Nate Fakes
Luckily, my parents were very encouraging. I remember one Christmas when I got a bunch of paper as a gift — and I was ecstatic! That’s just an example of how they supported me growing up. I feel like I latched on to my parents’ creativity as well. My dad is a painter, and my mom is a gifted musician. Growing up with that around, combined with newspapers that contained the funny pages, definitely helped fuel me as a cartoonist.
As for cinema, Tom Hulce in Amadeus was my favorite actor growing up, because I love that movie. In terms of cartooning, I enjoyed watching the classic Disney shorts and also all of the cartoons from the 80s. They all had different levels of influence on me. My favorite illustrators were all the ones from MAD Magazine. MAD was an essential part of my childhood and wanting to be a cartoonist. I also bought tons of Garfield, Far Side, and Calvin & Hobbes books.
I am pretty much self-taught. I always drew, especially when I wasn’t supposed to, like all through school. I did learn about painting, sculpture, and fine art in college. Though, I’ve always been able to draw. I think it’s because I started early. I’d have to guess I was drawing when I was still in diapers.
I’ve tried a ton of stuff that didn’t work. To this day, try a lot of different series’, books, strips, etc. I’m proud that I was able to publish some cartoons and articles in MAD. As for my longest-running success, it’s my gag cartoon, Break of Day. It’s syndicated online at GoComics and has been syndicated now for nine years.
