Interview with artist Evan Z about drawing and cartooning

Art

Interview with an Artist

Describe your artwork and creation processes, how you became an artist, and what training you had.

My name is Evan Z. I began working on art in high school, back in the 1990s. I used to love to draw and I would copy the cartoon drawings of Bill Watterson, who was my favorite artist back then -- the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, for anyone who does not know him. I could sit for hours at a time, listening to the same song on repeat on the CD player -- back then I think it was something by The Specials -- Rudy Something -- so I'd listen to that over and over again and copy out an entire sketch by Watterson, trying to mimic every nuance and detail just right.

After college, I kind of put away the art for a while, but while working in India with some missionaries I made friends with a local who urged me to pick it back up. So I spent some time with him, reading books about Vermeer and other painters and tried my hand at that for about five or six months.

Then I returned home and looked for work and that's when I discovered I could return to my love of drawing and sell cartoons. I made my first sale over the Internet doing fitness workout cartoons for a website called FitEngine.com.

Amazingly, all my work for this site was done using Microsoft Paint. I might listen to a song on YouTube (my tastes have shifted to classical over the years) while I came up with my cartoons.

So other than a talent for drawing and painting that I pursued solely for the pleasure of it, I received little training other than what I put myself through by means of studying.

Q. What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

A. I've taught for a number of years. I've also written for a number of years. I worked in a library for a while and in a movie theater when I was younger. I've always tried to do something in the realm of the arts, so you can see a pattern in my "career" if you can call it that: movie theater, library, teaching (I taught literature and history), and now writing and drawing and painting. Perhaps I will move on to making movies at some point. That is a goal, actually.

Q. Do you sell your artwork or take commissions?

A. I do. I've made only a few hundred so far -- with my cartoons. But hopefully I can continue the output and perhaps move up to a better medium than Microsoft Paint. I'm not very computer savvy, however, so it would require more learning on my part. But the work is out there -- there are always people looking for good art work for whatever reason. And with the Internet it is very easy to connect with potential clients.

Q. What memorable responses have you received toward your work?

A. Some have said it reminded them of the cartoons seen in The New Yorker. I don't necessarily think so. I think I have a Gary Larson Far Side quality -- and he's another big inspiration.

Q. What is your favorite artwork?

A. I love all art, whether music, film, painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture. My favorite painters might be Vermeer and Rockwell.

My favorite piece of artwork might be the film The Thin Red Line. That is an amazing, poetic movie, beautifully shot, beautifully scored, beautifully written. It elevates the spirit, makes you think, inspires you. I like when art does that. It doesn't always have to. But when it does, it is pretty amazing.

Q. Has your practice changed over time?

A. Definitely. I used to work with pens and pencils. Now I work with a mouse. It is a bit crazy, if you ask me. But we are in the digital age. What can you say?

Q. What challenges have you faced as an artist?

A. The only challenge I've ever faced is the challenge of creating something. It's not easy, especially on days when you feel unmotivated, uninspired, and uncreative. You sometimes have to force yourself to keep at it, to keep working, and you can really surprise yourself at the end of the day that you were able to come up with something -- especially when at the beginning of the day you felt so miserable that you wouldn't have thought it possible.

Other times, you have to give yourself a break. You have to get out of the house, away from the "workshop" and clear the head. And that's not always an easy thing either. You have to force yourself to stop working. Otherwise you can get carried away on one single piece and that can lead to the piece's ruination. Sometimes, no matter how much time and energy you put into it, it just won't get any better -- and you have to accept that. You can't always do the perfect piece. Michelangelo could. I can't. That's a big difference between the two of us. I don't have the energy or the desire to go out and be the best sculptor, the best painter, the best architect. But if you do -- then don't let anything distract you from that or deter you from achieving your goal. The world needs good artists.