Meet Ethan Qua

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ethan Qua a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ethan, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

I just try to make cool art and music that makes people laugh! I find that when I start taking myself too seriously, the art ends up coming out weird and not right, so I try to avoid it. I think human interaction’s really important to my process. I love making art with my friends and seeing their reaction to what I’ve been working on.

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember and the motivator for me’s always been making stuff that’s funny or cool.. Growing up I was always doodling and drawing cartoons in class to show my friends, so that’s the mindset I try to keep when making art today. If I’m ever feeling burnt out or depressed about art, I think back to being 11 in the classroom trying to draw the stupidest thing I could think of to pass to my friend in class and it reminds me why I like doing art. Even now if I’m feeling blocked I’ll invite some friends over to draw and we just spend the time goofing off and catching up. After these sessions, I always come out with a renewed sense of purpose.

I try to keep the same attitude with my music as well. My bandmate Brian and I have been friends since high school, so most of our practices end up being us shooting the shit and throwing ideas back and forth until we have something we think is funny. That feeling of trying to make another person laugh as hard as possible is super important to keeping me creatively motivated.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a Los Angeles based Cartoonist and Musician. I like drawing monkeys, cool aliens, and guys fighting. My work includes animation, comics, and Punkwadz, a line of trading cards consisting of 72 original characters. I love meeting new people, especially new artists and musicians, and getting to share my art with everyone is really special to me.

I’ve been involved in the music scene in L.A. for the past six years, designing fliers for shows and doing live art for bands while they perform. However, most recently you can find me at shows drawing speed portraits of new people I meet. I do all my portraits in one minute, except special request ones where I draw the subject as a monkey or alien.

I’m also the front man for comedy rock band, Funderguns and the Monkey King, which I’ve been part of for almost six years with my bandmate, Brian. We cool write songs about TV, penises, being in a malaise, and chain restaurants.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think one of the most important skills to have when you’re navigating life in general is the ability to connect and make friends with people. I’ve been super lucky to be surrounded by such cool people for the last six years who have introduced to so many cool opportunities that I wouldn’t have experienced if I hadn’t had the known the right people. Last year, I got to direct and animate a music video for the band Safety Pins’ single “Bad 4 U,” an opportunity I got by selling my art at music shows organized by their label three years before. It was a really sick experience that I never would have gotten if I hadn’t put my work out there.

I also think versatility is a really important trait to have as an artist. In order to work with the most people possibleyou’ve gotta be able to understand what they want and meet them where they’re at. I did a lot of freelance in college for extra money and being able to adjust your style to meet a client’s needs is crucial.

But overall, I’d say the most important traits to have are an excitement for making stuff and a desire to improve. As much as I love drawing and making art, it’s not always easy and there are days that really suck. Even when you’re working on a project you love, you’re still gonna deal with things like long, frustrating days, being underpaid, and a lack of immediate success. But when I’m feeling at my limit, I remember being a kid and trying to make my friends laugh with my cartoons and it reminds me what excites me about art. Keeping that mindset really helps to keep me focused and motivated in what I do. I think it’s important for all artists to remember where their passion initially came from.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I’m always looking for new people to work and collaborate with! I animate, do comics, illustrate, and do music, so if any of that interests you reach out on my instagram (@qua.zone) I’m excited to meet and work with more cool people!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

@undef.0
@wyrdkid

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