I met Sullivan through a writerly Facebook friend who hires him to illustrate his stories. His work is fantastic, so I asked him for an interview. He graciously agreed, and here I can share his work with you and offer a peek behind the scenes at his artistic process.
Describe your artistic process—schedule, materials, studio, and inspirations.
Let’s start with inspiration—my inspiration comes from everything I’ve read that I’ve seen and lived. It comes from all that. The comic gave me everything, gave me my work, gave my culture, gave the taste for reading; the comic led me to like various things. Although my family did not encourage me much, the first time I won a comic, I found it fascinating. I thought, “This is what I want to do.” While other kids said they wanted to be doctors, lawyers, or football players, I said I wanted to work for Marvel drawing Spider-Man. HAHAHA!!! My studio is my bedroom. Here I work and develop everything. The materials I use are conventional—I am still learning to adapt to the use of technologies. The creative process comes when the script itself arrives; you read and begin to internalize the scenes. So I do. I imagine it and play it all on paper soon.
Tell me about your support system, online and in real life.
I can say that who supports me in my work, both in real life and online, is my teammate Zilson Costa. It has been a few years since we started an excellent partnership, and this has paid us good results. Our production chain begins when the client sends us the script, and it comes to me that I make only the pencil sketch. After I do the drawing, I send it to Zilson, who puts in the ink.
How do you obtain clients, and is all your work specific to clients?
I already have some specific clients, others are by indication. But I am always divulging my portfolio to get new jobs.
How does your life influence your art and vice versa?
I counted on the influence of several friends, also comic book fans–who were an incentive for me to gradually learn everything as a self-taught artist. The inspiration came from Marvel and DC Comics.
What do you love most about your creativity?
It may seem heresy on my part, but I love my profession, because it is like playing a little god. You create, give a life to a character, and lead a whole universe of possibilities—it is something incredible. I wanted to finish here and leave a positive message about all this: Never stop studying, the market is always changing and you need to update. If you do not practice every day, you will surely miss an opportunity for someone who practices every day. As for the financial part, those who work with comics can earn as well as any other professional in another area. It only depends on it, not only as a drawer, but as a person who knows how to take advantage of the opportunities; after all if you follow a career for the status of that money always, there would not be so many lawyers changing branches. The beginning is always complicated, no matter the area or profession. You will grate, you will work double, and you will receive little. But if you sneak in and keep on evolving your work, believe me—there’s never going to be a lack of opportunity and money can be interesting.
Connect with Sullivan
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