Page 40 - PR's - People & Culture

The light to my drafting table clicks on like this every night after work. For the past four years, I’ve made this almost a ritual – Get home, make a quick meal, and get right back to work.
For the past four years, I’ve sat at my drawing table creating my own comic book under LFDF Comics, “Kawal: Soldier of the Peo- ple”. This was a life-long dream that was nally realized last year when the rst issue printed. This was all surrounded by a whirlwind of Comic Book Conventions, weekly gatherings of like-minded professionals, personal commissions, and daily social media mar- keting to get my name out there.
But where did this all start?
My parents moved to Chicago, Il back in 1974 after a short stint in Hong Kong. My Mom was a ight attendant with the now-defunct Trans World Airlines or TWA. My Dad, like most Pinoys around that time, was a seasoned bass player and saxophonist who traveled around with bands around Hong Kong, Singa- pore, Taipei, Okinawa, and of course, The Philippines. Aside from that, he was also a skilled graphic artist and painter, which is how he also made his money to support his new family.
After I was born, I realized my Dad’s
talent and work from a very young
age. The smell of ink and nishing
solutions was almost constantly in the house. He would do things like draw sketches of my siblings and I, and it
would be a normal occurrence for him
to be oil painting in the garage. As a
kid, instead of buying the pre-made Valentine’s Day cards for my class-
mates, he spent time making them himself.
My earliest memory of his lessons to me was to copy a pro le of a man with a mustache. When I nished, it looked like Lionel Richie. My Dad was impressed.
Fast forward to the late 80’s: I’ve graduated from tracing and copying comic books to creating my own, albeit nowhere near as anatomically correct as I’d like it, but I was on my way.
High School hit and I was drawing comic book characters and cartoons for friends. It was also during that time that Im-
age Comics had debuted, boasting creator-owned comics. A friend of a friend had landed an internship with them during High School, which made me feel like a dream was attainable.
During my college years, the focus went from art to music, and
I went on to road manage a group that was signed to a major record label. The sketchbook stayed with me and my dreams of becoming a full-time comic book artist was relegated to becom-
ing just a hobby.
I drew over the years sporadically, but
it wasn’t until a few years ago when I moved to Las Vegas that the dream of becoming a comic book artist became a reality. I had met a gentleman by the name of Free Isabelo, owner and opera- tor of LFDF Comics, here in Las Vegas.
I had no idea that he was an artist or owned a comic book imprint, but the conversation of comic books came up. I mentioned how I drew over the years and he asked to see my stuff. The rst thing that came out of his mouth was, “You need to put 10 pages together and I’ll help you publish it.”
That’s when it began. I went to the art store and picked up materials. I drew and sketched every night to get the “artist rust” off. I put together a storyline for a comic, drew concept art, and planned for the future. After Free ex- posed me to the comic book commu- nity, I was off to the races.
Today, I have one book under my belt, numerous shows from local to the illustrious San Diego Comic
Con. I have fans as far away as Brazil and France. I have made relationships with TV stars and comic book legends.
My interests and experience is very wide, ranging from traditional mediums to digital. My style is in line with today’s comic book styles, but I can transition to realism and some abstract art if need be.
by QUINCE VICTORIA
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PHILIPPINEREPUBL
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