Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anthony Barbara. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Anthony, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
The first time I would’ve earned money as a creative would’ve been in the Fall of 2022 at the SCAD Mini-Comics Expo, a yearly comic artist market held by the SCAD Sequential Art department every November in Savannah, Georgia.
I was a student in the department at the time and was contemplating the trajectory I wanted to go down with my art, the indie comics route was on my radar and luckily my department offered a self-publishing/business prep class that catered to that track, SEQA 360 – Mini-Comics. The class was run by one of my favorite professors and now friend, David Allen Duncan, he covered all sorts skills of the trade like book formatting, book binding, book printing options, screen printing, table presentation, product manufacturing, travel budgeting, etc… It was a very well rounded class. It was very energizing to be creating hand bound comics and zines with my peers, one of my favorite projects for the class was where we all collaborated to make a box set under the theme of drinks, everyone got to take home a custom screen printed boxed collection where everyone made a comic tackling a different beverage, I chose Absinthe. We even had a visiting artist, Dustin Harbin, who had a couple lectures that demonstrated part of his creative process as well as his approach to vending at conventions and comic festivals. They were super informative talks that gave me a lot of inspiration for the Expo. By the end of the semester I had created a handful of books, stickers, and screen printed posters and for the first time ever I had products in stock.
Everything culminated in the Mini-Comics Expo, a building spanning artist market where we in the class tabled along with fellow students, professors, and alumni of the department. I was quite nervous before things kicked off…. Would anyone care about what I had? Would I hate the experience tabling? Did I waste a whole class? All these fears were squashed by the end of the day, my books were a hit. It was a blast to engage with the community about art in such a direct way and see the work of so many of my peers put on display. I walked away with all my materials paid for and a little profit on top, setting me down a path where I’ve made it a mission to travel around the South East with my wares to spread some comic book action and adventure.
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?
My name is Anthony Barbara and I am a 24 year old independent artist of many hats. Cartoonist, illustrator, toy designer, print maker, and occasionally educator, in 2023 I graduated with a B.F.A in Sequential Art from SCAD where I learned a great many things. Since graduating, Savannah, Georgia has been my home where I’ve been staying involved with the community and applying my skills to bring the ideas of businesses, musicians, and myself to reality. When I have the time I bring my own work around the South East to different festivals and expos to share my cartoons with art lovers of all kinds both in print with my comics and into the third dimension with hand made resin toys and wooden carnival games that bring my world off the page and into a real experience for the folks I meet. In my art I’m often inspired from the nature, cultures, and stories of the South West. Across a few of my stories you’ll see anthropomorphic cacti trekking through the desert and getting up to all sorts of adventure. Growing up I went on a handful of my own adventures to that part of the world with my family and many years later it is still having an effect.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
In the future I would love to dedicate time to being an educator in the arts so much of my journey now has that goal in mind. I want to explore as many different types of mediums in different fields and different scales as I can so when I am ready to teach, I can speak to both the foundational or technical aspects of art as well as speak from experience. I want to be able to help guide others on their journey’s when I can so I can only see it helping if I know a thing or two about the different paths.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The community. Weather it’s on the road visiting and connecting with creatives and art lovers in different cities or hosting the neighborhood drink and draw here in Savannah, the community that you can find among artists can be incredible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://AnthonyBarbara.com
- Instagram: @mrrunningman
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-barbara-a87628230/
Image Credits
Anthony Barbara