I want to be a Comic Book Artist

Yo! My name is Brandon Meekis, I’m from Keewaywin First Nation and I’m currently attending Dennis Franklin Cromarty for my second year of high school. In the future, my plans are to open my own shop and become a graphic novelist.

I’ve lived in Keewaywin all my life and I could honestly say I loved it. However, being that Keewaywin is a rather small village, there wasn’t a lot to do. I wasn’t very athletic, so I didn’t play sports as often as others did. And with sports out of the question I was left bored most of the time. In the winters, I’d play out doors by burrowing into mounds of snow. I often felt safe inside one of those holes, but at the same time, worried that it would collapse on top of me. Once inside, however, it provided me a moment… a moment in time where I created worlds which no one had ever seen: I’ve met people who could fly, use magic, people who fight giant monsters and dragons. Those moments were bliss for me, because they allowed me to escape my world and enter a whole new one. Even today when I’m alone, or when I go for walks, I look into the deepest parts of my mind and see where I’ll end up.

I think it was about ’97 or ’98 when I first watched Dragon Ball Z. At the time a lot of people watched it too. I was so captivated by this different genre of cartoon, which I later learned was called anime. I began to watch other shows with the same feel: BeyBlade, Pokémon, Degimon, Gundem, Escloflowne, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Even some that others referred to as girl shows like Card Captors, Sailor Moon and whatnot, but I didn’t care. I was a genuine example of an Otaku (fan boy/girl of anime) and I didn’t even know it. LOL

Anyway, when everyone was watching DBZ, people started drawing the characters. Trunks was my favorite at the time. This, I believe, was the first time I started to draw anime. Sadly, this newfound passion only lasted about two years. By that time, people stopped drawing and even stopped watching. I, however, continued my fandom, but I stopped drawing anime for a while. The good thing was, by the time I stopped, I already had a basic understanding of human anatomy. However, I have never really had the chance to perfect it. This is mainly because I was too embarrassed to draw characters without clothes. So instead to drawing anime, I pretty much drew animals and copied other people’s works in order to get a good feel of their anatomy.

It was in 2003 that I read my first japanese comic book (manga), Love Hina. I was a bit under the recommended age, but I didn’t care. It was funny as heck. I must of read that volume dozens of times before looking for more to read. As the years went by, I began collecting my own manga. As my collection grew so did my ideas and interests. I slowly began to piece stories together in order to fabricate my own.

I thought of many different stories for a wide variety of genres. And in 2005 I decided to become a great manga artist, move to Japan, and live my dream life as an artist.

After realizing that it was out of the question: Seeing how it would take me away from home and out of my comfort zone, I decided to become the best native mangaka (comic book artist) of Canada.

As I started drawing my own characters and writing their stories, I stared comparing myself to professionals and I got somewhat depressed because this was when I realized there was much I needed to learn in this area. I was shot down because, before this time, I was always complimented by people because they really liked my work. I went into an art depression for almost a year. However, that year was also the point I began taking my schooling a little more seriously. In addition, I began spending more time working on my story lines and solidifying them. And then in 2006-2007 I began to put things into motion. My resolve was that if I could walk, I would run, if I could run, I would run even faster.

With my art depression gone and my goal clearly in my sights. I am currently doing my best at what I’m good at:  writing, drawing, reading, drafting, editing, rereading, redrawing, revising, third reading, redraft, final draft, final editing, ink, tone, scan, fix, print, publish and start it again. That is my life. I have a portfolio which contains a wide variety of my works. I have dabbled using a variety of mediums, which I’m sharing with you. Each is an image, but also has a story that I’ve connected to it.

Sora of the Raging Flames -2008 (graphite) Though this isn’t the first time I drew this character, it was the first time I filled in the white with many shades of grey using graphite. They’re heavier then normal pencils and tend to get a little messy with the smudging, but it’s worth it.

Demon Hunter; Daniel - 2009 (Sharpies) A friend of mine uses a combination of sharpies and pencil crayons for his illustrations and they turn out great. So there I was, planning to color the drawing with a computer, then I decided to use sharpies (something I got for Christmas). This was an interesting finish.

The Traveler - 2009 (soft pastel) The Traveler was the first time I made a piece using soft pastels. I first did light sketch before I used the pastels. Before this I’ve only read about how to do it and did a little abstract with it. It’s a very messy way of coloring let me tell you. LoL. Anyway I call it The Traveler because it symbolized the ongoing path to life and the ever-so ongoing path of learning.