Past, Present, and Future with...Juan José Fernández!

Juan José Fernández is a visual artist and comics community organizer, most recently named as one of “Pittsburgh’s Creative Forces: 12 People to Meet in 2017” in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and one of seven 2016 Fuerza awardees by Café Con Leche for providing Pittsburgh Latinx leadership. A native of Venezuela, he resides in Pittsburgh where he co-organizes the annual Pittsburgh Zine Fair, writes and provides educational outreach for the Comics Workbook Workshop Residency in Swissvale, and leads the Pittsburgh Comics Salon. Juan studied at Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy and Comics Making at the Center for Cartoon Studies.

You can reach him at fernandez.juan.j@gmail.com or see his work at http://juan-fernandez.tumblr.com/.

Photo Credit: Njamie Njie


Past, Present, and Future with...Juan José Fernández!

What got you into comics? Was it a specific issue, a certain person, a tv show, etc?

"Neil Gaiman’s Sandman in my high school library collection lit a fire in my heart for the form but it was finding the comics of Rachel Masilamani at Bill Boichel’s Copacetic Comics in Pittsburgh that got me to put pen to paper."

What are you working on these days? 

"I spin a lot of plates. I co-organize the Pittsburgh zine fair with Christina Lee, Raiona Gaydos and Maggie Negrete - foster a local space for incubating pittsburgh’s comics thinking through making called the Pittsburgh Comics Salon - I’m working on the 5th issue of Dog City, an anthology that I co-edit with. And a special project called “Field Station” that is in the stages of forming. I like to work on a lot of things at once, but above all with others. I remind myself often that in all of this, despite what people want to tell you in life, there is no finish line."

Do you have a dream project? 

"A daily strip that was my main source of income. It’s a pipe dream."

What one piece of creative advice would you give? 

"Be like water."

Thanks Juan!

Past, Present, and Future with...Byron Winton

Byron Winton, a Pittsburgh PA native, is a freelance fantasy and horror illustrator who has worked in the comic book, pop culture, and horror convention industries for many years. His amazingly detail rich paintings showcase creativity and precision. Byron paints popular culture imagery from memorable movies like Star Wars, Resident Evil, and Beetlejuice to name a few. He also conceives and executes mind-blowing original concepts of his own. He has worked for LUCASFILM, TOPPS, CALIBER COMICS, MOONSTONE BOOKS, the industrial bands REIN[FORCED] and TRAGIC IMPULSE, and several self-published authors.

You can see Byron's work at byronwinton.com and on the social media sites @byronwinton3

Past, Present, and Future with...Byron Winton

What got you into comics?

The art got me into comics. I had been drawing for a bit. Actually, I was a seasoned professional at 5 or 6 with my crayon masterpieces. The local grocery store had a comics and magazine display… I remember getting an issue of Action Comics with Superman on the cover. Don’t remember the number or much more of the specifics just the event. I think I got my ass beat for stealing it.

What are you working on these days?

These days I’m mostly working on a lot of film/television portrait drawing commissions. My Patreon page has been very active with me keeping my subscribers fulfilled. Last month I ran another Kickstarter that took a bunch of those drawings and made into my 3rd set of trading cards. I’m now working on getting all of the printed material together and in the mail. I run quick turn arounds with my Kickstarter. Since I do art full-time, I’m always keeping busy with projects… 95% of them for clients. I’ve been trying to wiggle in some of my own, but it’s been tough. My clients beat my ass for not being punctual.

Do you have a dream project?

I‘d love to see an art book of my paintings. Not a sketch book nor a self-published one either. That’s a dream project that’s so far far far down the road though. I really need to work extra hard on my productivity. At the end of every month, you guessed it, my ass is beat.

What one piece of creative advice would you give?

Don’t get your ass beat! Serious though… my creative advice... be persistent and consistent. Also, learn to love the struggle.

Thanks Byron!

Past, Present, and Future with...Rachel Masilamani

A cartoonist and librarian here in Pittsburgh, PA, Rachel has been creating comics since 1997. Her first collection, RPM Comics, received a grant from the Xeric Foundation and was named “Best Comic Book” by the Baltimore City Paper.  Her work has also appeared in Meathaus, Street Runoff, Graphics Classics, The Indiana Review and other anthologies.

(Photo credit Jen Greenwald/Comic Book Pitt)

Past, Present, and Future with...Rachel Masilamani

What got you into comics?

"Reading Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud.  Up until then, I read comics, but it didn't occur to me that I could make them myself.  It helped me understand how they are constructed."

What are you working on these days?

"I am working on balancing a day job, a toddler. art, and sleep!  I am also continuing to work on "Nonpartum", my series about contemporary pregnancy, birth and parenting at Mutha Magazine.  I completed an additional chapter earlier this year, and I've been making comics about America after the 2016 election."

Do you have a dream project?

"Yes!  I have been thinking about a big project for almost 20 years now.  I think of stories as very complicated puzzles that I need to solve before I start making them visible.  This one is still too difficult for me to construct, but I am getting there. For me, the work is 75% mental preparation."

What one piece of creative advice would you give?

"Try not to think about what other people will think."

Thanks Rachel!

Past, Present, and Future with...Brad Guigar

This week's Past, Present, and Future is with Brad Guigar. A webcomics pioneer, Brad has been doing a daily comic strip since February 2000. Tens of thousands read Evil Inc every day on the Web and in newspapers. He has published over a dozen printed collections of his work, and he has been nominated for an Eisner award — the top honor in the comics industry.

(Photo credit: Bob Laramie / RJLphoto.com)

Past, Present, and Future with...Brad Guigar

What got you into comics?

"My newspaper comics section. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the ability to create a funny story in three or four panels. I remember pouring over strips like Beetle Bailey, Broom Hilda, Animal Crackers and Drabble. When I got a little older, Berke Breathed’s Bloom County bowled me over. In college, I had a subscription to the Detroit Free Press solely for the purpose of reading that strip.

My first comic strip, Greystone Inn, was heavily influenced by Breathed’s work — and I think it shows. I wanted so badly to capture that spirit."

What are you working on these days?

"HA! Talk about a 180-degree turn! These days, my most successful project is Evil Inc After Dark — a NSFW comic that takes place in the same universe as Evil Inc (which started as a newspaper-strip spin-off from Greystone, but developed into a series of graphic novels). That’s available exclusively to my Patreon backers at Patreon.com/guigar — and I’m Kickstarting the first print collection of NSFW work this month. 

I also do a website devoted to helping other independent cartoonists — Webcomics.com — and the original Evil Inc comic."

Do you have a dream project?

"Yeah. Making my living exclusively through my work in comics. I’ve been living that dream since 2012. As with most Dream Projects, it has its share of nightmare moments, but overall, my twelve-year-old self would be flabbergasted over what the future had in store."

What one piece of creative advice would you give? 

"It’s impossible to get worse at something you do every day.

I like that because it’s one part encouragement and one part kick-in-the-ass.

It’s encouraging because it’s a reminder that getting better at anything is all about building skills. “Talent” will only get you so far — if it truly exists at all. Real success comes from a slow process of improvement. That’s encouraging. It’s a reminder that you’re not always going to be this bad. If you practice and apply yourself you will get better.

It’s a kick-in-the-ass because it’s a reminder that you have to put the time in — every day — to get better. There’s no magic hashtag, weird SEO trick or social-media shortcut that will do it for you. You’ve got to do it every day, year after year after year, before you start to get really good at something. And that’s a real kick-in-the-ass because getting good at something happens so slowly as to be almost imperceptive."


Thanks Brad!