California-based comic artist Reza Farazmand visited the Savannah Book Festival this past weekend to give a presentation during the festival’s free Festival Saturday about his new book, “Comics for a Strange World.”
The book was released in the fall of 2017, and is a follow up to Farazmand’s 2015 book, “Poorly Drawn Lines,” a collection of comics from his series of the same name.
“My books aren’t generally about anything. They are a collection of brief comedic interludes, so it’s difficult to summarize,” Farazmand said. In an exclusive interview with District, he added, “Any structure or continuity in the books comes afterward when I’m arranging chapters or drawing new material. ‘Poorly Drawn Lines’ has always been a collection of mostly standalone comics, and I like the books to reflect that.”
Penguin Random House
Farazmand called his presentation at the book festival “how to make things poorly,” and gave an overview of his creative process. “My most asked questions are ‘where do you get your inspiration? Where do your ideas come from? Why are you so weird?’”
Beginning with what he called “The Trinity of Distraction,” Farazmand broke down the cycle between his three greatest distraction: boredom, snacks and the internet.
“This is a vicious cycle that can derail any creative effort…I get bored, I wander down to the kitchen, grab some snacks and then sit down in front of the internet for a little while, and the next thing I know, several weeks have passed.”
To combat “The Trinity of Distraction,” the Farazmand turns to “The Pyramid of Focus,” composed of constructive creative elements, and topped with desperation. “Ideally, in a perfect world, I don’t ever have to rely on desperation,” the artist said. “I can replace that top portion of the pyramid with something healthy and more sustainable. Something like a frantic need for recognition.”
In our interview, Farazmand explained that this need for recognition, referenced in good fun but not far from the truth, is a difficult obstacle when he attempts to put together a new book. “Once I have a deadline to turn in a book, I’ll start drawing a stack of comics that I save for publication. It’s tempting to post those comics on the internet right away (and reap that sweet instant gratification), but I want my book material to be as good or better than anything I post online,” he said.
The Poorly Drawn Lines books are an equal balance of new content and comics recycled from social media. Farazmand said that, in working on “Comics for a Strange World,” he had a better understanding and plan for how to arrange the content and create new work. He was more confident in this project, and so he plans to “change that up,” with his next book. “I’d like to…work on something with a totally different format that will make me learn a new creative process,” he said. “It’s important to keep yourself on your toes.”
Along those lines, Farazmand had a final work of advice for young creatives. “Put it out in the world for people to see. The internet is a great place to do this,” he said. “Make so much stuff that people can’t ignore it, and then keep making more.”
By Shelby Loebker.
