TRAVIS SHALLENBERGER

Charles is one of my fav artists of all time. I met him by chance at a comiccon and after giving the comic he illustrates, "Stuff of Legend" I was hooked on his amazing style.  At first look this book appeared to be just a story about toys, abut if you give it a look its an epic tail bout the simple things in life that stand between us and the forces of evil. That's just one of his projects that he produces with amazing excellence. I asked and to my everlasting joy he agreed to let us feature him. if you're looking for something epic AND fun this man is right up your alley.

 
1) My name is Travis Shallenberger, though most folks call me Weasel or Wease. My art is mostly storytelling with writing and running D&D games, but I have begun drawing again after pretty much doing nothing with the skills I learned during schooling.    

2) My favorite movies are anything Sar Wars, LOTR, Dawn of the Dead (the original) Princess Mononoke, and any God-awful cheesy sci-fi or horror movie you'd see on MST3K.   

3) Like I said, for about 25 years I didn't do much drawing or the like, thinking that as at 30+, if I couldn't paint or draw things that were professional quality I shouldn't even bother. I've started to draw again and have even gotten some stuff to start doing digital art along with pencil & pen.   

4) While I want to become as amazing as some of my artistic idols like Larry Elmore & Bill Watterson, I'm happy to just keep drawing as I am now, just because I enjoy it. I do, however,  have a comic that I am writing that I adamantly want to make. It's a fantasy adventure lesbian romantic comedy, but in order to "keep it real" I feel I need to have a lesbian artist to draw what I've written, so if you know anyone, point her towards me! 

5) I've been seeing a lot of great artists lately, John Spencer, Ken Upton, "Nats" (or SuperNats on twitch) and everyone on the cast of Drawfee on YouTube. 

6) My oldest child, Newt, told me they wanted to see me start making art again, just because it made me happy. Not for profit, not to impress people, but to be happy. Never forget that, folks. Be happy making art.   

7) My main way of sharing my art right now is on my FB group Fantasy February. This is the third year of the challenge, and it looks like I'm actually going to get all of the drawing prompts done this year!   

8) I'd like to get a website set up for my previously mentioned comic, and start getting it made for the public to view!    

9) The best advice I can give is: Don't stop. Keep doing it. Keep enjoying doing it. You are allowed to have a hobby that isn't a side hustle. Being an adult isn't supposed to be just work, sleep, and media consumption.   

10) My latest piece was inspired by all of the old comics you'd see in the back of Dragon magazine, a dash of Welcome to Nightvale, and of course a huge dose of Gary Larson's The Far Side!