given the name, you would be correct in assuming this stall was food themed and you would be correct. What caught my eye first was the dumpling magnets, which are all handmade, but then looking beyond that, I noticed the stickers, earrings, cook book and even some tasty look postcards. Now food related art is nothing all that fancy, there had to have been a dozen stalls offering their version of it, but there was something about the colours, design and range that drew me in here. Maybe it was the skull sticker, with dumplings for eyes or the Mi Hungry tote bag, inspired by Indomie Mi Goreng noodles. Seeing this booth did make me want to get some lunch, but I just pressed on to explore rest of the alley, though those dumpling magnets are still very tempting.
Ryonello
Website | Instagram
If there was one constant throughout the alley, it was sheer amount of fan art, be it Pokemon, League of Legends or Genshin Impact, there was a lot. So any time I stopped to talk to people, if they were offering up their own art as well, I paid more attention. Ryonello was one such artist as they had a number of pieces inspired by Stardew Valley, Apex Legends and more, but it was their character, Benny, that really stood out. This character is essentially a little rabbit and the artist had them in sticker form, keychain form and more. The stickers alone of Benny were delightful, as they often had phrases that anyone who has worked in a corporate office, will understand very well. The fact that the overall style is simple and utterly charming, just made it harder to not buy something.
CatRoulette
Website | Instagram
Walking through the alley, you couldn’t not see cute and colourful, I wager 80% of the art on show would be counted as cute. So when I spotted a booth that very much the opposite, I knew I had to check it out. Cat was amazing to talk to, she was clearly passionate about her art and was more than happy to talk about. Now the gothic cathedral inspired booth drew me, but it was the Star Wars keychains, along with the Kirby/Tamagotchi keychains and the unique gel filled ones that really caught my eye. Something else that the booth was offering were tarot themed keychains, which while sticking with the overall theme of tarot, was done in the artists own style. Couple all of that incredible art with a comic of their creation, this was one booth that honestly stood near the peak of what this Artists Alley was offering.
Killustrate Illustrations
Website | Instagram
Juxtaposed right next to CatRoulette was Killustrate Illustrations, which was another stall that skewed away from the bright and colourful, in order to embrace a style that I honestly hadn’t seen before, at least not outside of Japan. The Sumi-e style of drawing uses black ink and various line thicknesses, coupled with some shading, in order to bring out whatever the picture needs to be, it is something you see a lot with landscapes or trees in classic Japanese buildings. The artist himself, told me that he was hired to paint some custom art for a dojo and they wanted something in that style, which inspired him to create his own art in that style. The black imagery on the tan-ish paper made everything pop, from Mario to Dragon Ball, Pokemon to Mass Effect, everything looked amazing and it was only my inability to ensure that nothing was crumpled on my trip home that stopped me from picking up the Charmander evolution scroll.
BotTwins
Website | Instagram
The final booth I wanted to highlight was actually one of the first that I spotted as I walked in, but it was just so popular, I didn’t get a chance to check it out until later. BotTwins features insanely colourful art, filled with charming and cute designs of Pokemon, Zelda, Haznin Hotel and more. The product offerings were mostly the same as other booths, stickers, keychains and pins, but there were more than just that. Bookmarks kicked things off, but custom ‘pop socket’ phone holders, glass cups and even some candy, all featuring there delightful style. The one item that really caught my eye was the desk mounted spring display, which had a decent amount of movement, but nothing that would require you to rearrange your desk, should you pick one up. Perhaps the one item that I was sorely tempted to pick up was the Eevee lanyard and keychain, with Eevee being on the keychain and the evolutions of Eevee on the lanyard, but as I already have over 100 lanyards from shows, parks and more, I just couldn’t bring myself to add one more to the pile.
There were more artists than I could possibly write about, but these were the few that really stood out to me. What do you think, are there any local artists that you think we should look at?
