By Mark Ambrogi
A week-long workshop in Hollywood in the spring has become a source of great motivation for illustrator Ryan Richmond.
The Carmel resident, who graduated from Herron School of Art and Design in 2016, had qualified for the workshop by being a winner in the Illustrators of the Future contest.
During the workshop, Richmond created his illustration for the story “Acquisition” by author Jake Marley, who was the writing grand prize winner.
“Each illustrator was paired with a writer, and we were tasked with creating an illustration that embodied the story submitted by our writer companion,” said Richmond, a 2012 Franklin Community High School graduate. “They set up all of our unidentified illustrations in a room, and the writers were then allowed to come in and find their respective illustrations. There were a lot of laughs, screams, embracing, and even some tears as we, the illustrators, joined our writers once they happened upon their illustration. Bonds were formed immediately.”
Richmond said he and Marley have become good friends.
“The whole night was a celebration of creativity and camaraderie. I’ll never forget it,” Richmond said.
The story appears in the anthology, “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 33.”
“From there, led by the amazing team of Echo and Lazarus Chernik, we were given a crash course on the specifics of how to work as professional artists, which is something that, unfortunately, isn’t taught or talked about much,” Richmond said. “We were given some invaluable information that has already impacted the way I work with clients and my freelance career as a whole. Sprinkled throughout the educational portions of the workshop, we were given the privilege of hearing from some of the best creators in our industry, all of whom we look up to and aspire to be one day. Overall, for me, the workshop was a boost of energy. It brought up an extra level of excitement toward becoming a successful, professional artist.”
Since returning home in April, Richmond worked on and completed two comic books, one of which he has been fine-tuning on and off with the creator for nearly a year.
The comic book is called “ROOTS” and will debut at either Long Beach Comic Con or Los Angeles Comic Con.
The other comic book was a month-long project.
“These projects were very rewarding to complete, as I never thought of myself as a comic book artist,” Richmond said. “Aside from those, though, I’ve completed several personal pieces as a way to build up my portfolio for prospective jobs.”
For more, visit ryanrichmond-art.com.
