We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darryl Cokes Ii a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Darryl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

While I was a kid, I played a lot of video games and watched a decent amount of TV shows/ films. One thing that always drew me towards them was the the idea of other worlds to explore or take part in and how the affected the characters living in them, what they liked to do, and everything in between! The idea of creating something that maybe we haven’t seen before, or making a character that someone or myself could relate to, is truly a gratifying experience!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So my journey started just a little bit before college creatively. Towards the end of my senior year in high school I knew I wanted to go into the creative field but not sure exactly where. At the time I just knew I loved to draw, even if I didn’t talk about it that much.

After digging a bit into different creative programs I found myself at the Cleveland Institute of Art where I would go on to major in and receive a BFA in illustration. This wasn’t without its challenges though. There were many times where I struggled or felt as if I “wasn’t good enough” in comparison to those around me who I felt were way stronger artists. It took the summer of my sophmore year returning to college to shed that mentality and adopt a new one where the only person I should compare myself to artistically, is the person I was the last time I picked up a pencil, or tablet pen. Every year since that day, I feel like I always am on the lookout for new ways to improve my craft whether its drawing or writing and I feel like I’ve continued to grow ever since.

After college, I continued working on my own comic book series titled “Air Boards” that I started as a thesis in college and now have three books of it completed! Additionally I did freelance of any kind that I could get whether it was logos, book covers, portrait illustrations and more while working at Gamestop. A year Eventually I would go on to joining my friends Jimmy Taylor, and Noah Cutwright at Imaginex Animation Studios LLC where we worked together on animated shorts and short films with the likes of comedian Niles Abston. During this time too I had picked up a job as QA with Vicarious Visions (Now Blizzard) working on Diablo 2 Resurrected and even getting to learn a bit about the art production pipeline there. At present day I now work at Hero Forge where I work as art QA as well as producing concept art from time to time!

The journey was never linear, in fact it has felt pretty nomadic, but I feel as though adapting to what is in front of me is something that I take pride in.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Honestly one of the most rewarding aspects I’ve ever felt is holding a physical copy of my own comic book and flipping through it. The realization of seeing that all of it came from an idea in my head that started on a blank page, and came together from writing the script, drafting the panels, inking it, etc. is truly in experience that never gets old.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I would say the best way to support is to buy the product the artist is selling, whether its a comic book, a t-shirt, a song, or an indie game that they built from the ground up. But another way to support that often I feel that can go un-noticed is sharing the work of an artist you admire/ like via social media platforms. You never know who it could reach or who it could inspire. I always say it’s free and takes little to no time to press a button to share and like something on any platform.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artstation.com/drdrain30
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darryl_draws/
• Other: Where to check out Air Boards! – https://www.blurb.com/b/11622148-air-boards-3