About the Artist
"My comics and art are almost always inspired by things I listen to or feel. I don't often know how to talk to people about what I'm feeling so art is how I express it. When I create art it's usually short bursts of creativity followed by long periods of no motivation." -
-Nick, YPIE Scholar 2025
Project Gallery
Trash Wiz
May 2021
Hi Everyone, I hope you liked my comic so far! I had a lot of fun making it, especially designing Trash Wizard and their friends. I had a couple other characters I also wanted to add but I couldn't find a way to integrate them into this story. I actually had a whole scene planned out in this one where before the festival everyone was going to go to a shop and play dress up with funny outfits maybe next time.
My future for this comic is to finish up the line art and color all the pages. I also want to create professional character sheets for all the characters so people can get a better understanding of each of their characters. And maybe even make some plushies of Trash Wizard since I think he would be really cute in plush form.
I think Trash Wizard & Friends are better suited for animation than comics. The whole time I was drawing the comic I kept thinking to myself “wow it would be cool if this was a cartoon network show or something.” I don’t know what demographic Trash Wiz & Friends would be, perhaps older kids/tweens?
Before Trash Wiz & Friends i actually had a whole different story fully finished but i decided not to publish it here because i thought it wouldn't be fun to read for others since it was about me and my friends and our conversations which can be offensive for the easily offended strong language mostly.
Anyway I had this comic on the back of my mind for some time and it was able to do a lot in 8 days. I went to sleep at 3 o’ clock every night and drank coffee which I normally hate. Thankfully my parents are italian so all we have is very strong espresso which got me through it all.
I kinda slacked off on memorial day since I made dinner for my friend and my sister; Lo Mein noodles I recommend making at home. It's really easy and pretty healthy! Here is the recipe i used: https://dinnerthendessert.com/chicken-lo-mein/
This week is finals for seniors so I will continue to work hard. Good luck to the rest of the class of 2021! I'm very sad to be leaving High School and especially YPIE. These past 4 years have been the best of my life so far but I have to stay positive because the future is bright! I hope to see you all in the college zone soon!
December 2020
Comic 1
This 1st comic is inspired by a poem "Grief comes in Waves" by GSnow. I 1st came across this poem on a podcast called Endless Thread. I thought it was very beautiful and always thought about making a comic about it. Though this is definitely not the final project by any means I still think it's a good first attempt. The final product's medium will probably be a mix of watercolor and ink.
Comic 2
This second comic I got inspired to draw after listening to This is Home by Cavetown. I'll leave the interpretation up to you of what you think it might mean. The final product's medium will probably be ink and watercolor.
GSnow on Grief
Alright, here goes. I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not. I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents. I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see. As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive. In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life. Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out. Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too. If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks.