What I've Learned: Ty Tyner

Ty Tyner was the guy in his high school class doodling in his notebook instead of taking notes. Now he gets paid to be a graphic designer and a comic book colorist.

Tyner currently works on EPIC comic about a teenager who gets superpowers. However, once he's around girls, he loses his cool and his superpowers.

"When I heard the pitch, I was like that's great. I want to be involved in this project. I ended up being the colorist for that book," said Tyner.

Tyner moved to Austin with his friends and looked at the programs of the different colleges in the area. He chose Austin Community College because of what they offered.

"At the time, I wanted to study 3D animation, and ACC had a better program than [University of Texas in Austin (UT)]. So that's why I ended up at ACC, because I liked their art program a little better than UT. UT's was a little more traditional at the time," said Tyner.

He graduated with an associate degree in visual communication design in 2000 and started looking for a job. Because of his classes at ACC, he already had a portfolio he could present at his interviews.

"I did a bunch of interviews and stuff, and I landed my first gig," said Tyner. "Pretty much, my whole portfolio was from ACC at that point. But it's funny, the job I ended up landing didn't even look at my portfolio at all. OK, we'll take your word for it."

Tyner feels that the education he received at ACC is still helping him with his job working with comic books.

"It definitely taught me a good bit about design and had a good program as far as design goes," said Tyner. "I think I grew as an artist definitely when I was there. I did some life drawing classes. At the time, I didn't think I needed them because I was like I'm a computer designer, but now that I'm doing the comic thing, I'm actually doing more painting. It actually does come back into play."

That comic thing he's referring to is a recent development. Tyner was always interested in comic books and knew he wanted to get in the business somehow.

"That started about maybe two and a half years ago. I always read comics, and I wanted to be involved in the comic industry somehow. I never really thought about coloring or maybe doing lettering or something like that. I couldn't draw well enough to be a Marvel DC artist," said Tyner.

But, he was inspired to become a colorist by a podcast.

 "I heard a podcast somewhere. This guy was a colorist and he was talking about the process and how it worked. I started looking into it and realized I was actually pretty good at it. My graphic design and Photoshop background really helped me have a leg up on anybody else, because you have to know these programs to do it. But once you get in that foundation, it made it easier for me to transition into this. And, I've been doing this for about two years now, doing independent work and different books," said Tyner.

Now with EPIC Comic issue #0 released and issue #1 on the way, Tyner is now riding the comic convention circuit visiting cities around the country. Recently, he showcased his art at STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo on March 5 and 6.

Tyner likes attending these conventions because it gives him the opportunities to meet fellow artists and art fans.

"It's great. I did New York Comic Con this last year and Baltimore as well. It's great to actually get out there and experience all these different cities and same kind of subcultures, but in a different town. You meet different people from all over the world. It's pretty awesome," said Tyner.