We were lucky to catch up with Patrick Butler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Patrick , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I feel I’ve always wanted to be creative, as a kid I would draw comics and make up stories. However, It wasn’t until the 2017 Sophomore year of high school that I took it seriously. After that, I haven’t taken any serious breaks from drawing unless I’m working on other projects. It took until about a year ago for me to start having confidence in my skills, for me to begin selling and taking on big projects. I believe all artists get to a breaking point where they violently transform into someone who can make anything they set their mind to. Anyhow, I knew I wanted to be an artist when I thought about having a corporate job in high school. Thinking back on it now, I still feel the same way. Companies siphon the life out of their employees by promising a stable income. I want to live on my terms and create art that is so good it’s worth buying. Which is something I’m doing my best to achieve.

Patrick , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Currently, I am working towards a BFA with a focus on drawing. I have 3 semesters left and if it’s possible I’ll pursue a master’s. If possible I like to take classes for illustration of comics, because that’s what I’d like to do outside of college. I enjoy making Illustrations with heavy hatching and have always been inspired by Manga artists who focus on quality over quantity. Specifically Daisuke Igarashi, Ino Asino, and Tatsuki Fujimoto. It is my goal to create stories and comics with the amount of care they do. I pride myself in the meticulous nature of my linework, I love to play with textures and hatching to create a unique art style. I enjoy when people look at my work and ask “How long did it take” And “Why would you spend so much time drawing that?”. My work illustrative focuses on character drawings in elaborate backgrounds. It is something I’ve always enjoyed, I feel background puts characters in contexts and helps them stand out from standard character illustrations. I’d like to transfer that trait to comic-making, but it’s not easy with deadlines. As I make more comics I’m sure my process will get faster, and I’ll be able to produce more work. As for the characters I love to customize their fashion and try to match with their personalities. I also quite enjoy giving my characters interesting abilities and powers, I think it adds some fun. I make other forms of art as well, like photography and sculpture. I enjoy the unique challenges of both but often I feel they distract me from my true passions. This semester in particular I embraced sculpture and would like to add it to a list of things I can do confidently.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media is something I’ve always struggled with, It takes a lot of effort to make a big following. I have never really had a big following, most of my supporters are people I know personally. However, I believe that’s equally important. The main advice I have is make good art and people will follow. So I try to make the best art I can and push myself. The only problem I have with Social media nowadays is its use in making AI art generators. Recently Mark Zuckerburg announced public posts on Facebook and Instagram would be scrapped to make a new Image, text, and video AI. It’s disturbing that companies are willing to turn their platforms into image meat grinders rather than keeping them a “safe” place. I’m starting to think I’d be a lot safer to post on my website instead but that would kill my following. A strategy I’m willing to try is to post a blurred image of my artwork on social media and offer a high-resolution version of my website.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Most people think people pursuing art are foolish and childish. It isn’t until they reach great heights they believe otherwise. Society also has very high standards for art so most individual artists are held to such a standard it’s impossible to feel adequate. It took a long time for me to want to share work with non-artists because I would get the same reaction. They would politely tell me, I’m not good enough. Maybe this isn’t a problem for everyone, but it felt like a huge blow to my chest when it occurred. Especially when it’s from family and friends. It takes a long time for artists to mature and make good work, in my view the best way to help support artists is to just let them do their thing. If they need advice on a piece they will ask.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://omigoditspatrick.wixsite.com/wizardsattic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spookyredwizard/?hl=af
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/spookyredwizard?lang=en
• Other: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/me-and-my-stone-pal-/chapter-1-/viewer?title_no=850443&episode_no=2&serviceZone=GLOBAL (Webtoons, My comic work.)

Image Credits
Patrick Butler