Meet Chris Fason

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Fason. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.

Hi Chris, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Simple answer: experience. As I write this, today is my 48th birthday. As I’ve gotten older and experienced the hills and valleys of this life, I find myself searching more and more for purpose; I guess we all do as we get older. I’ve found that I feel more fulfilled doing things that I enjoy that also bring a positive message to people.

I’ve always been drawn to art and illustration. Artwork has the ability to evoke strong emotions from people, make them think introspectively, and also bring joy in its creation. As an illustrator and visual communicator, I feel my purpose is to tell stories that people can connect with on some level.

It’s really about finding what drives you. Find the things that you can do, that you enjoy doing, and leave a positive impact on people. Easier said than done, though…

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

When I was a kid, every day I would ask my grandfather to let me know when he was done with the newspaper so I could read the comics section. My early favorites were Peanuts and Garfield but I became a huge fan of Calvin & Hobbes and Bloom County in my early teens. These strips taught me that a few panels of cartoon art on newsprint could really matter, make you think introspectively, and tell compelling stories. And my grandmother would bring home boxes of old dot-matrix printer paper for me to draw on.

In the summers when I would stay with my grandparents, my grandmother would also take me along grocery shopping. The grocery store we went to had those high, shallow-basket shopping carts that had extra room underneath. I would sit underneath and my grandmother would let me pick out a comic book to read while she shopped. And if I was good, she’d buy me one (I’d usually put the one I had read back and get a fresh book I hadn’t read).

Those memories with my grandparents were pretty special and had a huge impact on my love of cartooning and illustrating. I have been an independent comics creator now for 23 years.

My first book was (Super) Hero Happy Hour with writer Dan Taylor. We had to drop the “Super” from the title when we received a cease & desist from lawyers representing Marvel and DC for their co-ownership of the trademarked term “super hero” – and all variations thereof. Funny enough, I read the other day that the Big Two had recently lost said trademark. Oh well…

I’ve also worked on titles like Donald of the Dead and Star Marshals with Dan Taylor, Velour & Tweed with Taylor Mosbey, a slew of short pieces for various writers and publishers, and my own books like the autobiographical book I released earlier this year, What I Did Yesterday. Additionally, I participated in several 24-hour comics (where the challenge is to produce a 24-page comic in 24 hours. I wrote and drew a 24-page western vampire story in 2005 that was included in About Comics’ 24-Hour Comics Day Highlights 2006, which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Anthology. It didn’t win but that was really cool.

I’m currently working with DJ Coffman and the VeeFriends crew on comics, stickers, and trading cards for the VeeFriends.

You can find some of my work at:
geekpunkwebcomics.gumroad.com
instagram.com/fasonart
instagram.com/wildwaste
velourandtweed.com
penguintonia.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Perseverance with a positive attitude is huge, especially as an artist. You will get a lot of rejections and how you take those rejections will decide how well you fare as an artist and how much you enjoy the journey. I also have developed a healthy IDGAF attitude. I expect nothing from people about my work. If they love it, awesome. If they hate it, IDGAF. Keep going because you love it, not because of what anyone else may have to say Perseverance is fed by your own internal desire to grow and improve.

Objectivity is also important. It’s great if you want to make art but you can’t let any amount of success get to your head. There are millions of other talented artists out there and it’s important to know what else is out there and what others are enjoying. If you can fit into a niche that fulfills you, great! But be realistic about your abilities and always strive to improve.

And I guess curiosity. I love reading and learning new things and trying to figure out how to incorporate new (to me) things into my stories or new illustration techniques. Always be learning.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Fellow artists. To point out a couple of awesome artists and amazing friends, Tré Gibson and Joey Sabo have been my virtual studio-mates for several years now and they are always so encouraging, and crazy talented in their own rights. Find people who believe in you but are also honest and can keep you humble. All my creative partners have been incredible; I’ve been fortunate to work with folks who will let me take their scripts and visually realize them in my own way, and that’s been an incomparable bonus in my growth. I do my best to realize my own faults and missteps in my work so I can make each project better and better.

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