Artist Profile: Chris Miller

Many of you may not have heard the name Chris Miller, creator of ChrisCrazyHouse.com. According to his plans though, that may change within the next five years. This thirty-something, pop culture influenced artist decided to go out and chase his dreams. His series Zombie Apocalypse got me so interested in his work, that I just had to find out more.

Chris Miller was born in 1980, with creativity already pumping through his veins. His grandmother was a gospel singer and his father played guitar in many bands from the '60s through the '80s. The most predominant of these was a band called the Minority Band.

Like many kids raised during the '80s, Chris Miller spent many hours in front of the television watching cartoons. When he wasn't watching television, he was reading Marvel comics or honing his craft. Beginning around age three, this diet of pop culture lit the spark of imagination inside Chris. Even at this young age, he would start crafting his own fan fiction art and stories. If one asks about this early period in his career, Chris will fondly tell you about his crayon Godzilla vs. King Kong comic.

"They are definitely good for laughs, but the story telling was pretty sophisticated for such a young age."

When he was eleven, the creator of NukkullHeadz received a brand new drawing table from his mother for his birthday. It was too large for his bedroom, so it was set up in the basement. Chris remembers how cold and damp it always was down there, but would just sit there for hours upon hours. He would draw and create his own comics, maturing past the point of fan fiction into his own world of characters and stories. Even today, he will pull out some of these old comics and stories and give them another reading.

Continuing along his path of pop culture love and influence, his teen years were spent with cheesy action flicks - a la Commando and Deathwish 3 style. These are the years when Marvel Comics also played a bigger role in his artistic style. After high school, Chris took Art Institute classes, learning a lot of practical art skills to add to the raw talent he already possessed. It was these classes that showed Chris his love for traditional 2-D animation, which is what has brought him to create ChrisCrazyHouse.com, his art and animation company.

"I feel I have emotional ties to art. For me it's all about the story telling of art."

Art inspires art. That is the mantra of Chris Miller. He enjoys collecting fantasy art and spending beautiful afternoons on his front porch viewing it, allowing his mind to wander. Chris then pulls out his sketch pad and just lets the art flow out of him to add to the collective.

For many pop artists, the future of the medium can be a career worry. Not for this pop artist, though. Chris Miller does feel that lots of artwork will get lost in the ether these days, but he also feels that his style is unique enough that it will stand out from the other artwork that is flooding the net these days.

"I like both and I enjoy having that option."

Digital versus paper has been a thorn in the publishing industry's side for years. Chris does see benefits of both mediums, but hopes that comics do not go completely digital, as seems is inevitable with newspapers. During a storm recently, the power in Chris Miller's area went out. Unable to read the latest editions of his favorite web comics, he perused some of his traditional paper comics until he had internet again.

You can see the artwork of Chris Miller at his website, Chris Crazy House.com. His self produced comic, NukkullHeadz is on sale now, as well.

Other articles from Joshua Cook on the Yahoo! Contributor Network:
Everything I Needed to Know, I Learned from South Park
The Interview: A Zombie ACRES Intro
The Beasts of Bray Road