Illustrator began under USU professor
A teacher, an artist and a speaker with a self-proclaimed “overactive imagination,” Kevin Wasden graduated from USU with a liberal arts degree in 1995.
After working a number of jobs that included gorilla suits and being an office manager, Wasden chased one of his biggest dreams and began to illustrate the Hazzardous Universe, a book series targeted toward young readers.
Currently, he teaches art classes in his “studio” at the DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts in Ogden, Utah.
The Utah Statesman recently caught up with Wasden for a Q-and-A. He reflected on his future, classroom and his Aggie roots.
US: When did you first begin illustrating?
KW: My first “official” illustration job began in 1995. I was asked by a friend to create a logo for a book project being published by Dr. Prent Klag, who at the time was director of USU’s Edith Bowen Laboratory School. Dr. Klag apparently liked the logo enough that he enlisted me to illustrate a number of books for Utah State University over the course the following year.
US: How did this turn into a career?
KW: During this time, my wife was accepted into the Long Island University physician assistant program, so we packed up and moved to Brooklyn, New York. We could not afford for both of us to attend school, so I postponed my education while she completed hers. I was lucky enough to continue illustrating for USU and Dr. Klag for the first few months that we lived in New York.
When the job was finished, I had to find work in New York City. Luckily, a private art instructor from whom I was taking lessons, suggested I meet a friend of his who was an artist’s representative. She looked over my early work and said she saw potential but that there was nothing strong enough for her to show. I thought my illustration career was over before it began, but then she took down a book from her self – an Amelia Bedelia book, I believe – then she taped paper over the illustrations without letting look at them and asked me to illustrate the book my way. I remember spreading the art on the table and watching as the agent analyzed and silently critiqued my work. Then she turned to me and said, “OK, I will represent you.” Simple as that. It was a huge moment for me.
US: Do you have a favorite memory from your time at USU?
KW: I had many wonderful experiences at USU. I had probably the coolest student job ever at the Eccles Conference Center and was able to meet Edward James Olmos when he presented there one evening. I was able to dress up in a gorilla suit and play Twister at a publicity event for the College of Education. I even survived riding in a golf cart straight down Old Main Hill.
The best memory I have, of course, was meeting my wife. She was running out the back door of her dorm room as I happened to be passing. I had no idea she was actually being chased by another guy in the midst of a water fight. She stopped abruptly as she burst through the door, leaned against the door frame calmly as if nothing crazy was happening, smiled and struck up a conversation. Somehow, before the other guy discovered her hiding spot, we had set up a date and I was hooked.
US: What projects are you working on now?
KW: Currently I am working on what I would consider my favorite two projects ever. I rank them as such because they are both personal projects that have found some success (in). The first is Hazzardous Universe, a book series for young readers by Julie Wright and myself. The Hazzardous Universe series began way back in 1993, soon after I was married. I began sketching a strip called “Out of Orbit” that featured two bumbling aliens named Mosh and Gygak.
I held onto my sketches until 2007, when I committed the cardinal sin of telling a writer I had a really great idea and asking her to write it for me. Luckily for me, the writer was Julie Wright, and I had managed to catch her attention with some of my art at a local convention. We went on to develop the Hazzardous Universe book series based on my sketches. The series is published by Covenant Communications and we are currently working on the third book.
The second project is Technosaurs, a comic book series that I initially created as a web comic back in 2006. Originally, I published one page per week online and began to gain a substantial following. It was truly a labor of love, which means I enjoyed every second of it, but didn’t make a dime. After completing two issues, I was forced to put the project on hiatus while I focused on the paying side of my career. However, I could never let the project disappear into oblivion. I have continued developing the storyline and am pleased to announce that the comic has been picked up by Visionary Comics and will be released this summer with wider distribution. Hopefully this time around it won’t just be a labor of love.
US: Do you want to illustrate full time, or would you like to continue to teach?
KW: It took me years to arrange my life so I could teach. I honestly love working with youth and teaching students to draw, to paint, to see, and to imagine. While I continue to illustrate, I have no desire to leave teaching, ever. But, I’ll never give up illustration either. In fact, I think illustration helps me be a better educator, and teaching helps me be a better artist.
US: Where do you see your art taking you in the next 10 years?
KW: I have a few book projects on the back burner that I want to tackle within the next few years. One is a science-fiction piece that takes place in the 1800s in Ogden that I’m really excited about. I also hope to continue to develop my skills in the classroom.
US: What’s your True Aggie Status?
KW: This is one of those questions I have avoided for years. Normally when asked, I try desperately to change the subject in order to avoid abject humiliation . . . so, how about them Jazz?
– allee.evensen@aggiemail.usu.edu