Where would I be without comics
So I’ve been thinking lately how different my life would be if I didn’t spend all this time drawing comics. Actually, it feels pretty good to be able to just type that sentence. Makes me feel like I’m finally getting things out of my head and into a sequential story. I’ve known since I was 12 or 13 that I wanted to create comics – if not for a living then at least as a serious hobby. When I think back, it’s pretty crazy how it has affected my life.
When I got out of high school, the plan was to go to Penn State, get a degree in graphic design, and work in the design field while I worked toward a career in comics. The fact that Penn State, while awesome for football, is pretty crappy for graphic design never really entered the equation until I became aware that the chances of getting into the graphic design program were pretty slim. Now, I was a dreamer, but I was also a pragmatist, so I knew I needed to have a real job if I wanted to support my comic buying/creating addiction. While a degree in drawing and painting from PSU would have probably rewarded me with a nice career in the food service industry, I figured I needed something a little better, so I transferred to a small art school in York, PA.
So my motivation was to get a decent job, but my real motivation was to get a job that would pay me so I could keep working on comics. I didn’t realize that my motivation was about to change, though. I met my wife, Sarah, at the aforementioned art school and promptly married her after we graduated.
My professional career has taken quite a few turns since then, but I’ve since settled into the web design field and also into a pretty nice little day job. So I guess you could say without comics, I’d be a lonely hobo, destined to die alone in a dark alley somewhere. Ok, that might be a bit extreme. I’m not making my living from comics at the moment, but it’s undeniable how they’ve shaped my life for the better. So I guess the moral of the story is: follow your dreams even if they don’t necessarily take you to the destination you were expecting. Oh, and read comics… that’s important too.
