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

Nate, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Before coming to Los Angeles, my family and I resided in Dayton, Ohio. One day, I received a message from a recruiter about a job as a cartoonist for Red Bull in Los Angeles. I didn’t believe it at first (in fact, the message landed in my junk mail, and I just happened to find it). However, I reached out. Turns out, it was all legit. I had about five interviews and received a job offer. Plus, they wanted me to start in two weeks! It was a whirlwind.

This meant quickly packing up, finding a place to live, and moving over 2000 miles to an unknown place to an unknown job.

It was risky, considering I knew nothing about California or if I would be good at the role. There’s even a chance the position could have disappeared by the time I arrived. However, it paid off. Now, years later, there’s no other place I’d rather be, and it’s helped propel me to more cartooning projects — and even into animation.

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 have always wanted to be a cartoonist. That said, I grew up wanting to be a newspaper cartoonist. I became a syndicated cartoonist with my gag comic, Break of Day, in 2011. King Features now syndicates Break of Day, and it’s available online daily at https://comicskingdom.com/break-of-day.

However, times have changed. Newspapers are chopping off their comic sections left and right. So, I’ve had to adjust and take my career in new directions. This led me down the path of becoming a cartoonist for advertising (e.g. Red Bull), greeting cards, and books. I’m also a published graphic novelist with my book, A Fade of Light.

Beyond that, I now have my eye on animation. I’m enrolled in the LA Film School for a BS in Animation. I want to create my own animated series, be a showrunner, and become a part of the animation industry — which is a ton of fun.

 

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

If you want to be a cartoonist, it’s not an easy road. Don’t ever have shame having to work day jobs or do what you must to get to where you want to go. I’ve had numerous day jobs in my life — everything from being a waiter, car salesman, tech support operator — you name it. I used to feel ashamed of this, feeling like I couldn’t tell anyone that I was not JUST a cartoonist! However, it was all necessary to make a living, and many of my crappy jobs have inspired me to come up with ideas. Just never beat yourself up if you’re not “making it.” It’s not always a steady profession, and I have times of feast or famine to this day. However, when success does come along, it feels great knowing how hard you had to work for it.

 

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I can’t believe more ad agencies and companies don’t hire cartoonists. Cartoonists create this unique edge to things with a perspective that makes people pay attention. More places should embrace creative output for artists — and hire them! Having a good in-house artist can be beneficial in so many ways if you have an industry that uses art regularly. If you go to Indeed or LinkedIn and look up ‘cartooning jobs’, you’ll see probably nothing — or maybe something for a volunteer gig. It’s crazy how effective comics are, yet, it’s the first section to be removed from papers, and they aren’t looked at as advertising options, even though comics are one of the most effective forms of communication. Just look at the rise of graphic novels, as an example.

 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nfakes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_fakes
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natefakescartoons/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natefakes/