Makerspaces: Aotearoa New Zealand: Featuring: Danny Fast & The Patron Saint of Librarians

Tuesday, 8 December 2015

Featuring: Danny Fast & The Patron Saint of Librarians

Patron Saint of Libraries

Library as Incubator Project (LAIP): Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work .

Danny Fast (DF): I work in a lot of different mediums but the ol’ standbys are digital and traditional drawing. I like drawing cartoons and comics in particular. As for education, I did one year at Sheridan College for Art Fundamentals, then got my B.A. in Visual Arts at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. I guess I’ve been trained for the “high” arts but prefer my seats in the “low” section, thank you very much.

LAIP: What are you working on right now that you’re excited about?

DF: Right now I’m working on the art for an indie card game called Awkward Party. Basically all the players are at a party and they all have specific goals in mind, but if they stop doing interesting things then people get too awkward and go home and the game ends. It’s pretty meta. I’ve created a bunch of comic strip-style art to go along with the flavour text, as well as designing the card layout. I also have an ongoing webcomic series called Peanut Butter Fountain about political topics and random silliness, which is published in an arts magazine called The Sound STC. And I’m always working on custom cartoon-y portraits I call FriendDoodles.

Downton Library event invite

LAIP: How have libraries informed your creative work? Tell us about the first library you remember playing a part in your artistic development.

DF: I’ve always gone to libraries, ever since I can remember. My mom would get us picture books, books on tape (heh, tape), and I even remember borrowing Star Wars on VHS. The library has always been a welcoming place for me. When I was in my early years of university, I remember reading Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons — that was a gamechanger in terms of comics for me. I nearly abused the library system to take out as many graphic novels as I could. It was heaven. Not only could I get instructional books on how to make better comics (ie. Scott McCloud‘s books), I could take out classic graphic novels (Will Eisner), Canadian graphic novels (Jeff Lemire), foreign ones (Jason), post-modern ones (Chris Ware), and just all-around awesome ones (Neil Gaiman). Hell, I’d even take out poorly done graphic novels so I’d know what not to do. The library helped shape my understanding of visual storytelling and let me dive as deep down into comics as I wanted.

The library helped shape my understanding of visual storytelling and let me dive as deep down into comics as I wanted.

LAIP: Can you describe a particular library-incubated project for us?

DF: I learned a lot about libraries when my girlfriend was getting her Masters of Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario. Listening to her talk about what she was learning was almost like going to her classes, except of course I didn’t have to do any hard work or write any essays. I did feel, however, like I was tapped into this progressive movement of the library as community space. I think it’s a good thing to be a part of and actively notice. While she was there, I did some volunteer artwork for a group she worked with called Librarians Without Borders. I designed a bunch of library-themed pinback buttons to sell at bake sales so they could raise funds for a library in Guatemala. And that’s how the first real merge of art and library began. Of course, things go back further to when we first started dating. The first time we hung out, I donated books to a little library she started at her work. Then our first date consisted of sitting on the floor at the public library between the shelves, telling her all about graphic novels. I guess you could say it was a merge of art and library since day one <333

I was tapped into this progressive movement of the library as community space. I think it’s a good thing to be a part of and actively notice.

Librarian button collection

LAIPAs an artist, what would your ideal library be like? What kinds of stuff would you be able to check out, and what could you do there?

DF: I really enjoy my local library — they’ve got a lot of great stuff for every type of person out there. That’s what my ideal library would be. Of course my main concern would be getting more graphic novels, art reference books, and board games, but libraries aren’t about focusing on one person’s tastes. They’re about focusing on what’s best for the community. The Kitchener Public Library’s got a lot of what I like. I guess if there’s one thing I would change it would be additional funding for programs. I would want ALL the free programs to exist for everyone everrrrrrrrrrr!

I guess if there’s one thing I would change it would be additional funding for programs. I would want ALL the free programs to exist for everyone.

LAIP: Tell us how to find your art!

DF: My website is dfast.ca. If anyone’s looking for a custom cartoon-y gifts for a loved one, I do these digital drawings calledFriendDoodles. They’re basically drawings of you and your friends in any type of crazy situation you can think of. They’re good for anyone anywhere because all I do is send off a digital file and you do what you’d like with it. Okay, that’s my plug. Stay real, everyone!