We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Silas Fiction a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Silas, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I learned to draw first and foremost from copying old comic books growing up. I was always impatient and skipped the drafting and sketching skipping straight to the final product. When I attended art school in my early 20’s I learned how wrong I had been doing things. The importance of design and composition cannot be understated. I forced myself to draw a certain way and it was very frustrating when it didn’t come naturally. Once I started experimenting with cartooning and branching out more, incorporating all the art styles I came to appreciate I found my natural flow.

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?

My name is Silas Fiction and I am an artist, designer, illustrator, animator, writer, director, editor and musician. I grew up surrounded by alternative underground culture in the 90’s which warped me into the hyper-dedicated lowbrow jack of all trades I am today. Some days I paint huge acrylic lowbrow cartoon murals, other days I design ultra sleek 50’s inspired graphics. I try not to limit myself or my clients, providing an anything is possible one stop destination for content creation. I have directed music videos, short animations and skateboard videos as well as been a props handler on high profile Hollywood productions. In the last 10 years I went from a crusty skaterkid working overnight dishwashing at a diner to an illustrator who has had work featured by Thrasher Magazine and Nickelodeon. There is still more i would like to accomplish and I don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I always thought that I had to measure my success to others. Even though I have had some major career breakthroughs in the past couple years, I still have a dayjob. Many of the artists I look up to are from a different time where it seemed like because of the more hands-on production processes of the time there were more jobs for creatives. Everything had to be designed by hand and budgetary constraints were less of a concern, leading to some dynamic and fantastic work. I feel like I haven’t accomplished enough compared to guys like Jack Kirby, Virgil Exner, Chuck Jones but upon further reading I realized that they didn’t really hit their stride until their mid 40’s. Time is on my side.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love being able to create something unique that satisfies my client but also satisfies me. Seeing your graphics on a website or art on clothing while you are out and about is definitely a thrill in itself. I try to put my own spin on things and when it lands right it is really cool to see people into it.

Contact Info:

• Website: silasfiction.com
• Instagram: @silasfiction

Image Credits
All photos and art by Silas Fiction