Wesley Speakman: The Website

Wesley Speakman: The Website

About the Author:
Wesley Speakman is a student, writer, and artist. When he isn't spending his time procrastinating, he's doing homework for school, like building this website.

"My 5 works depicted are based on things that have inspired me throughout my life. They all fall into two categories: inspiration from my personal life, and inspiration from the media I consume. As far as my personal life goes, I have grad cards and other memories hung up on my wall that help me remember the people that support me. In particular, my friend Sydney has been close to me since the 8th grade, and she always shares kind and inspirational words, some of which are depicted in one of my pieces. I also hang up my own artwork that I feel is really strong, to reassure myself that I can create successful work. These have been created or collected for years, the earliest most likely being from when I was 16. As for the media that inspires me, I encountered Scott Pilgrim when I was about 14, and out of any media it may have had the most impact on me. It’s style and inspirations, such as video games and punk rock drew my interest and it was a story I could connect to. I was also a very big fan of the bold art style, and it has helped shape a lot of my style. Continuing on comic books, Nightwing has always been a role model in my life, a personality I have tried to capture. This comic issue is his first appearance, which was gifted to me by an uncle as a graduation gift. Generally, I latched onto him at a very young age, but that was mostly for aesthetic reasons. He's charismatic, good, and full of style. The trending trait, among my interests, is style, as one could probably figure. So of course outside of comics I love Jazz, and in an offshoot of that, funk. On my phone screen I depict a song playing, The Clutch Anthem by Max Renner. It is a funk/synth style tune meant to be inspirational, about taking victory when the chips are down. I discovered his comedy work in the past couple years, and it’s full of style and creativity. It has become very inspirational in those aspects."

"In a way all of these images tell their own story. They are unified as works that give me joy. My friends, in particular, have supported me and been there to make life interesting. Sydney in particular wrote a very sweet note, it was part of a birthday gift she had made for me. When I began this project I had actually been very depressed, and upon reading the card again, it felt like I had been given advice for my situation, and helped improve my outlook. I chose to focus on the most poignant part of her message, “Do not be afraid to start over.” The Scott Pilgrim series is a series that has followed me for a long time, and every time I reread them I not only relive the story but I relive the person I was when I had discovered them. I feel refreshed, like I'd seen an old friend after each read. As for the others, Nightwing’s comic history in itself has always been interesting. It’s about a character who strikes out on his own to escape the shadow of his father, and in doing so becomes a success, all his father ever wanted. To me, I feel like I have a similar attitude towards my own father. A need for distance but a wish to make my father proud. On top of that, the character he becomes has always exuded coolness. So in relation to me, Nightwing has always been a comfort character. As for music, my music taste is something I take a lot of pride in and draw a lot of inspiration from. Without it I would be a vastly different person, and the stylishness inherent to music is something that I consider every time I write, every time I make art."

"These images have helped me solidify my core values, the things that influence my art the most. Knowing that, I can now analyze the parts of those things and take the strongest elements, or if a piece becomes too muddled, I can reduce down to the base elements. I can study what works and doesn’t work in those properties, and learn from the previous works that have influenced me so greatly. I can even use my personal experiences, the memories my friends have given me, and draw from those in my art. If anything these works have all been able to re-inspire me, to capture some of what these media and life experiences had originally given me. Beyond that, and being more specific, many of the media I have consumed have translated directly into my artwork. Scott Pilgrim, for example, gave me a love of thick line work and simplified, cartoon-like human forms. Nightwing, as a subsection of superhero media, has instilled a love of action and dynamism that I try to capture in my own art. Music also gives me a sense of rhythm and movement I also try to capture in my art. Visually this has all translated to my art style becoming simple and punchy, with lots of action and dynamic posing of my figures. I’m very grateful to my inspirations for helping me develop into the artist I am today. In other aspects they have also changed the stories I try to tell. Because of my wonderful friends, I am compelled to write stories about close friendships. Because of Scott Pilgrim I am compelled to write flawed, redeemable, and human characters. Because of Nightwing, I am compelled to write heroic tales. These are the core factors that inspire my art and decision making process."

“When and how did you stumble upon these things? What do you 'relate' to in them?”

“What is relevant to an appreciation of these images, objects, clips, etc.
Do they tell stories?”

"How have these images* served your growth as an artist? For example, have they helped you find a stylistic visual language or figure out certain formal or conceptual issues?"