This is the 5th time that we do a collaborative project with the Turlock Toon Skwad team and I feel I've grown with each one. The hardest thing for me to do is making the time to work on them since it always seems I have no time. The easiest part for me is to merge text with the layout. I think because I work as a graphic designer, those things come easy for me. When I am creating, provided, I am assigned to create something, my favorite thing to do is draw. If each project allowed me to draw, then that's what I would do. It just so happens, I only did one drawing in this one, Black Widow. The rest was done by Adam and Omar. I had to ink their work. This tended to be a little difficult because they both have such different styles, so I hope I did their artwork justice. I can honestly say, that I am happy with the final product.

Omar, what about you?

When collaborating on projects where your art is mixed with other artists, what is the hardest thing to do for you?

"I’ve only collaborated on comic style projects so the hardest thing for me is working in comic style while still trying to create and incorporate hints of my own ‘style’ into it."

What is the easiest?

"The portrait and caricature style is easiest."

What is your favorite thing to work on when you do these projects?

"I like drawing faces. Especially in the caricature style."

Are you always happy with the final product?

"Not always. The cool thing about a collaboration is that when it gets passed on to the next artist/step fixes can be made to help with composition or layout. So if you aren’t feeling something about your part in the artwork you have a few more sets of eyes to help fix issues. As long as the corrections and adjustments don’t take on too much of the look or style of the artist making those adjustments."

What about you, Adam?

"The hardest thing is understanding how to best interact with the other artists. If your style is normally cartoony, how will it fit with someone who is doing a more realistic area of the piece. You almost need someone to oversee the project;  someone who has a vision in mind and can be dynamic enough to make those edits (change subject matter / direction) to ensure a seamless piece.

As an artist it’s easy to just do your thing. The toughest thing going back to the first question, is getting the layout right. Meaning making sure everyone is in the spotlight (talents utilized / character represented).

Working on these types of projects, the collaborative aspect is the best. A lot of ideas get thrown around and you get to focus on putting your best efforts forward.

As Jake Parker says, finished is better than perfect. You’ll always have issues with something you’ve worked on. The trick is to focus on not running into those same issues again. That’s how you grow."

Hopefully, this sheds some light on some of the work we do when we team up. Until next time, thanks for reading.

-Haro