Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kevin Mellon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kevin, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I was living in Kansas City, MO. in 2011, working on comic books for Image Comics and various other indie companies, also watching a lot of TV while I worked. One of my favorite shows as a cartoon on FX named “Archer.” I was a fan of Floyd County (nee 70/30 Productions) and their previous show “Frisky Dingo”, so I was all aboard the Archer train before it even aired.
January, 2011 was when season 2 started airing, and I recall that I tweeted out blindly “thanks for the birthday present” and the, then, Art Director Neal Holman replied “You’re welcome!” I began to follow him after that and would reply to him occasoinally. Fall of 2011, he put out a call that they were hiring for story artists in Georgia. Not living there, I replied “aww f***, wish I could apply for that!” He was familiar with some of my comics work and sent me an application/test.
From there I was hired to work part time, remotely, on the in-production Season 3. At the end of that in early 2012, the company asked me to move to GA to work on season 4.
This was a huge risk for me. I had a bourgeoning comics career, as well as a family and friend base in KCMO that was growing stronger and I had no clue how working in TV/animation would be.
After some really hard deliberations, I decided the risk was worth it, even it was only short term.
12 years later, I’ve had the pleasure of working on Archer for 9 of the (soon to be) 14 seasons, as well as working on various live-action shows for the CW and moving into various directing jobs.
So far the risk was worth it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew in Kansas City, surrounding myself with music and comic books, and started making my own comic pages as soon as I realized that humans made them. The music came a little later, after much prodding and pleading with my parents. After putting out a few albums in High School, and drawing hundreds of comic pages, I went to college at the Kubert school in NJ, which is solely devoted to comic book illustration and instruction. Upon graduation, I moved back to KC, played music, and worked in bars, liquor stores, and pizza places while trying to get a comic book career started. Eventually, a publisher took a chance on me and my first graphic novel came out in 2007. From there I started the slow climb to making comics full-time. Around 2011 the Art Director on Archer at the time put out a call on Twitter wanting to hire storyboard artists, and you’ll see from my previous answer, what;s been going on since then. :)
As far as music goes: I put out 2 instrumental albums and an EP of songs in 2022. I have a slate of new songs coming out through the summer and fall this year. They’ll be available on all streaming platforms.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Pay for art.
I know that sounds glib, but we live in a world where so many people don’t realize that the things they use and consume in their daily lives require art and artists to exist. So many artists can’t support themselves on their personal work, and often struggle support themselves or a family with regular client work. Not to mention not having easy access to things like insurance and regular health care.
Pay for the music you consume. Buy albums and merch from the band. Buy records and mp3’s from the artists. Buy prints and artbooks from the creators. It all helps.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I try (read TRY, not succeed) in going at things with three things in mind when taking on new work/projects:
1. Will it make me a better artist?
2. Will it make me a better person?
3. Can I contribute in a meaningful way?
If I answer 2 out of 3, I generally will then ask about rate and schedule. I’ve failed at keeping these core things in mind a lot of times, but I’ve found that when I do, things go much smoother for me. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kevinmellon.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/@kmellon
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevinmellonart
- Twitter: twitter.com/@kmellon
- Youtube: youtube.com/@kevinmellon
Image Credits
All photos and Art by Kevin Mellon.