#i wanted her to look a little bit more unique its the warrior cat artist in me but i do like that she's just normal a brown stoat normally

[cyber-himbo]

really quick tula burrows end doodle because shes my favorite

[laetro]

Casey Robin: Observing the World Firsthand

Illustrator and designer, Casey Robin, recons she will run out of time on this earth before running out of inspiration. She has not only illustrated for film, books, toys, and fashion but also teaches and curates gallery shows. Creator of the #MarchOfTheFairies Insta challenge. That art can enable better connect with our fellow humans and help set a new vision for the future is something Casey trusts in.

LA-based illustrator and designer, Casey Robin loves to draw fauns, cats, mermaids and adorable girls. Cal Arts CSSSA, Studio Art Centers International and The Illustration Academy at Ringling are only a few of the institutes she’s formally studied art and animation at. With an equally diverse clientele – Walt Disney, Animation Studios, Disney Publishing, Goldie Hawn, Breyer Horses, and Pinup Girl – Casey has explored various roles as an artist through her journey so far.

Styles: Organic, Digital, Illustrative, Flat, Realistic

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Q. What made you want to become an illustrator?

Casey Robin: When I was about two years old I had a hard time sleeping. Hoping to get a good night’s sleep, herself, my mom dumped heaps of crayons and paper and armfuls of picture books into my crib. I devoured them, then called out, “More colors! More books!” I’ve been in pursuit of illustration ever since..

Q. How do you define your style and what do you consider its distinct characteristics?

Casey Robin: An episode of Japanese Ninja Warrior provided my ethos: “Her secret weapon is cuteness.” While my style encompasses a wide range of looks, it is most often described as cute, pretty, whimsical, and other pleasant words. I design my art to feel like a hug because there are a lot of people out there who need a hug. There is also a more elegant side to my work, drawn from thoughtful observation of nature. I tend to favor simple forms and flowing linework over fussy detail. I keep my colors pure, airy, and vibrant.

Q. What is the process like when drawing from other mediums life films, books, toys, etc?

Casey Robin: I tend to draw from imagination, observation, and photographic reference. I may look at books or movies for inspiration, but I seldom draw from them. More often, I take a walk and observe the world firsthand. I may take pictures for future reference or I may just let it all wash over me. If I need to draw something I don’t have access to, I turn to photography as a reference. I always try to see the gesture first, then the big shapes, light and shadow. Detail usually comes last. I often inject flourishes drawn from pure imagination.

Q. How do you ensure and practically achieve the balance between your vision of a project and the client’s brief?

Casey Robin: When reading a brief, I note the client’s needs. What do they need to communicate, and to whom? I then try to imagine I am a member of the client’s key demographic, coming upon this art as part of my interaction with the client’s messaging. What do I expect to see? What do I want or need? What colors and shape language will speak to me on a subconscious level and entice me to keep looking? From there, I plan my design.

Q. What do you look for when choosing clients to work with?

Casey Robin: I hope for interesting clients with an open imagination and deep respect for their audience. If they are also whimsical and childlike, all the better. I, myself, am quite whimsical and childlike. It is important to note the distinction, in this case, between being childlike and being childish. A childlike person is able to tap into their deepest, earliest experience and see the world with fresh eyes. They retain their adult sense of reason but pair it with youthful wonder. A childish person, on the other hand, lacks emotional maturity. The childlike artist will paint you a fresh and lovely picture. The childish artist will wail and throw her paint at the wall.

Art helps us set a new vision for the future which can motivate, calm, and encourage us in the midst of uncertain times. It also sparks joy, stirs emotion, and help us better connect with our fellow humans.

Q. What was it like working with Disney?

Casey Robin: Working with Disney has been a tremendous growth experience. I have been fortunate to have worked with them in a number of different roles and capacities. Some fit me like a glove and others like a pinching 4-inch stiletto heel. I learned to honor my natural rhythm as an artist, and that Story and the Story Room are not the same things. I learned that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but time and chance happen to them all. Ultimately, my experiences with Disney taught me to value myself as an artist and work to develop my unique voice.

Q. What kind of projects excite you the most and why?

Casey Robin I am most excited by visual development for animated features because of these light-up parts of my brain don’t always get to come out to play. The animated feature is – among other things – a marriage of many art forms. It incorporates visual art, naturally, but also writing, acting, sound and music, dance, pantomime, and improvisation. It marries abstraction, color theory, observation, and imagination in a way that makes my neurons dance. I also enjoy storybook illustration because it is deeply satisfying to develop charming visuals with which to relay a simple story.

Q. What would you say are your strongest skills and most vital lessons you’ve learned?

Casey Robin: I am particularly skilled at observing the natural world and translating it into simple shapes and colors. I excel in gesture drawing, which gives all of my work dynamic rhythm. I also have a keen sense of color, developed over many years of digital and traditional painting. Still, the most vital lessons I’ve learned have been intangible: things like how to build and maintain a professional network and how to use social media without destroying my mental health. I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing to do is to take a walk.

Q. What do you consider to be the most significant achievements as an artist?

Casey Robin: Truthfully, I am still young in my career. My most beautiful achievements are just around the bend. To date, though, I am proud of developing and co-directing the animated short “Chalk” during my time at Disney feature. I am proud of my output of personal work – pinup girls and mermaids and fairies – and the community that has gathered around that work. I’m still tickled that I got to design a Pinup Girl dress for ladies to flounce around in. Most recently, I’ve been excited to develop animated characters in collaboration with Goldie Hawn and also to help with character designs for Breyer’s new preschool IP, Piper’s Pony Tales. Additionally, I am pleased to have originated the drawing challenge #MarchOfTheFairies, which has become a bit of a thing on Instagram.

Q. What do you do to keep growing and evolving in your craft?

Casey Robin: I draw and paint almost every day. Lately, I have enjoyed drawing live for my audience on Instagram. These little warm-ups keep my pencil moving and help me clarify my thought process as I narrate the thoughts running through my head as I make the picture. I also take in a lot of excellent art and keep setting myself new projects and challenges. There is no shortage of wonder and challenge in the world. I will run out of time on this earth before I run out of inspiration.

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[markgottliebliteraryagent]

Graphic Novel Creators Kenny Porter & Zach Wilcox

Kenny Porter is a professional writer living in West Michigan. He's most known for content development, writing comics, copy, blogs, and fiction. He graduated from Grand Valley State University with a BA in Writing. The writing program at GVSU allowed him to create his own curriculum, which he used to focus on fiction, writing for the web, genre studies, and manuscript development. He started his career in writing during high school and has since gone on to publish short stories, write articles for online magazines, and has won the first Top Cow Talent Hunt for Writing.

Zach Wilcox is a cartoonist based in Philadelphia. He holds an MFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a BS in Digital media from Drexel University. The goal of his work is to encourage young readers to get excited about art as a narrative tool and inspire future creators. When he isn't working on comics he enjoys time with his dog Finn and his three nephews.

Porter and Wilcox are the co-creators of the forthcoming graphic novel from Scholastic/Graphix, The Fearless Rider, in which a young girl and her pet ferret run away from home on their tricked-out bicycle on the first day of school to find her best friend who moved away and recapture her life before everything went wrong—pitched as a slice-of-life story with tone and setting of a Miyazaki film.

What do you enjoy about the comic book arts medium and what do you feel the graphic novel form of storytelling affords authors and creators?

KP: Comics have always been a part of my life and what I love most about them is that there are no limits to the kinds of visual stories you can tell. The great thing about original graphic novels is it allows you to break away from the single issue format of monthly comics to develop a pace that’s unique to the story. That’s something that Zach Wilcox and I are enjoying a lot with The Fearless Rider.

ZW: Graphic novels afford the reader a sense of control that you don’t get anywhere else. Being able to dwell on a panel or moment, or absorb a whole page at once, is such a unique and intimate experience. When you’re making something like that it’s sort of fun to imagine how the reader is going to interact with the work.

“I wanted to bring that same love of anime, manga, and live-action shows to Kara’s character.”

Have any anime/manga or comic book creators influenced The Fearless Rider, your forthcoming graphic novel? For instance, Hayao Miyazaki and Osamu Tezuka seem to come to mind.

KP: Miyazaki is definitely a huge influence on the tone of The Fearless Rider. I initially pitched it to Zach that way, as if it were a lost Miyazaki film about a girl who sets out to find her missing best friend. There’s also some influence of my love of Super Sentai and tokusatsu shows with the fake magical girl character Shinpi Rider that the main character adores. I grew up in a generation where Toonami was broadcasting these amazing shows from Japan that we had never heard of before, and I wanted to bring that same love of anime, manga, and live-action shows to Kara’s character.

ZW: Absolutely. I’m always finding new inspiration from other artists and people like Miyazaki really ignited my love for visual storytelling when I was young. The expressive nature of his work is something I’ll always be chasing.

“He lets the comic breathe and trusts the reader to immerse themselves in the story.”

The art of The Fearless Rider seems to be a mixture of manga influences, such as the gekiga or "dramatic" style of storytelling, often seen in the work of Tezuka. Your graphic novel also has many western influences, with inklings of ligne claire, the Belgium style of bold line comic illustration, often seen in Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin. How did you arrive at this style of art? Is it simply in vogue right now in comics, or has comic book illustration and storytelling been further globalized?

KP: From the start I wanted The Fearless Rider to have this kind of feel. I read a lot of manga and Franco-Belgian comics, so I’m always using those as an influence in terms of pacing and style. Also, Zach’s artwork completely fit the tone I was going for. I didn’t even consider anyone else for the project and called him right away with the idea.

ZW: The way Kenny addresses pacing and dialogue is something I really love. He lets the comic breathe and trusts the reader to immerse themselves in the story. I don’t know exactly how the style for the comic came about but I’m sure a lot of it has to do with his narrative structure and the world we’re building. Also, I love older comics like Tintin and Little Nemo!

Why a young girl's pet ferret as a character in The Fearless Rider...why not something more common, such as a cat or dog? Is there something more interesting or special there?

KP: I think it honestly has to do with my love of the movie The Beastmaster as a kid. He had a pair of ferrets named Kodo and Podo. I watched a lot of genre movies in elementary school and middle school, so I always thought that ferrets would make great adventure companions.

ZW: I always wanted a ferret when I was younger but that was a no-go from my parents, because apparently they have a bit of a smell. They are just so cute, who could care! I think it also fits Kara as she isn’t the type to have a basic pet. She’s unique in a lot of ways.

“...I’m still learning the ins and outs of the publishing world. It’s been a really exciting journey so far!”

How did you find your current literary agency and go on to get published with Graphix/Scholastic? What was the submissions process like?

KP: I found my current literary agency, Trident Media Group, after doing a Kickstarter for my original graphic novel Barnstormers!, which I created with artist Renny Castellani. I was contacted by you, Mark Gottlieb, during the Kickstarter and started developing a new project for the book market. From there, it was putting together the pitch with Zach and sending it out into the world. Graphix/Scholastic contacted us about the initial pitch and we fine-tuned the project from there.

ZW: I sort of let Kenny take the lead on this. The Fearless Rider will be my first published book, so I’m still learning the ins and outs of the publishing world. It’s been a really exciting journey so far!

Writing a graphic novel is so different from writing a miniseries or ongoing monthly title.

What do you feel the comic book publishing experience has been like with a larger independent book publisher like Scholastic, versus a direct-to-market comic book publisher such as IDW? Is the direct market holding comic books back?

KP: I’d say the pace is what’s mostly different. Writing a graphic novel is so different from writing a miniseries or ongoing monthly title. I enjoy both the traditional comic book publishing side and the larger independent book publishing side. Each has their own challenges and format that let me experiment with comic book storytelling.

ZW: I’m excited to work on a project I'm so passionate about for a long period of time. The struggle of smaller projects is tough because you spend so much time looking for work that you may not get as much done. I can’t wait to really sink my teeth into something more substantial.

“...I always let whoever I’m working with have their input in the storytelling process. It’s collaboration at every stage of the game.”

It is hard enough writing a story. Does also illustrating a story present its own set of challenges, or do you find that it is liberating in some way?

KP: Writing visually is a whole different skill set, so I always try to think like an artist (as best as I can) and I always let whoever I’m working with have their input in the storytelling process. It’s collaboration at every stage of the game. I’m just lucky to be working with someone as talented as Zach.

ZW: Kenny has been a blast to work with. He has a clear vision here and helping him to craft it is easier because of that. It’s always hard to bring a world to life but the back and forth of working with a writer takes a huge weight off my shoulders.

You get to be any comic book/manga/anime/video game character from whichever world of your choosing. Who do you choose to be and why?

KP: I would almost always choose to be a Green Lantern. Having that power ring and being able to fly through space and create insane constructs would just be too much fun. I recently wrote a Guy Gardner story for DC Comics and it was a dream come true to be able to play in that pocket of the DC Universe.

ZW: I’d say Link from The Legend of Zelda. The design of those game worlds are so immersive and surreal. Plus that outfit is tops!

“If you do great work and put yourself into your stories then people will resonate with that and will want to share them as well.”

Might you be able to share any advice with those still hoping to get their graphic novels published?

KP: I would say find a collaborator that you really gel with creatively, put your heart and soul into the book, and worry about making a great comic before worrying about publishing. If you do great work and put yourself into your stories then people will resonate with that and will want to share them as well.

ZW: Just create. As much as you can, as often as you can. Keep putting your creative energy out there and don’t be afraid to make connections. Rejection is a huge part of life so don’t let that stop you! Also, try to keep your stories small at first. Short sixteen page chunks are a great way to work and create a varied portfolio.

What can we expect next from the world of The Fearless Rider?

KP: I definitely have ideas for follow-ups and spin-off stories, even if they don’t directly connect with the main thread. The road is always wide open for more adventures.

ZW: I really want a one-shot of the Shinpi Rider character from the book. A fictional super sentai warrior with over the top action and drama! A guy can dream, can’t he?