Review Fix Exclusive: Chris Clarke Talks Art And More

Review Fix chats with artist Chris Clarke, who discusses his origins in art and more.

Review Fix: How did you get into art?

Chris Clarke: I started at a young age- where drawing/doodling was a great escape, but also a great way to fight boredom. For me, drawing was a very private thing and I was always reluctant to share… Then in college I started to whip up quick drawings for program advertisements and tee shirt designs and then got an internship with John Romita as one of Romita’s Raiders for a summer. That internship was a blessing and a curse- for I had a great experience doing corrections on comic books and being exposed to that career field. The negative was that I became self-conscious and pushed forward the idea that my art was not on that level and this career path was not for me.

So fast forward a good bit and find a guy who doodled CONSTANTLY at work or in meetings, but never really took the time or effort to push something out to the public (Still struggling with that). Then when my firstborn came along- I found myself with a lot of late/sleepless hours. So I started to draw something for his nursery. Soon I was doing more pieces for kids and their rooms and then commissioned pieces. I was lucky enough to get in cahoots with the Cultural Compulsive Disorder (CCD) https://www.facebook.com/CCD.NYChttp://www.ccd.nyc/ – These folks let me create and participate in a number of their awesome events, and make a few dollars along the way. Each event had a different theme and a different adventure! So, Now I draw when time allows- sometimes for me, sometimes for commissioned pieces.

Review Fix: What are your favorite things to draw? 

Clarke: I love superheroes. I love drawing them in my own cartoonish style. I love drawing people and I love cramming in loads of details on drawings. So that usually means adding a number of characters on each piece. My love for superheroes also means just doodling and creating my own universe of heroes/villains. It is a great creative exercise and adds to my mental well-being.

Review Fix: What are your most popular pieces? 

Clarke: I am more in line with posting the popular characters pieces, even though I truly adore the obscure (or lesser known) DC characters. While I do specific pieces for kids, the general pieces get the better attention.

Review Fix: What are your goals in art? 

Clarke: To keep drawing and enjoy it. I think I’ve always wanted to create a children’s book or to come up with that novel new cartoon proposal. But for those- you need time. So maybe down the line. For now- I love finishing a piece and mailing it off and seeing people appreciate the piece and all of the labor and details that went into it. I’m not hitting a big audience, but I know I am impacting folks.

Review Fix: Any pieces you’re looking to tackle? 

Clarke: I have a list of things I want to tackle. I also have a list of things I want to re-do, for I am very critical of my work and a lot of the pieces I see how I can improve the next time around! But- as far as pieces planned in my head: Star Wars Trilogy (original), Star Trek, Wrestlers, Saturday morning cartoons (HUGE PIECE!!!), a cartoon piece on “ALIENS”… and so many more…

Review Fix: What’s next? 

Clarke: Probably a lot of doodling. Also I have been selling off some of the self-created heroes- so that is pretty exciting as well. It’s nice to know that someone appreciates and values your art and your creativity.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Clarke: Find me on Facebook 12for12Designs…Otherwise- I need to get more tech savvy for Instagram and technology in general. You can also e-mail me at [email protected] if you have a request and need pricing. 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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