The Artist: How Being Covered in Blood and Sand Landed Me a Job

Why, hello there.  My name's Amanda Carman, but I am known as Carman to most (not a military or standoffish thing; I am too much of a noodle to be in the military or to pull off standoffish.  It simply suits me better).  I do the art and formatting for Re:Medy, and I could not wish for a more talented and friendly partner than Lyndsay.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lyndsay during a production of Twelfth Night at our college.  We hit it off pretty well from the start, but we weren't able to see much of each other outside the theatre.

Fast forward three years.  I am performing in Hecuba as a last-minute replacement for a cast member who fell ill and could no longer perform.  Lyndsay has come back to visit the theatre and see the play.  Afterwards, she hangs around backstage to wait for all of us to finish removing the copious amounts of fake blood and sand that covered our bodies and she overhears an enthusiastic discussion that my good friend Stevie and I are having about graphic novels.

"Graphic novels?" she said.  "I'm writing one of those!  We need an artist, though."

"An artist?" I gibber.  "I'm an artist!  I art...things!"

After a lot of excitable talking at each other, Lyndsay sent me the script for the first issue to see if I'd be interested in the story.  And guys, I am interested in the story.  I am EXTREMELY picky about storytelling.  Not genre or subject matter, but the actual act of telling a story.  And Lyndsay can tell a story.  Her characters are so engaging that, after having drawn them at least 200 times a piece (and still counting), I still want to draw more of them.  It was very easy for me to see the images she wrote, which is invaluable to me as an artist.

I am so excited to share these characters and their stories with the world, and helping to bring them to life has been a very rewarding experience.

If you'd like to know more about me or get a feel for the kind of art I do, please check out my personal blog at http://balaganart.blogspot.com/.