Today we’d like to introduce you to Professor Skyline.
Professor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began drawing as early as the 1st grade, my interest beginning from seeing the pictures my grandpa would draw and finding it fascinating and wanting to be able to do the same.
My love for cars also developed early on from movies I’d watched, video games I’d played and the cars I would see driving around town, the first car I can remember falling in love with being the original Porsche Boxster.
Everything came to a head in 2005, when I was able to play Midnight Club 3 when it released, becoming so inspired by the game that I wanted to create a manga about cars and racing, cranking out a little over 20 books before I stopped in high school.
Fast forward to about 2018 and I wanted to get back to my roots and make a manga about cars again, that lead me to where I am now, currently working on my own manga, where I am 5 volumes deep and working on the 6th.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It would be nice to say there were no bumps along the way, but that wouldn’t be true at all.
From the time I had everything drawn up for the very first volume of my manga, I struggled with whether it was ready or not to be put out into the world.
Due to my own sense of perfectionism, it took me months from the time the everything was done, to the time I had actually released anything, but I eventually got tired of holding onto it and uploaded my first manga, to positive reception.
Another bump in the road had to be shortly after I had finally gained the courage to release my first 2 volumes of my manga, the computer I was working from died on me and I had to scramble to figure out how to save everything I had been working on and of course, get a new computer.
The most challenging hurdle came in 2020, during the pandemic, we had lost the house we were renting, as the landlord sold it while we were living there and we had a short window of time to find a place to put all of our belongings and find a place to stay.
We bounced around quite a bit and didn’t exactly find any stability until the the next year.
The housing situation, coupled with still having to go back and forth to work (while everyone was still on lockdown) meant I was rarely able to work on my manga as much as I wanted, though when we did find some stability, Austin’s Coffee was a my most frequent place of refuge.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I would consider myself a multidisciplinary artist, with a desire to expand my repertoire.
I would say I specialize in creative writing and drawing, but I’ve also been known to paint as well.
As of now, I’m most currently known for the manga I’ve created under the Professor Skyline name.
I’m most proud of how far I’ve come as an artist, the experiences I’ve had and the community of people that I’ve met and become apart of over the past decade.
What I would consider something that sets me apart from the others is the fact that I’m one of the few people in this city that creates manga.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I have to give a HUGE amount of credit to the people around me, from my family that supported me, cheered me on and supplied me with materials from the time they found out I was interested in art, all the way to the friends (some of whom have become family) that showed love to me from the moment we met and continue to root for me and support me throughout whatever peaks and valleys life brings.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oddstudiofl.com
- Instagram: Professor_Skyline
