Meet Gary Barker

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

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Gary with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

Because I love what I do, creating art on the Garfield strip or comics or teaching at Ringling College. There are times that I have to motivate myself but my career has been about deadlines and that keeps me motivated.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am very fortunate in that I have been able to live my dreams jobs. All I really ever wanted to do was draw. In 1983, Jim Davis hired me to work on his Garfield comic strip, primarily as a penciler, and still doing so to this day although now the duties are split between Dan Davis (no relation to Jim Davis) and myself. Forty plus years now. In 2004, I became adjunct faculty at the Ringling College of Art and Design and then in 2020 I became full-time faculty. I primarily teach second and third year Illustration, Graphic Novel, and one of three faculty members who collaborate with students selected by portfolio to create a 32-page color comic titled, “Meanwhile”, a recruitment tool for Ringling. I worked as a penciler for Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse in the 1990’s. I did penciling and some inking on the Garfield comic published by BOOM Studios under their Kaboom imprint.
I also co-developed Garfield’s Pet Force. Special things are happening all the time, especially for my students and they are my main focus these days.

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?

Practice, practice, practice! That is the secret. I’m still learning and growing all the time. It is a never ending process.

But for three qualities…

1. Passion. You have to love it. It has to be as important as breathing.
2. Tenacity. There will be tough and painful critiques and you have to learn from them and let it make you more determined.
3. Reliability. To be able to meet deadlines.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

Well, considering that I am now 67 years old, that is a possibility. And I have no plans to retire as long as I am able to do my work effectively, I want to teach my students and draw to the end. I believe that would be a good finale.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Hulk #389, inks by Mark Farmer.
The 1997-01-05 Garfield sunday was inked by Valette Greene. Valette was the inker of the Garfield strip for many years.

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