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

Hi Mary, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

In comics, there’s this thought that being younger is better — you have more stamina for drawing, you can pull all-nighters with less consequence, etc.

But I’m super grateful having started comics later than most. I always drew comics casually, of course, but I initially saw my career as one in writing, so I studied English and Creative Writing in undergrad. Not only did this help me with the fundamentals of creating narratives, I also wasn’t thrown immediately into the competitiveness of art school, where I think I personally would’ve floundered.

Instead, art was always a release & escape for me. Art is my job now, and has been for almost a decade, but it still holds some of that “hobby magic” to me. That allows me to work for long hours without getting bored. Here’s hoping that feeling doesn’t go away as I age! 😅

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?

I’m a graphic novelist working in the young adult genre who recently released her debut work, YOU AND ME ON REPEAT, though Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. I’m also a staff artist at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, the studio behind Snoopy & the comic strip Peanuts.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

If you’re coloring a comic, you should use flatting tools. They’re tools that automatically fill in color blocks behind your lineart.

You can purchase the most popular script for this functionality here: https://peltmade.com/psplugins-flatting.html

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Being an artist is less like paving a concrete road forward than it is surfing a wave. So much of it is luck and timing, and so much of it is outside your control. Those accolades may not come, and you may not land that gig. But as long as you find genuine joy and fulfillment in making your art, independent of outside feedback, you should keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://maryshyne.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/maryshyneonline
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.shyne.850433
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@maryshyneonline
• Other: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maryshyneonline.bsky.social

Image Credits

Image credit for second photo: Patty Norman