Daily Inspiration: Meet Christopher Williams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Williams

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was interested in art as far back as I can remember. In grade school, I started getting into comic books, thanks to my cousin, and, in high school, came to discover screenprinted gigposters, specifically those made for Carrboro, NC’s Cat’s Cradle. When I went to college I decided I’d pursue screenprinting in the art department, but found that wasn’t something that was offered until senior year. Having some trouble with consistently getting studio time, I ended up switching to an English major instead, eventually limiting my artistic output to flyers I’d make for my bands.
Going into my senior year, my favorite professor said he’d be teaching a class on graphic novels in the spring, so, instead of graduating a semester early, I took the minimum class load so I could stick around. That class changed my life, reintroduced me to the world of art while introducing me to a whole world of creators I’d never known existed. I tried pursuing comics and writing out of school, but my patience and full time job got the better of me.
In 2003, I started making flyers as an intern for Chapel Hill’s Nightlight. Over the nine months there, I was making up to five letter-sized flyers for photocopying a week. Toward the end of that, I took a class on screenprinting at Pullen Park and asked a few printers I knew, Casey Burns and Ron Liberti, for advice. I ordered supplies, set things up in a friend’s garage and was off. I made a few posters for Chapel Hill’s Local 506, and through that was able to meet the owner of Cat’s Cradle, Frank Heath, who gave me the chance to start making posters for them, fulfilling a longstanding dream of mine. Since 2005, I’ve made hundreds and hundreds of posters for the Cradle, as well as many for bands and institutions all over the place.
In 2018, struggling with the effects of depression, I started trying to create sequential work for the first time in many years. I was able to complete a short 12-page zine in time for a comic convention in March of 2019. I began turning that into a practice, as a means to help manage my depression by both having a routine and by illustrating some of what I was going through. Since then, I’ve made about a dozen graphic novels and a slew of zines and mini-comics, totaling over 1,000 pages of sequential work.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been easy. I’m my own worst critic, and imposter syndrome looms heavy. I have shelves and boxes full of work that I will default to feeling is better than my own; walls that are full of work by more talented printers. In the worst moments, I would use all of this at times to remind myself that I shouldn’t try, that there is no point.
Over time I’ve come to realize the beauty of individual expression and apply it more to myself. I don’t consider myself the best at anything, but that’s not really the game. I feel, as an artist, your job is to help connect the world through your own unique view. It won’t connect with everyone, but it will connect with some, and whatever you’re expressing, or what they can take away from it, might help them feel more connected. It’s not about the right or wrong way to draw something, or who is best or worst, it’s about sharing.
I can still get down on myself, frequently, but in smaller doses now. I usually use that time to step back and refocus.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Now, more often than not, I am making comics. I feel like I was trying to create narratives through my poster work, so it’s almost a natural extension. For posters, you have to figure out the one scene, the one panel that reveals the most, so, with comics, I get to take my time. I try to approach the work from a cinematic aspect, as the scenes play out in my head, so the pages are almost like storyboards. The books, for the most part, deal with love and loss, but most have a throughline of hope.
For my posters, I’ve changed methods over the years. Originally doing spot color printing, I learned how to do process (cmyk) printing in 2018, thanks to a number of printing friends, Steve Oliva, Skillet Gilmore and JT Lucchesi. With the possibility of a less limited color palatte, I transitioned from hand-drawn work to collage. Now I float back and forth, depending on what I feel like best serves what I’m working on.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Spending time with my son makes me happy. He’s a teenager, and to see how he’s become his own person, it’s really something incredible. He’s probably the funniest person I know, and tremendously smart and talented. We attend conventions together and, more often than not, will spend the entire time talking about art or music or tv.
And creating makes me happy. Whether I’m sitting with my iPad in the early morning, working on a page of comics, or at practice with my bandmates in Maple Stave, having been together now for over 20 years, working on songs, I get a certain joy out of being able to create something new.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://plasticflame.com
• Instagram: plasticflame
• Other: http://maplestave.com/