We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maxi Rodriguez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maxi below.
Alright, Maxi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
I honestly wish I had taken my creative career more seriously when I was younger. My first official paid commission was in 8th grade and a friend paid me $20 to draw a color piece of Spawn. I didn’t charge my friend but he was insistent on paying my worth and at the time, little me thought $20 was too much but I couldn’t give it back so I just saved it for a rainy day. In high school, I did free art for friends and classmates because I didn’t think I should be paid for it and it is something I do regret. In college, I still did small art commissions here and there but I charged favors or lunch. It was a start but I still didn’t take myself seriously because I believed the negative comments regarding being a full-time artist.
Maxi, 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?
So I create plus-size positive art and comics. At first, I was only focused on women since I am a plus-size woman but I’m slowly trying to include men as well as members of the LGBTQA+ community thanks to the help of my friends and fans who send me requests for more representation. My main comic is “Chronicles of a ChubbyBunny,” which centers around Artist and her relationship with herself; who is represented by ChubbyBunny, the confident sassy version of herself as well as her partner/husband, HandsomeStallion. Artist is a plus-size straight Latina woman with self-esteem issues as well as body dysmorphia and the comics show how she deals with them. HandsomeStallion’s character also deals with self-esteem issues and toxic masculinity.
When I first started this comic series, I was disappointed with the lack of mixed-size couple and plus-size positivity comics online. I was even more bitter by how plus-size bodies are portrayed in the media and I kinda just got fed up so I started creating these comics in my attempt to make a difference. At the time, I was still working my amusement park job and my graphic design job so comics were a side hobby. After I was let go from my design job, my mother-in-law asked me what my plan was and I answered, “Stay at the park till I find something in my field.” She brought up the MFA in Comics program in San Francisco but I turned it down pointing out my concern with loans but she said with a straight face, “Ponle en los manos de Dios. Usted va a garar su maestras!” (“Put them in God’s hands. You are going to get your Masters!”)
I graduated with my MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2019 and it was a pretty awesome experience. During grad school, I got to meet my now friends in the industry as well as professionals with years of experience. Grad school also taught me how to print and bind my own comics at home, code for interactive comics, and even learned the business side of comics and art. I ended up quitting my amusement park job after my first semester of grad school. It was a difficult decision but my schedule and declining health was hard enough and looking back now, I’m glad I left that job.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I feel for me, the most rewarding aspect of being a Latina plus size artist is how other plus size bodies feel represented and they let me know of their feelings about my work. I’ve had fans write to me online telling me how my work makes them feel seen in a positive light and not as the butt of the joke.
During a panel that I was participating in at the Long Beach Comics Expo in Long Beach, CA, it was pointed out by the moderator that I am from Long Beach and I remember there was a chubby little Latina girl in the audience and her eyes lit up. At the end of the panel, she and her mom approached me and she began explaining how she feels left out because there still isn’t a lot of plus-size Latinas in comics and cartoons and how she related to me when I pointed out my feelings as a child due to a lack of representation and how I decided to do something about it instead of waiting for someone to do it for me. She then asked, “Can I make comics too?” I responded with, “Not only can you make comics but I can’t wait to read it when you publish it.”
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Due to chronic back pain from an untreated injury I had since I was a toddler, I’ve always had difficulties standing and walking for too long. As a result, working my amusement park job was very difficult without a stool to sit on so I would often times be in too much pain to the point where I didn’t have the strength to go to work the next day and it became too much for me. One day, not only was I sick but my body could barely stand but because I didn’t have enough sick pay, they had me work my full shift or else I would be suspended.
I called my boyfriend (now husband) crying and explaining the situation. My mother-in-law was overhearing me cry from the pain and became very angry at my job. She advised me to turn in my two weeks and not to worry about the house bills as we’ll figure it out.
I applied for unemployment but was turned down due to leaving my job willingly but was advised to apply for disability. My doctor refused to help me on her terms which were, “yOu’Re JuSt OvErWeIgHt AnD nEeD tO lOsE wEiGhT.”
With no way to make my own income and not wanting to rely too much on my boyfriend, I was in a pretty dark place and it reflected on my homework assignments for grad school. My mother-in-law approached me one day and suggested I start my own small business. She even showed me where to apply for a vendor’s permit and what I could use it for.
This was in 2017 and for a while, it was hard getting out there. Even at my first comic con, it was difficult getting people’s attention. I launched my Patreon three times during those years in the hopes I could pull in more income. The worst of it all was when I was hospitalized in 2018 during my second Fall semester in grad school and it set me back physically and mentally. My now husband had just started his first year of medical school, his older sister was a professor in Dubai so my in-laws couldn’t help me as much during my hospital visit but they did send family friends to check on me once in a while. My mom was luckily there while I was in the hospital.
Today I am in a better spot than I was a few years ago. I’m still a working progress but at least I now have Patreons so I have some steady monthly income as a small time artist.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kasutoproductions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kasutoproductions/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChubbyBunnyArt
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@SSGRodriguez
- Other: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kasutoproductions Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/kasutoproductions Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/chronicles-of-a-chubbybunny/list?title_no=175804
Image Credits
All artworks included were created by me, Maxi Rodriguez (KasutoProductions)