Local cartoonist featured at Station Arts gallery

Joe Olcsvary looks at his comics which are part of the display Inking My Way Through It, which is now on display at the Station Arts Centre. Besides his comics, the exhibit also has what he calls his puzzle paintings. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A local cartoonist will be featured in the Station Arts Centre gallery for the next month.

Eric Olcsvary, 24, is a full-time cartoonist. His exhibit, Inking My Way Through It, opened on May 9 and will run until June 8.

He explained he is on the cusp of being a Level 2 cartoonist, working in Indie publishing. He is currently working for two writers, who have hired him, and also is working on his own material.

His solo work is at the core of the exhibit, with many panels from his new book “The Flooded Planet” being on display and for sale at the exhibit. The book will be released at the end of May.

The book is about four creatures, which Olcsvary said may be humanoid.

“They live in a world that’s all black and white and devoid of life,” he said. “They venture down into this world, and it’s a very colourful, full of life underwater city- and it’s been abandoned,” he said.

To see the full story of where Olcsvary’s imagination takes the story, you will have to buy the book.

Drawing cartoons starts out with a pencil on paper. Olcsvary then goes over it with India ink, it is converted to a digital file and colouring is done electronically.

Olcsvary started high school art at Glendale High School and then enrolled in a specialized art course at Beal Secondary School in London. He was planning on going into graphic art, but after specializing in the second year at Beal, he chose a course that included animation.

“My teacher really pushed me, ‘What do you want to do with your art and I did my first comic book,” he said.

Growing up reading 1980s Batman, Olcsvary said. “There’s a big misconception in the industry that comics are dying. They are not dying.”

In fact, he said, there are so many options in comics now that comic sales are larger than they have been in a long time.

Olcsvary has published an anthology of several artists’ comics, and has aspirations of being a Level 3 cartoonist, working for larger companies.

The exhibit, which is his first solo effort, also features Olcsvary’s puzzle paintings. These start with drawings in a sketch book which are then broken up so each has their own story.

More information on Olcsvary’s work can be found on his web site at allscherry.com