boston progress radio

Louie Chin a 25 year old aspiring comic artist shies away from any hype or praise. He starts out by answering any question including ones about his ongoing comic project, “It’s Not All Okay,” with an I don’t know.

Chin is an introvert currently studying graphic design at New York City College of Technology. He is not thrilled about his major, but it is something to hold him down until he figures a way to make a reputation of his work. Chin’s interest lies in comics, but he also does drawings and may even pursue a career in children’s books.

As consumers we all want to be inspired. Chin accomplishes this in a unique way. He intertwines his beliefs, his doubts, his everyday mundane, his relationships, and his hopes with sarcastic humor while easing the reader’s own problems and uncertainties. He allows for his illustrations to reveal his genuine feelings. When reading one of Chin’s comics you get lost between reality and cartoon because his pictures resemble a moment captured by a camera, a moment that could be a memory in your own life.

JM: Why the hesitancy with sharing your work?

Louie Chin: Yeah I’m scared of failure. I don’t show my work to important people, if I went to a gallery and there are people who can make me famous, I will be too shy to even mention my work. I don’t know if I am afraid of criticism, just the part where I have to show my work. If I muster the courage to do that then it is not so bad. I have anxiety in general. I am too shy of a person, large crowds and party type atmosphere scare me.

JM: When did you start doing “It’s Not All Okay?”

LC: Around February of 2006. I just wanted a way to vent things. I think to myself, I have conversations with myself and I wanted to put it in a comic. Then I decided to make it about other things because I didn’t want it to be only about me venting. It was originally named “Things that Bother Me,” but I changed it after the third comic. At the time I was writing stories that didn’t have a happy ending and I decided to use the name of the blog I had a long time ago which was “It’s Not All Okay.”

JM:Do you think you will have a happy ending?

LC: Yeah, my prince will come someday.

JM: What makes for a good “It’s Not All Okay” story?

LC: A story where something really sad happens and then something good happens but not good enough to overcome the infinite sadness. So it leaves the ending up in the air. The plot can be whatever. Sometimes I wanna write about things that I felt or went through but it seems too personal. People will know that it happened to me or I thought or felt these thingssince the comic is usually based on me.

JM: When you’re writing your stories for “It’s Not All Okay,” who are you writing it for?

LC: I am writing for myself in a way. You think up these stories in your head and the visuals form and you just want to put it out here. I never really thought about I’m going to draw these comic for all the outcasts and losery people.

JM: What makes your work special?

LC: It’s so weird answering that because it feels like boasting. I think I draw cute shit people like. I also write and draw about pop culture. I try to do a bit of everything.

JM: Do you think these days with so much out there, it’s hard to find fans?

LC: Well I think comics have only a certain fan base and then there’s an even smaller fan base for Indie comics so it’s already a battle to begin with.

JM: Are you one of few that incorporates Asian American characters into your comics?

LC: I don’t usually think about incorporating an Asian guy in my comics, unless it’s an actual story I’m basing off of. My work isn’t really Asian American oriented but that’s something I want to venture into. Stop being racist just cuz they (his characters) have beady eyes. I don’t draw my characters as Asian though, well I never look at them that way. I’m not that good where I can actually draw different features and different races

JM: What do you do besides school and comics?

LC: I hide away in my room on sunny days moping (joking). I work at an after school program/summer camp (NYC Chinatown’s Chinese American Planning Council). I have art related workshops with them sometimes. I do basic grade school arts and crafts. Other times I teach them about photography, comics, and making newsletters.

JM: What keeps you staying at CPC, do you think you’re a kid at heart?

LC: I don’t know, kids are cool. That’s why I’m thinking about the teaching degree. I’m a kid at heart in the sense that I don’t like to be bothered by adult problems. Plus the toys and stupid kiddish things I buy. I use to blow a lot of money on Kurbricks, they’re like Legos.

JM: Have you ever showed the kids your work?

LC: I showed them how to draw a cartoony face, some of them listened, some of them were like whatever. Kids are impressed that I can draw. They ask me to draw Pokemon characters, in one day I’d have to draw the same Pokemon 5 times

JM:What do you see yourself doing before the fame happens?

LC: Be a teacher or something. It is my fall back plan. Even if I become a teacher I will still do it (comics). I would teach grade school, not high school. Dream teacher job would be an art teacher.

To read Louie Chin’s “It’s Not All Okay” comic and to see some of his other works, please visit his website, http://www.west-ate.com/ or visit his blog, http://1421.west-ate.com/

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Tags: Interview.