There was a term we used back in art school to describe that period in our careers where art was minimal pay before we hit it big and scored full-time gigs: “starving artist”. At Detroit Fanfare this past weekend, we came across many fellow starving artists that were doing their best to get their names and trade out into the eyes and minds of potential buyers. The variety of work we came across, a diversity common to the small conventions of the Midwest, seemed to border every extreme of art style and delivery.
This is a solid reflection of the comics industry. There is an abundance of talent, producing genuinely wonderful and innovative pieces of work, and only so many jobs to go around. The majority of the creators opt to set out on their own, selling their work on commission or working together with others to produce short run pieces. Detroit Fanfare was a microcosm of that experience. Among the smattering of legends like Whilce Portacio or Gary Reed are tables for hobbyists and up-and-comers, and alongside the booths of big comic chains are small mom-and-pop shops.
Everyone has a place, and with the ability to self-publish becoming easier than ever everyone has a voice and an outlet. It’s perhaps the most exciting time in comics history, and a new Golden (Platinum? Titanium?) age.
As we walked the floor, the breadth of talent reflected that excitement. One area we found a lot of healthy variety in was black & white ink art. J M Dragunas, for instance, has been an artist for several years. Only relatively recently did he decide to turn his passion into a career, creating commissioned illustrations based in fantasy and sci-fi. He’s been extremely busy, too, as seen by the amount of work he had on display.
His method of creating the work seems more complex than it may actually be, thanks to his traditional approach. In the age of Wacom tablets, CGI and Photoshop, Dragunas prefers to stay classic, relying on a base of light pencil sketch that he goes over with an ink brush. The line weight, which tapers and thins as he pulls it forward, is a reflection of his high level of craftsmanship. There’s little in the way of error, meaning that he needs to make absolutely sure of the lines he puts down. His expert use of cross-hatching and contrast create punchy images with a strong heirarchy of eye focus.
His style borrows from Art Nouveau and Baroque, yet when combined with the subject matter of a TARDIS or Full Metal Alchemist it becomes that much more whimsical.
On the opposite side of the expo room was Ren Fracture, an Illustrator who works on everything from portraits to tattoos and mixes quirky comics in between.
I use that in an endearing fashion, as Ren’s mini-comics — 8-panel stories created from a single 8.5″ x 11″ page — often end in a well-delivered punchline. The size of them means that they’re extremely pocketable, easy to place in a bag or coat. Ren creates them alone, eschewing the help of printers or Office Max in favor of a more delicate, intimate connection. Each piece is a reflection, a self-contained “moment” that Ren relates to, whether they be strange visions during dreams or situations that occur around the tattoo industry.
The creation process is similar to that to JM, with paper put to pencil, but switches to PC afterward for inking and refinement. After eight hours, a comic is born. For a small fee, these panel-based short stories can rival what is in newspapers or magazines in terms of wit and impact, and their unique size makes them a worthy keepsake. They’re essentially little zines that capture an artist’s momentary thought or experience.
Starving artists have a bit of entrepreneurial spirit in them, relying on ideas and hard work to get noticed instead of luck. They work out of passion, out of the personal need to see a project to completion, something that many nine-to-fivers don’t have a luxury to do. They tell their stories, in this case through ink and paper, but each story is nonetheless as interesting.
JM Dragunas can be found on his Facebook fan page
Ren can be found as the curator of the Strange Definitions website and personal gallery
No Comments