FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- My full name is Raymond Curtis Billingsley. I use "Ray" professionally. - 

2) Where are you from?
- My background is from the south, North Carolina to be exact, but my family migrated to New York's Harlem at an early age. -

3) What do you do?
- I write and draw the syndicated comic strip CURTIS. It's syndicated under King Features Syndicate, the largest syndicate in the world. It currently appears in 370+ papers worldwide. CURTIS is credited with breaking the boundaries, thus opening the door for many of the strips of a similar genre. www.billingsleyart.com -

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- Nothing really inspired, except for my older brother who also draws. I've been drawing as a child, as many artists say, but I became professional at age twelve, and have been published regularly ever since. It's been over forty years now and still going strong. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- My view on the state of the arts is quite complicated. I've seen some art which is really good, but some of them need to strengthen their writing skills. On the other hand I've seen work that could use a lot of practice! Some depends too much on the computer to enhance their work when they should be working harder to improve the artwork itself. I feel some put their work out there on the internet before they are truly ready, but arrogance makes them think otherwise. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Jack Anthony Forbes - 

2) Where are you from?
- I'm from Brooklyn NY, born and raised. - 

3) What do you do?
- I'm a freelance Illustrator/Cartoonist. - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- Art is a huge integral part of the world we live in, through understand it I can further understand the world and through mastery of it take some amount of control over the world around me.

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- From my point of view I think the arts are in an interesting place right now. With digital publishing becoming more of a legitimized we're seeing alot more younger and talented artists emerge, and their niche and an audience who appreciates their work. For instance there are over 18,000 webcomics available on the internet for free right now, which is completely insane but thanks to the internet those people who would have been voiceless now have a place to express themselves artistically without the need of knowing the right people or a publisher. I'm very curious to see how these things develop in another 10 years with print publishing less and less relevant. -