Ignite Studio’s “Maker Spotlight” is back, this time to highlight Fishers’ cartoonist and painter David Reddick. David frequents Ignite to do work on his own comic strips as well as the internationally syndicated Blondie strip. We ask David about his work and process.
Q&A with Maker Spotlight: David Reddick
When did you first become interested in making art?
I actually remember exactly the moment that it hit me. I was five, in kindergarten, and it was finger painting day. The teacher put small buckets of red and blue finger paint in front of each of us to use. My curiosity was piqued, and I wondered what would happen if I were to mix the red and blue together… thinking perhaps it would make another color. So I did it. And it made purple… and that’s the moment I truly found art, and it found me. At that moment I felt like I claimed some kind of magic. This was in combination with having just received at that time a little paperback collection of black and white Peanuts comic strips. I was amazed at the simplicity, yet depth, of those little cartoons… and I saw a picture of Charles Schulz (creator of Peanuts) on the back of the book, and he looked so comfortable in his corduroy pants and cardigan sweater and I remember thinking “Wait… you mean I could do this, too? That’s the life for me.“ (Incidentally, the catalyst for my truly entering professional cartooning came when I wrote Charles Schulz in my early twenties and asked for some specific advice on the best way of going about being a cartoonist, and he replied with a personal letter, telling me how he did it and the best way to go about it, and I followed his advice, which led me straight into the position I’m in today. I later also wrote Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, when I was a teenager, to which he also kindly replied with a personal letter. I went on eventually to work directly with him as an assistant on the Garfield comic strip for nearly 15 years, several years later. Inspiration is a powerful thing.) That’s when cartooning also took hold. All when I was five. I retained a singular focus from that point, in aiming to become a cartoonist and an artist, and I incessantly sketched, drew, learned, created, experimented, and discovered the wonder of being able to express myself visually, and I continue to do so to this day. It’s a kind of magic that stays with you if you want it to.
Do you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
I’m mostly self-taught. I devoured books at the library as a kid (and still do as an adult). I studied everything I could get my hands on to learn how to become better but also just to learn how different artists did the things they did and do… and I practiced, practiced, practiced. I experimented with all the supplies I could get my hands on. I still do (what’s more fun than playing with new art supplies?). I filled endless notebooks and sketchbooks with doodles, ideas and practice. I doodled things from my imagination and things that were right in front of me. I took all the art classes I could, and was awarded a special scholarship program in high school where I got to attend the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis throughout all of high school, which was wonderful. However, once I graduated high school, I joined the US Navy, where I worked for Naval Intelligence as a Cryptologist for four years and had the opportunity to live in Japan for three of those years. But I didn’t let go of my vision. I kept creating and using that opportunity to learn different ways of expressing visually, and earned awards while in the Navy for military art projects that I was commissioned for, including wall murals, illustrations, etc. Once I left the Navy, I returned to my laser-focused desire of being a professional cartoonist and an artist. It took awhile… and I learned the value of starting small and working my way up and building on lots of rejection, self-guidance and small victories. As Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. “
What projects are you currently involved in?
My work can be found daily on Dean Young’s “Blondie” comic strip (the famed comic strip in newspapers across the world, featuring Dagwood and Blondie and a new character we recently introduced, a pastry chef who works for Blondie, named Maya), and two of my own comic strips “Legend of Bill,” (an adventure fantasy comic strip about a bumbling barbarian named Bill and his little blue dragon sidekick Frank, who leave their boring 9 to 5 castle accounting jobs in search of adventure, and find it!) and “Intelligent Life” (a comic strip featuring Skip, Mike, Gwen and Barry, processing ever-emerging pop and geek culture and day-to-day life at work and home), all three distributed worldwide by King Features Syndicate in New York City, for whom I’ve worked for many years. I also do a variety of side projects that can come about at any time, a few recent projects such as having completed a somewhat recent commission of 8 large acrylic abstract paintings for Firefly Children & Family Alliance in downtown Indianapolis (I’ve shown and sold my abstract paintings and art in galleries in Indianapolis, Michigan, Florida, England and France), a Superman comic book magazine cover drawing/inking with the legendary Jack Kirby’s never-before-completed rough pencils (Jack Kirby was the artist/creator who created the visuals for much of the Marvel Universe, and worked directly with writer/creator Stan Lee), as well as working on such projects as Popeye, Flash Gordon and illustrations for newspapers, magazines and books. Prior to Blondie, as aforementioned, I wrote and drew for the Garfield comic strip for nearly 15 years and wrote and drew comics and art for the Star Trek franchise for 10 years. You just never know where art will take you!
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from my imagination and equally everything around me… people, places and events that happen in everyday life, both big and small… emotions and thoughts that I deal with as they find an outlet through creating. Inspiration can be found everywhere. From something as small and seemingly insignificant as a unique leaf on a tree to people we meet every day to a large city with all of its colors and movement.
How long has it taken you to feel confident in your making abilities?
I think it’s an ever-evolving process, really. That’s sort of the wonder of art and creativity in all forms. While I can feel quite confident in certain things that I have practiced at quite a bit or have done professionally… there is literally always something new to learn that is outside of my comfort zone, something that seems particularly difficult and challenging… which to me translates to endless possibility and excitement. You truly get back what you put in.
So from childhood all the way up until now, there have been different levels of confidence after figuring out one thing or another, which were simultaneous with a desire for more confidence in other things that felt uncomfortable or too challenging… but then building on those things as a whole and growing further, taking that confidence from the smallest creative victories and refining them and even finding that original voice in various creative ways. It is a never-ending creative lagoon of wonder that you can swim in your entire life at any level or stage in endless, personal ways.
What is the professional side of producing art like?
The professional side of producing art requires discipline and practice and a solid work ethic. Creating art is one thing… the beauty being that anyone can do it in any way at any level, because one does not at all need to be a professional to call themselves an artist. But to follow a professional path means taking that creative open world mentality and marrying it with a more linear focused goal and maintaining that discipline, while moving with the ebb and flow of change and being willing to dance with it. It’s getting the job(s) done on time, with the highest level of quality you can muster, and sometimes even being willing to do things you don’t really want to do necessarily, or possibly even things outside of your comfort zone, and being willing to constantly learn and grow. It’s having a vision, figuring out and maintaining the execution of that vision, meeting deadlines not only set by external sources for whom you may work, but also your own standards, while not ever losing sight of why you are creating, and always holding on to a childlike wonder and hunger to know more and to experience it in a variety of levels, with the wondrous benefit of not only seeing perhaps your own pride in the work you’ve produced, but seeing it in others eyes, and knowing this is what you are bringing to the world.
Where can people view your work? 
A hub to much of my work can be found at my website at DavidReddickStudio.com.
The comics I make can be found at:
My Instagram: @davidreddickstudio
What drew you to the Ignite Studio?
As someone who has lived in the wonderful community that is Fishers for several years and who’s also worked fully remotely for several years, I’m always looking for new and inspirational places to step away from my home studio and work and draw inspiration from, and I’ve always been drawn to Hamilton-East Fishers Library (and witnessed its constant, amazing growth and exciting evolution) for its wonderfully relaxed, vibrant and inspirational setting, and most of all, the amazing Ignite Studio. It’s my favorite place to work and to create, and it’s not unusual for me to find myself ensconced at a table there several times in a week. There’s a colorful, bright vibrancy about the space of Ignite Studio the moment I walk into it, that allows me to center myself creatively with the amazing vibe and “life” that inhabits the spacious area, from the people who are creating their own works or learning new projects, to the great staff that clearly has a mindful passion for igniting such a vibe and space, to the incredible amount of supplies and support available to any of us who want to get our hands and minds into the creative zone, and it’s in that vibrancy that I always find my creative groove. I’ve written and drawn many comics and illustrations, filled many sketchbook pages, and created many things in that space that keeps me coming back!
Any advice for those interesting in a career in art?
Never, never, never give up on yourself. Never, ever let anyone, even yourself, who may tell you that you’re not very good or that you can’t do something, hold any power in keeping you from creating. Rather, take anything from helpful criticism to unhelpful criticism as a means to grow, and also as a means of understanding that not everyone is going to like everything that you do, nor will you necessarily like everything someone else does. And that’s OK. Art, creating, making… is deeply personal and unique to each of us in what draws us in, and inspires us to express and share. Your artistic desire and your vision, at whatever level you want it, is yours for the taking, and it belongs to you. Be willing to work for it. Be willing to make mistakes. Be willing to not be perfect.
It doesn’t matter if you create on an expensive canvas or paper, or draw on a napkin with a stick, cut paper with scissors, draw digitally, collage things with string and glue, or however you want to make things… it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, big or small, young or old, no matter your ability. Don’t let what you feel you don’t know or what you feel you can’t do stop you. The history of art is filled with creators who faced all manner of challenges physically, mentally and emotionally, and still found a way to create, and adapted their own ways of doing so, because that desire was such a part of them. Creativity allows for no rules and no limitations. You can always find a way to do it within your ability and call it your own. Art and creativity is like a spirit that travels with you. It’s a way of communicating with the world around you, but also with yourself. Dance with it, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. Remember… “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Grab a piece of paper, a napkin, your iPad, your phone, or some sidewalk chalk… and just put one creative foot in front of the other. To quote Dr. Seuss… “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.”
Check out Ignite’s Digital Media Labs to begin your journey with comic making and digital art like David. Ignite’s blogs feature many helpful tutorials on how to get your own creativity flowing! Happy Making!
