We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rashad Doucet. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rashad below.

Rashad, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

To be honest, I think it’s something I had always wanted to do, but was scared off of it a bit when I became a teenager. However it all started when my grandma gave me pen and paper to keep me quiet during church. She’d tell me to write and draw all of my ideas down and lol, I’ve never really stopped.

Most of these ideas were just variations of all the comics I was reading at the time but as I got older I focused more on the writing and knew for sure that I’d at least pursue that one day. I’d draw my characters too but felt too intimidated to actually draw comic pages. Backgrounds and panel layouts were something I wanted to get right or not at all.

Luckily I got over this fear and started drawing comics in high school. But college made me realize I was more artist than writer and switched from majoring in English to Fine Art. But I was still a bit afraid to pursue comics full time so I focused on graphic design as well.

Then Hurricane Katrina happened.

Which definitely put things in perspective. From then on I decided to pursue comics as a career path. I had been to a few cons and even had a few jobs from those endeavors but it wasn’t my entire focus. I ended up attending SCAD to pursue my masters degree in sequential art a.k.a. comics.

Taking the time to just learn about making comics and the industry itself was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Glad that family and friends nudged me to do so and supported me as best they could.

In the end it’s my love of telling stories that pushed me into this career. I’m a fan of stories in all its forms whether it be books, comics, video games, anime, movies, etc. All of it inspires me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I think my previous answer covers my origin and motivations but I think what makes me successful comes down to three things:

• my desire to really understand and learn more about storytelling.
• always trying to unite my artistic goals with the business side of creating
• adapting to an ever evolving industry.

As artists we tend to not want to think about the corporate side of things but as long as we need money to survive (I dream of, at the very least a Federation like utopian society, like in Star Trek) then it’s something we all should get better at. Thinking not only of more pay but time management, so you can have healthier familial and friendly relationships or just time to yourself. Art can be all encompassing especially when working for companies, so finding a way to maximize your time, pay and creativity should always be a goal.

On the creative side I tend to not have genre hierarchies dictate not only what I create but what I think of as “good”. By that I mean there’s this unspoken hierarchy to story criticism. With drama being the highest form, and things like action movies or comedies being on some lower level. Which I think holds everyone back from truly learning about what makes storytellling great. I think there’s just good and bad stories equally across all the genres. For example superhero movies/stories tend to be put in a lesser category and always has to prove itself. So the superhero stories that tend to get critical acclaim are those that “break new ground” by usually being more serious, dark, drama-like, and less focused on positive ideals. And while there’s nothing wrong with exploring that, it doesn’t mean it’s the only way for the genre to be praised for its complexity or critical success. Superhero stories are about going against the odds to help others by doing fantastic feats. That’s the genre. Which continues to be popular across multiple demographics because of how it inspires. It tells us that we can face the troubles in our lives and win. That’s a great thing. Why make that less than just because of that positivity? I get that it can be seen as formulaic. But a formula exists for every genre, it’s how well you succeed in making that formula nuanced and a lil different that makes it work, not constantly deconstructing it.

I think keeping myself open to all that helps me understand the constant changes of the creative storytelling industries, informing how I pitch and how I adapt to what readers/audiences want now.

I haven’t mastered this in any way but I’m constantly trying to learn and get better at it.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

We need an across the board (all art industries) union or system of accountability that protects creatives. One that has strict consequences for companies that go against it. Something even like the accreditation boards most colleges adhere to.

I think we need the upper tier artists/creatives to push this too. The ones who are financially stable and have huge enough fanbases to keep companies wanting to work with them regardless.

Very similar to how the original Image Comics creators left Marvel and Dc in the 90’s to start their own creator owned production. Opening the door for so many other companies to follow suit and ushering in the idea that we should always own our ideas. Now all non licensed comic contracts include this ownership, well almost all. It’s not a perfect system but it’s better than what came before.

Not sure how it would all pan out. But it’d be great to work towards that goal.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Seeing the joy it can bring to others. Everyone’s eyes light up like a kid at Christmas when they get art they love and/or can relate too. Seeing that light in anyone, from kids to adults, really makes me happy.

Reading and watching stories helped me through life’s dark times. When things are unfair or just hard, these stories from success, to just surviving even if the world doesn’t change, helps me face the issues in my own life. I can’t fly or pilot a giant robot lol but I can, at the very least, chip away at my issues and continue to strive for more.

Being able to help others with that feeling or even just being able to take their minds off of whatever for a while just feels like the right thing to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rashaddoucet.artstation.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rashad.doucet
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashad-doucet-b848a743/