1. What initially drew you to comics?
Ha! "Drew you" I love a pun
These days I would've been diagnosed with some kind of neuro-divergence (which honestly would've been helpful) but back in the late 70's/early 80's when I was a kid (think Stranger Things with the same bad haircuts) I was just "weird". I never really felt like I fit in but drawing was how I connected with people and how I got the positive feedback I really wanted (and needed). I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Whether it was strip cartoons or animation or illustration. But there was something about comics that I ultimately connected to.
2. Please tell us about your creative process.
It depends on what I'm doing - If I'm drawing from someone else's script I'll normally print it off and draw thumbnails in the corner, then draw up the panels, pencil, ink and color if needed. These days (except for the thumbnails) I'm completely digital. Which I actually love!
If I'm drawing from my own script ('Cause I write as well) it's the same process but because I've got the panel sequence already in my head I might skip the thumbnails.
3. What do comics allow you to do as a storyteller?
I like that's it's like 'making a movie'. You get to chose the 'camera shots' that work best to tell the story.
4. Any message for young creators (and the teachers who work with them)?
Yeah. If you want to make comics then you have to draw comic pages. I know that sounds like a no-brainer but the amount of young artists who come up to me at a con who just have work in sketchbooks without sequential art is infuriating. To be good at drawing comics you have to draw comics.
5. Where can we look for your work next?
I drew a graphic novel for Archie last year called, 'The Riverdale Diaries - Starring Veronica' which was heaps of fun but a lot of work. And right now I'm working on a middle grade series called, 'Death Metal Emo Elves' which is about elves that learn to ROCK! It's something that I wrote and drew. So, I'm pretty pumped about that one.
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