When I was younger, I remember drawing full figure hands and feet. Mind you that at the age of four, children would just draw stick figures. But at that age, my mom knew I wanted to be some sort of an artist. When I was growing up, my cousin and I would get up early every morning to watch Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. To be honest, the only comics I was reading at the time were Archie comics and the Sunday funnies. I grew up watching Superman, Batman, Spiderman, X-Men you name it…but never read their comics till I got a lot older. I still remember the times in high school where I would just sit quietly and doodle character’s faces and different symbols. But by the time I got to college, everything changed…in a good and bad way. When I was in college, whatever I drew never got recognition or it was just a pass along. What I mean by “pass along” is that people looked through my pages…but not the artwork that was on those pages. I would get harsh criticisms -- just saying “no” through every page or not saying anything at all-- but before I graduated, a really good friend of mine and an awesome professor gave me the push I needed to become better. Instead of saying “no”, they gave me direction and positive criticism. So, instead of drawing a specific genre that everyone else drew, I started taking a heavy interest in the comic style. Comic style to me is something that isn’t just one style, its universal. This is where my journey in Xion begins…
What does The Xion Network mean to me? Ive been in Xion for almost two years and throughout that time, I have come across the most talented and heartwarming creative people. When I came to the first meeting in Philly, I brought nothing but a sketch book and an old portfolio (that wasn’t updated at the time). When I placed my work on the table, I was a bit nervous, but I got nothing but good vibes from everyone. I networked with many people, became more outgoing with ideas, found great friendships and learned so much. I felt that this group gave me the complete creative drive I needed to become a better artist as well as a better person. So, to answer the question above, for me…Xion is a group that makes me feel comfortable in my style of art. Its more of a safe haven to me where I feel confident and pumped to draw anything that I create in my mind. They taught me that it is ok to be unique and its ok to come up with crazy ideas to draw or write on paper. Because of the people in Xion, I learned to be confident, take risks, and achieve the goals that I set out for myself and just be me.
Funny story, I remember coming up to Shawn (Xion Founder) and throwing out an idea of having a comic group for New York. Now, I was just asking for some pointers, but he took it to another level where he wanted to expand Xion to NYC. Of course, I agreed because it would band more comic artists out in the NYC area together. So he made me the leader of Xion NYC. I was honored and nervous all at the same time, but because of the pep talk I got from Shawn, Kia, and Jovan, I was more pumped than nervous. The group in NYC came together greatly because of Shawn and Kia, even though they have their moments of hilarious “rap time”, we put our heads together and created Xion NYC. For the NYC branch, I wanted to have a comic group where I can help artists the same way Xion has helped me. Inspire, create, innovate, and more importantly, CREATE!!!
Thanks for reading!
Sha-Nee Williams
Manager--Xion NYC Branch
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