INTERVIEW WEEK: FOCUSING ON THE CREATIVE WITH ARTIST JOHN HOBAN

I've been at a number of events with John Hoban, and find him to be talented, funny, handsome, and bright.  He is a welcome guest at MCBA's Spring and Fall shows, and he often attends in full zombie make up and more.  He is a talent, and someone who will make you smile.  Unless you are unsmileable.

What made you a creative artist?  Were you born to do it, did you find you had talents and worked to find the right outlet?

I think I was just born with the traits that make me want to draw and be creative. I was drawing pictures before I can remember….and I just never stopped. It’s a compulsion. If I’m not working on or within some kind of creative process for a length of time, I start dealing with feelings of frustration, anxiety, and depression. I’m pretty sure I would have to deal with those feelings anyway, but they’re compounded.

My mother always encouraged me to draw and thought that I was (or could be) talented. She signed me up for classes through the Duluth Art Institute from elementary school through high school. A few of those classes were taught by Peter Gross (Dr. Fate, Unwritten, American Jesus).

What is your pattern of creative activity?  Do you plan it, sit and work or, does it happen in a fit of activity?

I wish I had a pattern of creative activity. I’m finding it damn near impossible to establish one with a family and a full time job. I only get little pockets of time to to work on any projects and I have to be creatively inspired within those pockets to create anything worthwhile. I often find myself drained in those moments, so not much art work gets done. Fortunately, my profession as an art educator allows me the option of not working in the summer….therefore most of my artwork is produced in the summer.

Do you listen or watch anything while you work?  Do some media give you inspiration, or does it just give you company?

I listen to and watch many things while I work. I can not work in silence. I use Spotify to listen to almost anything I could want to listen to. The app also provides a discover weekly feature so I can check out new music while I work….it’s awesome. I also play shows and movies I need to catch up on in the background wherever I am. It keeps me rolling. I consistently used to get in trouble for drawing in class throughout my educational experiences. Even as an educator, I would drive some administrators crazy by drawing during staff meetings. I think and absorb information better while I’m drawing and the opposite is also true.

How did you move from having a talent, to having a project to actually arriving upon being published?   Is it an accident?  Did you have a business or creative art business plan?

I just decided to publish my work myself instead of waiting for a publisher to emerge from the heavens and see all the stuff I was working on in my basement. I had no business plan. I had thrice re-drawn my comic completely and I was ready to put it out there, sink or swim. I printed it first through Ka-Blam, which is an online self-printing service for comics. I ordered a hundred copies and bought a table at the 2011 Wizard World Chicago convention. In retrospect, that was a really big show to start. It went really well, but I didn’t have anything to sell but one book. I sold a lot (around 40 books), but didn’t even come close to making my money back.

What was your first published work, and how did it make you feel?  Do you look on that work now as being hopelessly juvenile or, do you find great pride in it as a work for the time that was good, even if you have now moved far forward?

My first self-published work was Apocalypse City issue #1. I do take pride in that book. I still cringe a bit at some of the art and dialogue, but you can’t improve if you don’t start somewhere. I think I got a lot right and it says most of what I want it to say. I’m planning on re-working it a bit and reprinting it with issue #2 & #3 as a graphic novel of sorts.

What works are you brewing, and what works are in print and on the way soon?  Do you have any long range hopes like licensed works of your creative property?

I’m almost done drawing Apocalypse City #4 and plan on printing it this summer. I used to have long range hopes, but I’m mainly doing this for myself. If anybody cares after that, then that’s gravy.

What would you recommend other people who seek to be creative do to get on the right track?

Don’t stop. Don’t compromise. I know it’s easier said than done ( and this is coming from a guy who found himself drawing furries for a whole convention) but it’s got to be somewhat fun and rewarding.

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