Canton artist doodles his way to a successful and rewarding career

Chris Sabatino’s teachers always encouraged his interest in art and drawing, except for one. When she found him drawing in his notebook during class, she told him to stop doodling — because he would never make any money from doodling. It turns out she was wrong.

Local illustrator Chris Sabatino, surrounded by his doodles, holds his new book.

Today, Sabatino, 48, is a successful illustrator, cartoonist, and author whose book Pocket Doodles for Boys was published in March of this year and went to a second printing in May.

“When I was a kid, I drew all the time,” he said. “It was something I always wanted to do.” His parents owned a motor home and Sabatino traveled with them and his siblings to every state except Alaska, California, and Hawaii — drawing his way across the country.

After high school, he attended community college and later the New England School of Art and Design. He worked for Raytheon for 14 years and, at the age of 35, changed course and went into business for himself as an illustrator.

“I decided this was what I wanted to do,” Sabatino said. “The thing I enjoy most in life is the creative process.”

His client list started out small but soon grew. He has designed greeting cards for Recycled Paper Greetings and magazine covers for publications such as Boys’ Quest and Girls’ Life, created paper placemats with activities for children for Howard Johnson Restaurants, and illustrated a number of The Complete Idiot’s Guide series. He corresponded by email on The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Football with a man who signed each email as Joe; only later did he learn that Joe was former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann.

Sabatino was influenced by the illustrations, artwork, and animation of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc, and by Saturday morning cartoons as a child. His studio, which is a former garage attached to his house, is filled with toy figures of many of the animated characters from his childhood, as well as comic books, magazine covers he has drawn, and a table with light where he stands when he draws. Sabatino looks to the colorful collections for inspiration when he’s working.

He described his style as something that reflects his outrageous sense of humor. Sabatino prefers to draw his illustrations and ink them traditionally, and then scan them instead of using his computer to create his art. “I love pens and drawing, “he said. “I’m not ready to give it up.”

Sabatino illustrated a series called Stepping Stones, which appeared in a Catholic magazine for children. The series was complied into a book called Stepping Stones: The Comic Collection. He drew the illustrations for the four characters. “Now that it’s over, I miss it,” he said. “I love drawing the same characters.” He is going to have the same opportunity when he draws four characters for Dig, an archeological magazine for children.

In Pocket Doodles for Boys Sabatino share his passion for art with a new generation of doodlers. “I wanted this to be funny so kids wouldn’t put it down,” he said.

Each page has a prompt that invites kids to express the artist that they are. They can design a futuristic city, turn a snowman into an ice-cold warrior or create a snack to get a gorilla off of a skyscraper. Sabatino is working on a sequel called Monster Doodles for Kids, due in 2011.

“I would love to see more kids drawing and doodling,” he said of what he hopes his books can accomplish. “I hope kids have fun with my book, but I also hope it teaches them to illustrate their ideas. If there are kids out there who want to be cartoonists, it’s not the impossible feat you might think it is.”

Sabatino is grateful to his wife, Stephanie, who went to work full-time when he began his career as an illustrator. “I have the most supportive wife in the entire world,” he said. “I am very, very blessed.”

The couple has two children. Their daughter, Nicole, 19, is majoring in writing and psychology at Roger Williams University. Their son, Joey, 15, will be a sophomore at Canton High in the fall.

Sabatino has a blog, www.chrissabatino.blogspot.com. Pocket Doodles for Boys may be purchased through amazon.com.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Aug 12 2010. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.