Creating a Career in Comics
Former Marvel and DC Artist Demonstrates Creative Process
On Oct. 23, Professor Mark Sparacio will be holding a Comic Book Artist event in the Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall to demonstrate to students how he paints artwork for comic books.
When Lynn adopted the Digital Media Arts College (DMAC) in 2017, the College of Communication and Design had the pleasure of welcoming new and talented faculty members, including Sparacio. Since then, Sparacio has taught courses such as principles of design, basic drawing, figure drawing 1, and comics and sequential art. Students that do not take his classes have the opportunity to learn from him in his upcoming event.
“I am going to do a lectured demonstration where I am going to be painting and describing what I am doing and talking to the students about how I create the artwork,” said Sparacio. “Starting with rough sketches, to my photo session, to finished sketches, to the final painting, to the printed artwork, we will go through the whole process.”
Before pursuing a career as an educator, Sparacio was a freelance illustrator in advertising where he would get jobs from multiple agencies. Afterwards, Sparacio reached out to a previous educator from his time in the School of Visual Arts, Will Eisener, to ask for assistance in getting into the comic book industry. Sparacio went on to produce illustrations for D.C. and Marvel.
“Being in this industry, being in comics, teaching, doing the conventions, doing commissions. I love doing all of it,” said Sparacio. “People ask me when I’m going to retire, and I tell them I’m not going to retire. I enjoy doing this so why would I ever want to retire? I feel very lucky and blessed to be doing something I love for a living.”
Sparacio believes that success depends on hard work, dedication, perseverance, and asking a lot of questions. The College of Communication and Design is working towards inspiring students to pursue their dream careers in the creative industry.
“We are trying to bring the artwork to the students starting with Mark Sparacio’s event,” said Mike Arsenault, associate dean at the College of Communication and Design. “The next one is going to be a student art show, so we are trying to do a couple of these every semester.”
For more information on the comic book artist event taking place on Wednesday Oct. 23 at 5 p.m., contact Mark Sparacio at msparacio@lynn.edu.
