WLM | art
TIST –
By June Johnston
Images Created by Zachary Pullen
back out of the building, when the editor stuck his
head back in the door and said, “If I haven’t called
you in 24 hours, call me. Let’s work together.” Zak
summed that up as one of the most stressful, most
humbling experiences of his life – and it probably took
all of five minutes!
On top of the world, Zak did manage to find his way
out of the building and arrived home just in time
to find a message on his answering machine. It was
from the editor, asking Zak to call him back before a
certain time – which had already passed. Zak called
him anyway and was told that the assignment had
already been given to someone else. Disappointed,
Zak refused to be discouraged.
The editor called him back the next day with Zak’s
first assignment, and his career has blossomed ever
since. If it were not for this life changing evening,
Zak figures he would still be trying to break into the
children’s book market, which typically takes 1015 years. He shares that the opportunity has given
him many enjoyable experiences. “{I get to} teach,
visit schools, students – lots of stuff. You have to
take risks,” Zak adds. “You never know where the
opportunities will come from.”
I asked Zak how he came to dive into the world of
children’s books; he explained that it had always been
a dream of his. He had his favorite books as a kid, and
wanted to provide books that children could enjoy
and learn from. A father himself to son Houston, Zak
considers a good learning tool for children to be of
prime importance.
I asked Zak to explain “realistic caricature” portraits.
He explains that he wants the characters to look
like they’re alive. He aims to capture the person
perfectly – with a few distortions, but the personality
still there. “I think it’s more of an application of style
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