Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Antonio Denis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Antonio , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Boy, that seems so long ago, doesn’t it?

I started drawing when I was just a kid. Most of was stick figures, but I was surrounded by cartoons, comics and anime at a young age. I religiously watched The Simpsons, Cartoon Network and SpongeBob Squarepants (and still do) while ingesting a flurry of comic strips like Peanuts, Pearls Before Swine, Foxtrot, Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County. I really wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist; but in hindsight given how strict, censorious and conservative newspaper funny pages are I feel like I dodged a bullet. But looking back at it, what really started my path to being a cartoonist was reading Captain Underpants books (religiously, too! See a pattern?) and wondering how much I could get away with. Dav Pilkey was a major inspiration to me as a kid, as well as Gennedy Tartakovsky, Rob Renzetti, Craig McCracken and Barbara Slate.

What was difficult was my childhood. I am neurodivergent, but with or without that perspective I dealt with a myriad of traumatic events: an alcoholic, narcissistic father who may or may not had BPD (borderline personality disorder), I was impoverished and at risk of homelessness, I was bullied and verbally abused at elementary school, then eventually being molested by my mother’s boyfriend at the time, as well as losing a close friend to suicide to name a few events. This trauma was extensive and it led me into doubting myself, my drawing skills and my creative output. No one, no child, not even an adult should go through this at all whatsoever. But for me, I felt like I was the universe’s punching bag.

I rarely drew comics on and off as a kid, from a comic drawing tutorial at my middle school to an art piece representative my views of the world (at the time in community college). I mostly turned to making Garry’s Mod pictures as a kid but toxic drama drew me away from the community and Garry’s Mod as a whole. Oh, the stories I could tell…

I didn’t start seriously drawing until I was 19. At the time I wanted to be far more ambitious with my artwork despite my skill level, but lo and behold, I had to deal with someone I like to call the “Art Teacher from Hell”. I went to a community college at the time, and the art classes there were decidedly mixed…this one was awful. This lady was the most tyrannical, hostile, melodramatic person I ever met. She created a toxic and needlessly competitive working environment, insulting amateur artists to even experienced tattoo artists alike. One ugly moment involved her cruelly mocking a student’s speech impediment. I nearly gave up on drawing after that class after dealing with her insults – calling my artwork mediocre and talentless. She was an awful, narcissistic, mean-spirited woman protected by layers of red tape and sex appeal.

It wasn’t until the pandemic that I slowly returned to drawing. I started discovering more cartoons and comics, from alternative cartoonists like Peter Bagge, Adrian Tomine and Lynda Barry to European comics like Asterix and Obelix, Viz and Judge Dredd, and video games like Skullgirls and Helltaker (sorry, superheroes!) I did have to seek help from outside artists to help refine the character designs we see here. Today I make it a regular habit to draw and sketch as much as I can – even after work or a busy day.

Antonio , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi everyone! My name is Antonio Denis! I’m based in Lakewood, Colorado and I’m currently a university sophmore studying environmental geography. Drawing cartoons initially started off as a potential career choice, but soon became a hobby of mine. I’m a bit of a late bloomer, took a break for a year or two, then came roaring back into drawing and haven’t stopped since. I mostly do original and fan art, namely comics and pieces of my favorite cartoons, manga, comics and video games (especially Nintendo).

My work blends irreverence and innocence, one that is rebellious but also being genuinely sweet and positive. It represents a present that no matter what see see on the news cycle and politics these days is hopeful and endearing, and just a few steps forward to a better future. I make it my passion to design characters and make stories that I feel are diverse, inclusive and genuinely interesting – every character no matter their identity always play a role in my stories no matter if it’s horror, comedy, drama, whatever. There’s lots of scientific detail, world-building and lore in my work, juxtaposed by consistent characterization and development.

I also avoid a lot of tropes and ideas such as excessive gore, crude humor, violence against women, children and animals as a few examples. They disturb me extensively so there’s no point including these elements in my work; however, don’t let the art style and rest of this paragraph fool you. Much of my work is intended for mature audiences – expect some ample swearing, drug and sex references, some, uh, well-endowed characters and a teensy bit of edgy humor (more like ‘holy crap he got away with that?!?’, not blatant hatred or whatever). I’m also working on another set of characters and stories intended for an adult audience.

I think what I do is for myself above all else – tell the stories I want to tell, the characters I want to make is my ultimate artistic mission. Having total ownership of my work, not carte blanche on the content I can include in my work. Just telling a story and characters I want to see means the whole world to me. The risque stuff somehow comes after. But I also don’t want to pigeonhole myself into being a cartoonist – I want to try my hands with animation and voice acting. But that’ll all come in due time.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

Holy f**k, NFTs are still relevant these days?!

Jokes aside, one of the things I do take pride in is how my work isn’t made into NFTs. They have no place in the artistic sphere despite what a lot of suits, corporations and venture capitalists want you to believe. They damage the environment and have little value. Artists that willingly turn their art into NFTs aren’t smart – just greedy. I think I’d lose my soul if I made my art into a NFT, just as much as if I used my characters to advertise junk food and alcohol.

No need for that noise.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Social media overusage can destroy your artistic abilities in favor of audience and clout.

It’s great being your own boss, but social media should be seen as a tool to get yourself out there, not a livelihood. I have seen genuinely talented cartoonists, artists, video editors and voice actors remain chronically online and behave unprofessionally and inappropriately, as well as harming their artistic quality, to draw the same old sexy cartoon women or voice the same character or whatever else to maintain their social media follower count and Patreon reserves. The issue isn’t what they’re drawing, editing or voicing, but playing it safe over and over to maintain an artificial online audience that can ultimately lead to burnout and a drop in quality. I tried this before – and it never amounted to anything, influenced seeing online peers achieve fifteen minutes of fame online…what worked for them didn’t work for me, and it led to a reckoning.

Chasing clout and ‘fame’ online isn’t worth it, let alone totally relying on internet content creation. You must express your true self. Experiment, take risks. Do something new as yourself and yourself alone. You’ll lose some people, but your chances working professionally will increase and having in-person fans means a lot more than just your X follower count.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Antdenis
• Instagram: @its_antonio_man

Image Credits

All artwork by Antonio Denis. Character and items seen here belong to Cartoon Network, Sega, Hololive, Shonen Jump, Capcom and Nintendo.