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I was born
in Marquette, Michigan...in 1964. |
How
long have you been a Christian?
I received Christ into
my life as a young child of 5 or 6 years old. |
Where
did you go to art school?
After Highschool
I attended and graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and
Graphic Art. The school is located in Dover, New Jersey. It is a
3 year course and ALL my classes were on cartooning or drawing.
I attended from 1984-1987. |
Have
you been inspired by Charles Schulz and Johnny Hart, whom both were
Christians, too?
If
yes, what did inspired you about them?
Yes,
both provided much inspiration for me as a young cartoonist. I used
to copy both Peanuts and BC cartoon characters as a kid learning
to draw cartoons. Both produced top quality, funny cartoons. I have
many, many Peanuts and BC books on my bookshelves today. Johnny
Hart continues to inspire as his strip continues. He is a supporter
of AIG. I hope to meet him some day. Mr. Hart is a cartoonist that
doesn't shy away from having a cartoon with a Christian message
in it from time to time. He knows some will not be happy because
of this and he doesn't flinch. He is a brave man to not worry about
what others will think of his Christian message. THIS is really
an inspiration! |
How
long you have been with Answers in Genesis?
I have been doing
artwork for AIG since early (Jan - Feb) 1995.The first 2 years was
mostly volunteer work along with my very first large project for them
(not volunteer) which was illustrating the children's book, A is for
Adam. |
How
did you get connected with AiG?
I had
been aware of a number of Creation ministries for quite some time.
My interest in Biblical Creation really grew as I was introduced
to a video tape series featuring Ken Ham and Dr. Gary Parker. This
was around 1988-9. At that time Ken Ham was working for ICR (The
Institute for Creation Research) in California. That video series
lit my fire and I began to collect as much information on Biblical
Creation as I could. I viewed many videos, read lots of books and
listened to lots
of cassette tapes. Through it all my favorite creation speaker continued
to be Ken Ham. As a direct result of Ken's Creation Evangelism message,
I started a comic strip in 1994 called, "CreationWise". This was
my little personal home project to try to get the church to start
thinking about the importance on the book of Genesis. The comic
strip was produced every week or two as I was able. It was used
by my church and a local Creation group in the Minneapolis, Minnesota
area. A small start, but it was a start. Later that year, I found
out Ken Ham was going to be speaking less than two hours south of
where we were living at the time (we lived in the Minneapolis area).
In preparation to meeting him, I sent samples of my CreationWise
comic strips to his ministry in Kentucky (He moved on from ICR in
1994). I received a phone call from his ministry (then called Creation
Science Ministries) in early 1995 requesting information on my availability
to work on a children's book project. I illustrated the book, A
is for Adam for them and continued to volunteer my art services
for Ken Ham for about 2 years. In 1997 Answers In Genesis hired
me full time as their staff cartoonist/illustrator. |
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What
made you decide to start publishing After Eden?
The AIG
web site offered new possibilities for ministry. I saw that other
web sites had been using cartoons to attract viewers to their sites.
I thought this was something I would like to try. AIG wants to be
a ministry that appeals to the family and a cartoon feature could
be popular. It would also be another tool for Christians to use
in their churches and ministries and at the same time increase the
awareness of the AIG web site because the AIG web address is on
each cartoon. In late 1999, we announced the new feature on our
web site and began running the new weekly cartoon in January 2000.
After Eden provided an opportunity for me to try some humor. My
other cartoon, CreationWise, was funny at times, but is not necessarily
to be funny and After Eden is to be funny. Both cartoon features
are to remain Biblical, but they have two different purposes. (Read
the about After Eden section on the AIG web site.) |
Do
you consider After Eden your ministry to the lost, or do you do other
activities concerning them?
Actually, neither of my
cartoons are primarily aimed at the lost. If they reach some lost
people, that's wonderful, but I would say they are aimed more at the
church. I want Christians to return to believing the foundations of
their faith and these cartoons get these issues and topics in front
of their faces. Once the church starts believing the Bible like they're
supposed to, then the church will be more effective in reaching the
lost. The end goal is reaching lost people. I hope to affect Christians
to get out their and live a dynamic, logical, believable, defendable,
solid faith in the world they live in. If they do that, lives will
change. |
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Any
advice for young artist who want to make a career in Art?
With all
the computer technology around today, it can be easy to get caught
up in all the neat "special effects" that a computer can do for
you. Don't think the computer does art for you. It is ONLY a tool
that an artist can use. Learn the basics of art first. Then apply
that knowledge to the computer. Computers are very important in
the art field these days, just don't rely on neat programs or
powerful computers to "create the art". I have seen too many people
out there who think they are creating art and would be totally
lost without a computer to rely on.
The best
art advice is to practice and practice a lot. Never think you
are "good enough" as an artist, because you will stop improving.
ALWAYS be willing to learn and take criticism. It will help
you now and in the future when you become a professional artist. |
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All images and content on this site © 2002 by Dan Lietha.
Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. |
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