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It sounds like your plate is pretty full right now with the amount of projects you’re on. How do you balance it all out?

It is very tough. As a freelancer, you have to not only keep your schedule full at the moment, but look months in advance and try to plan out steady work. It’s a juggling act that you try and keep steady and doable, but doesn’t always run so smoothly. Last Aug.- Nov. 2007, I didn’t have much to work on, just doing spot illustrations, fill- in inking and a few covers. So I worked mostly on a creator owned series.

Since December I’ve penciled well over 100 pages and 5 covers for 3 different companies in just over 3 months. The hardest part is gauging your limits. I have a family, and that is something very, very important to me. I do my best to limit my work so that I can be a good husband and father. Sometimes, like recently, I have to work more than I would like, and my wife has always been very understanding. So I don’t like to take on so much work that I’m penciling over a page a day 7 days a week if I can help it. That leaves no time for a life and is unfair to those I care about.

Also, it’s hard to say “NO” to work, and often when it rains it pours. You go from having nothing on your plate, to having to turn down really good paying work because you are already committed to something. I’m really learning first hand that if you try to do too much, deadlines get blown, and your work is even worse for it all because you couldn’t pass up that opportunity. Often being as honest as you can about what you can handle to editors is your best bet. They’ll appreciate that you didn’t take a job that puts them in a tight spot later, and remember that when you are available.

Being someone who’s relatively new to the industry, what advice to you have for aspiring artists?

Well, Im going to steal a quote from Walt Simonson. He came and did a class/lecture while I was at S.C.A.D. and said to us, “You need to have three things to break into comics: 1. a professional looking portfolio of work that’s good enough to be publishable, 2. you have to draw constantly to get better and faster to meet proper deadlines, then finally 3. ALL THE LUCK YOU CAN GET!”

There comes a moment when you’ve done everything you can to break in. You’ve gone to conventions and stood in all the portfolio lines, you’ve shown your work to other artists, you post your work online on a dozen forums for critiques, you mail submissions to publishers, and created a mini comic of your own story. Even by doing all that there still needs to be that moment of luck, or divine intervention where you happen to be in the right place at the right time when an editor needs an artist. Your best bet is to be that guy/girl by keeping your aspiring work out there.

I can guarantee that there are dozens and probably hundreds of better artists out there trying to break in that are loads better than me. And they deserve the work too. It’s just a tiny industry, and they haven’t gotten that break with an editor yet. Once you get work and can prove you can meet a deadline with an editor, they genuinely want to give you more. It’s in their best interests to give work to dependable and responsible artists. It makes them look good.

Now you really have to pay your dues as a new artist. Your first work will probably be a fill in issue. Typically the reason you need a fill in is because the book is behind and the editor needs the work done now. That means as a new artists your first work will be on a ridiculous schedule.

My first Marvel work was a 12 page story that needed turned around in 14 days. I wanted a month to make these pages the best I possibly could to prove what I could do. But the schedule never allows for that. So you meet the deadline. There are a lot of artists that can’t keep up with the stress of that deadline and fall by the wayside.

So really it’s important that you’re drawing everyday, so when you do get that call, you can jump right in warmed up and on pace to finish what they need.

Also, after you’ve gotten started, just by keeping a regular dialog with other creators and editors, they will be more likely to recommend you to for other projects. I have acquired more work this way without really pursuing work. They will know you are responsible and they will be willing to put your name out there.

What’s the toughest part of your job?

Hands down it’s the deadlines. Every job starts exciting, then you have to really push through some dull drums to finish it up on time and with the same quality that you started at.

Plus life just gets in the way. There are family emergencies, birthdays, anniversaries, house projects etc…. You can’t draw 24/7…heh I’ve come close, but it just can’t happen. Also lack of sleep is killing me now. I have a young son and work mostly through the night. I’m just short of hooking up an IV of Mountain Dew to my drawing table.

Have you done a lot of conventions? What’s your experience been like?

Oh Man! I could go on for hours about convention stories! As an artist there, it’s just the best time. I look forward to going to as many as possible each year, and I can’t wait for the convention season to roll around.

I typically go to Wizard World Chicago, and will be there this year. I also go to Heroes in Charlotte, NC most years. I’ve been to the Philadelphia show, Pittsburgh, Houston, San Diego, and Mega Con in Orlando so far. Some cons more than others. Each show is different and have varying benefits for artists. I could go on and on about each show and how you can expect to sell original art at one, sketchbooks and prints at another, or just do dozens of sketches all weekend long in the next. There are a lot of ways to make money at the shows, you just have to know what to expect and plan ahead.

But the shows aren’t just about making money, that just seems to be a bonus. I love meeting fans and especially the kids who are really into comics. I really enjoy hanging out with other comic creators that I only get to see at the shows. They aren’t vacations, but you can’t beat hanging out all night at the hotel lobby or someone’s room and there are 5-10 other artists all sitting around drawing sketches for the next day.

Now there are horror stories of course, that can’t be helped when you get that many comic fans and artists congregating in one location. But its all part of the fun.

Is there a particular sketch or commission of a character that people request most?

It always depends on what you’re working on and what the fans see. If you’re working on GI JOE or say Spider-Man you become the guy to go to for those characters. I can’t imagine how many Spider-Man requests Mark Bagley gets at a con. I worked on Snake-Eyes Declassified, and probably 7 out of 10 sketches that con season were Snake-Eyes. Also, working the con circuit you learn very quickly how to draw female comic characters. That’s just the way it is…sometimes the requests can get a little…weird.

There is a guy that goes to cons and really likes to have female comic characters drawn wearing antique scuba diving gear??? He has all the reference provided, and I’m talking that huge brass helmut and suit. You just know when he’s coming down the isle what your gonna draw. We call him “Scooba-Doo”.

I hear you’re into podcasts. And I have to admit, I’m really addicted to them as well (especially the comic related ones). What do you listen to regularly?

Yeah, I’ve just recently discovered how incredibly awesome these are! It’s a great way for me to focus on what I’m working on (as opposed to having a movie or the TV on) and I get to hear about anything and everything. I mostly listen to comic podcasts, in that I’m not physically in a studio anymore and can’t talk about the latest comic buzz or books that are coming out. Often you get to know the guys hosting the shows by listening, and it can be funny and interesting to hear someone else’s opinion about a given topic.

I started by listening to Comic Geek Speak, then through their links and comprehensive forum, found other podcasts that I enjoy. Uncanny X-Cast, iFanboy, Quiet Panelologists at work, Word Balloon, Around Comics, and others.

I really enjoy the interviews with creators, and get a look into their process and thoughts on the projects they are working on.

In closing, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?

“My fans”, heh. I think that would assume there is more than one. I don’t know, just to keep an eye out for me at the cons, and keep coming to my website to see what I’m up to www.RobertAtkinsArt.com .

Also to check out the Tsunami-Studios website, www.Tsunami-Studios.com , there is a forum there where you can post your art and get critiques from the studio members, or chat about comics, movies, or anything you want. We just launched the site, so I think it’s a great opportunity to talk with comic professionals and get advice on breaking in, an inside look at what the industry is like, or just get to know us beyond the name in the credits.

Finally, to be on the look out for all things RuneStone! www.RuneStoneComic.com This co-created series we are working on is a total blast, and a very character driven story. These kids go through life with serious issues, and there are some genuinely beautiful moments when they talk about what they are going through. Plus when you throw in ninjas, superpowers, megalomaniacs and all around butt kicking, you can’t go wrong! We are currently shopping it around to publishers, but we are taking our time to get the art done well and keep a high level of production value for the upcoming books. Also we are exploring the movie avenues that are currently underway and opening up for us.

Thanks Robert!