Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Russ Kazmierczak, Jr.. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Russ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
Earlier this year, I organized my seventh annual 24 Hour Comic Challenge. Per the challenge issued by cartoonist Scott McCloud in the mid-’90s, every year, I attempt to create an original 24 page comic book in 24 consecutive hours. I’ve added a performative element to the challenge, by drawing in a storefront window, so fans and friends can watch me “behind glass” all hours of the day and night. To raise awareness for my event, I issue press releases to local media. Some years, I’ll get a hit from a local station and earn some coverage — some years, I don’t.
This year, I got a BIG hit. Our local free paper, Phoenix New Times, ran my event in their “Things To Do” section, our local Fox station, channel 10, interviewed me and went live from the window where I was drawing twice over the weekend. It was an incredible surge in interest for my comics, and to my ego, as well!
Many people saw my news footage, and many of them responded to me with some variation of: “So, you’re a cartoonist . . . What are you planning on DOING with that?”
It took everything in my power not to reply, “You just identified me as a cartoonist, because my work was on the news — I’m ALREADY doing it!”
Cartooning — or any creative endeavor, in general — is often misunderstood as a side hustle, or a hobby. People that don’t pursue creative efforts can’t comprehend how such a thing consumes nearly every waking thought. Our identities are rooted in our “day jobs” — but that’s just how creatives pay the bills, so we’re less “starving” and more “artist” in the hours we have left to be creative. Whatever else I do, my primary professional title is “cartoonist.” When I saw that distinction on the news this year, I thought, simply, “I’ve made it!”
“Making it” means different things to different people. While many people marvel at my cartooning skills, their awe is often immediately followed by questions about the work’s validity. “Do you make any money doing that?” I’m asked that all the time, and if I replied, “No,” I presume I’d be perceived as a failure. The “it” in “making it” isn’t a fortune — it’s the art itself, so you’re almost exclusively identified with it, and by it. To make it, you have to make IT. It’s as simple as that!
So, the most misunderstood my work has ever been is when it’s perceived as a nonprofitable hobby, but when I boast about my commitment to it personally and professionally, suddenly “noncreatives” buy into it, figuratively and ideally literally! It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you really believe in your art, and yourself, enough.
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 believe in comics. When I was kid, comic books inspired me to read, and to create stories of my own. Like many kids, I spent countless hours drawing, and but UNlike many kids, I never stopped. Through study and repetition, I developed a drawing style and began drawing my own strips and comic books, through my teens and early 20s.
In my early 30s, I developing and began self-publishing my regular minicomics series, Amazing Arizona Comics, featuring superhero stories inspired by Arizona-oriented news and culture. Twelve years later, I’m approaching issue #50. Amazing Arizona Comics is a unique minicomics series because it addresses socially relevant issues in an all-ages context with superhero adventure. My stories are much like the comics I read as a kid — sophisticated without being preachy. I think readers of all ages would find them both very contemporary in their context, but nostalgic in their spirit.
I’m so proud that self-publishing my comics has earned me a position in my community to teach others about the importance of cartooning. I’ve facilitated classes at galleries and bookstores about comics as a viable storytelling media, and how creating comics can be a form of therapy. It’s very fulfilling to see that twinkle in someone’s eye, when they understand how important it is for them to tell their story. It honors the artists that have inspired me, and it confirms that my work is having the same impact theirs did.
People can find my comics and reach me on Instagram, @amazingazcomics.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
In 2014, I was fired from my day job very close to Christmastime, and although I had some savings to make it through the holidays, I wasn’t sure what the new year would bring. In my desperation for income, I posted an ad on Craigslist under the “Creative Gigs” section, explaining that I was a cartoonist and could draw commissions for the holidays, if anyone wanted a personalized gift. I didn’t think anything would come of it, but I was casting as many hooks in the water as possible, trying to get a bite.
I almost immediately received a message from someone that exclaimed, they were looking for a comic book illustrator to draw a personalized comic strip for a loved one for Christmas! I consulted with the client over the phone, quoted a reasonable rate, and got to work. It was emotional experience, because I realized the passion I’d had for comics developed into a survival instinct, which evolved into my utility bill payment that month! I don’t and can’t take my penchant and talent for drawing for granted. It isn’t a resource many people have, comparatively, and it could, in a pinch, lift my spirits, be an asset for someone else, and help me survive.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The more experienced I get as an artist, the more I realize society isn’t in a position to support artists — artists have to find the means to support themselves.
When you look at mainstream “art,” specifically film and televisions, trends are devolving into an ever-tighter cycle of repetition. Homages, sequels, prequels, and reboots depend thrive on sentimentality and nostalgia and offer very few new stories to challenge or entertain future generations. Even the fine art world suffers from an overuse of “pop” to retain relevancy. In other words, art isn’t shaping culture — culture is shaping it, which is, to use a classic image, an ouroboro that will take the narrative of our society nowhere.
In this bleak interpretation of the current state of art, artists with unique concepts, original characters, and challenging stories are a light in the darkness, and the only way to move forward to establish your own momentum. Press releases, social media content, and performative work, starting in one’s own community and working out into the city, is the best way to make an impact as an artist. Sometimes, artists need to give away their time and effort for free, if only to earn the street cred that validates work for hire later. Seeking grant and funding opportunities is a critical practice, too. Grants are only “free money” when artists actually apply for them!
If society DOES have a responsibility to the artist, it’s to keep the narrow areas in which we move open. Those feel-good segments of the news, grant opportunities, and community networking are all areas where artists can thrive, just as a start, and as long as those doors are open, the only person pushing the artist through them is him/herself!
Contact Info:
- Website: amazingarizonacomics.com
- Instagram: amazingazcomics
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY1S3cSu9xlBYgh1A1aGOhw
Image Credits
Russ Kazmierczak, Jr.