Meet the Artists: Jason and Dave

geekologymag
Dec 4, 2014
3 min read

By William Alcopra

By day, Jason Tocewicz, 38, doodles caricatures of his customers at Starbucks on their cups. At night, when the green coffee-scented apron comes off, he pursues his life-long passion: comics.

“I’ve been reading comic books all my life. One good memory about my father (is that) he would buy comic books and hide them around the house; like under chairs, under the couches stuff like that,” Tocewicz said. “For me, it’s comics. Ever since then, comics have been my main source of entertainment, of escape.”

Comics have not only provided Tocewicz with solace and joy, but they have inspired his creativity leading to his career as a comic book artist.

In 2010, Tocewicz was focused on writing and took a writing/graphic novel class at the University of Toronto. Eventually he found himself at Ty Templeton’s Comic Book Bootcamp. “I joined class with him and my whole focus went back to write and draw comics,” he said. “Over the years I took all the class es he offered. Now I’m just trying to reposition myself to try and get back into it – do it for myself.”

Tocewicz finds himself at a loss for words when describing the design process. “You’re creating something and you know it’s there. The more it takes shape, the more it takes form, the more you take stuff out of it and the more you put stuff in…it’s this really great feeling,” he said. “The more you work on it, the more you write it, the more you draw it, the more it becomes this physical thing. Once you get it out there and it’s all done, it’s like ‘I made this’ and I get to share it with people.”

Every time he creates an idea and shares it, Tocewicz gets that feeling of “giddiness.”

“I guess every time I create a different idea where I talk about something like that or I show someone a sketch I get that feeling all the time. Almost all the time creating it is a great experience,” he said.

Tocewicz creates comics mainly in black and white ink. He’s been published in several copies of the Heavy Mental anthology and Solitude.

Dave Franciosa, 25, is a hardcore Batman fan and a Hamilton-based comic book artist. He’s been drawing Batman and comics since he was two years old.

“As long as I can remember I’ve been drawing. More importantly drawing comics, and to be totally specific, drawing Batman. At the age of the two, when some are known to be terrible, a method for relaxation was to watch Batman (1989), draw, or both simultaneously,” Franciosa said. “The visuals of the Tim Burton movie really captured my eye and sparked my interest in illustrating comic figures. Now as an adult I understand that illustration has become not only my career path, but a way of meditation. Just as it helped me focus as a child, it continues to do the same for me now.”

Zachery Ellis, 25, is another Hamilton-based cartoonist and portrait artist. He’s the artistic mind behind the webcomic Wow Such Wow. Ellis bought the domain as a joke but ended up using it for the exercise of making a daily comic strip.

“I just always drew, right from the get go. I have a creative brother and father so that doesn’t hurt either. I was a pretty tiny kid growing up and my mom was always a little hesitant to let me go out and get roughed up from sports with the bigger kids. I was a little afraid myself too I think,” Ellis said. “The result was that I spent a lot of time inside with pencil and paper and doing creative things. I work my off hours as a freelance graphic designer just making websites and catalogues that helps with the bills while I pursue my love of comics.”

For inspiration, the artists find it in some interesting ways. Tocewicz asks himself “silly questions” like “what if Quentin Tarantino directed Disney movies?” Franciosa draws inspiration from friends and family.

“Most recently I have found personal adventure and nature to extremely inspirational. If I spend like 20 minutes on a trail or something, I usually get all introverted and can find a joke or an idea within,” Ellis said. “It’s pretty great for getting to know yourself through your work.”