We were lucky to catch up with Chris Haywood recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Good question! So I grew up drawing all the time. I would draw from the cartoons I would watch on tv or the movies that I’ve seen in theaters. I took a 6 year break from drawing to pursue music and when the pandemic hit I started to draw again. Taking a long time off from something you realize how much you still need to learn so I enrolled in online classes. I found an illustration program online and started to learn from the best illustrators in the industry. Alot of trial and error in finding my style but I found that the next project I would do would be closer to what I actually want my work to look like. I decided that the only way to learn to get better is to draw all the time and put a lot of work into a sketchbook. The sketchbook sped up learning in a big way. Drawing from life and in the moment made me a better artist. I think for my career storytelling is the most important skill to know. You can draw stick figures for a comic but if the storytelling is there then you have successfully completed a comic book. For me, the internet has allowed me to learn what I want to learn when I want to learn it. It has totally changed the game for me and I don’t see any obstacles stopping anyone from learning what they want to. It’s all about drive and determination.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hey! I’m Chris. I am a comic artist / writer / musician from Kansas City. I started making comics in 2020 and have released the first issue of my sci fi comic Moon Trees on GlobalComix.com in 2025. Moon Trees is a sci fi action thriller set on a sentinet moon called Lumaris in a distant galaxy. The story centers on Abe who is an astronaut who gets ressurected back to life after a horrific event on his ship. As one of the last survivors he is tasked with cleansing this moon of corruption by cutting down trees but he is also looking for his dad who was lost in space years before on mission to find a relic of immense power to save earth from decay. Jiddo is an alien soldier who is on the run from an Empire hellbent on conquering every known world of their galaxy. These two characters must come together to discover the mystery of this corruption and to find a way to get themselves back home. Think Interstellar/The Martian meets Finding Nemo/Dead Space/ Sci fi pulp comics of the 50s with Dragon Ball Z style action and quiet heartfelt emotional moments throughout.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The goal for me, is to get my stuff in front of as many people as possible! I like making my own stories and worlds. I think I want to be hired to bring my own voice into spaces where there isn’t much of unique voice. I think the act of drawing and writing is carthartic and I can really say what I want to say. No gatekeepers. No one telling me to change that or fix that. I’m in control, and that’s something that you don’t get when you work for big mainstream giants.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think the most rewarding aspect is having feedback from the people who take in your work. Whether its a song or comic, hearing the feedback is important to me and having dialogue about different topics and themes creates this loop of insight and inspiration. I think we as artists need to separate ourselves from our work to let it effect someone else. Once it leaves our heads its up to the reader or listener to decide whether we conveyed what we were trying to convey. Sometimes its a total surprise to us and people have different interpretations of the same thing. All their opinions are valid good or bad. It’s up to us as artists to listen, learn, and grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrisgkhaywood.com
- Instagram: @chrisdrawscomics
- Youtube: @chrisdrawscomics
- Soundcloud: Chris Haywood Music
Image Credits
Chris Haywood