Katsucon '24 Spotlight: Geoff Pascual & Richard Zak
Rich Lanci
When I attended Katsucon earlier this year, I spoke to one in particular that RGN 99 has met with before, and another that didn't have a table set up at the Artist's Alley. I still wanted to shine a light on the interaction I had with them, as well as the work that they do. Here is a spotlight of Geoff Pascual and Richard A Zak.
Geoff Pascual
Geoff Pascual
Observing his booth, you can tell his specialty was in watercolor paintings. From the previous interview, Geoff mentioned that he has been making art his whole life and was inspired by his family since drawing was a big part of all their lives. It was essentially a major part of their household and family bonding. When I asked about the projects he's working on currently, Geoff mentioned art pieces that attempt to distort the opening sequences in anime shows. He thinks it would be a fun experiment.
For advice to other budding artists, he says to first “make sure you have fun with it. Enjoy the process, as you have to make sure you're enjoying something if you're trying to do it full time.” He also suggested to “be loose with your expectations of yourself, your finished work, and what others will think of your work.” Since Geoff had some Bleach artwork (I'm a huge Bleach fan), I asked him who his favorite Bleach character was. His answer was Gin Ichimaru, as he likes characters that are unique and stand out, and he feels Gin was “very fun to watch throughout his time in the series (It's a shame that Gin was never brought up again after his last appearance in the show).” Geoff also asked me my favorite character, in which I gave him my top three: Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Shuhei.
To conclude, I asked him what conventions one could expect to see him at in the future. Since Geoff does this full time, he attends around forty different conventions so the chances of seeing him at a con is pretty likely. His instagram is pascualproductions and his website is pascualproductions.com.
SideNote: His website has a nice white and red colored theme, with shifting titles and images. There are also virtual displays of some of his artwork that I remember seeing in person, from anime like Cowboy Bebop, HunterXHunter, and Jujutsu Kaisen. Geoff is also based in California, so he travels all over the country for conventions. Richard A Zak
Rich is a huge DC comics and Dragon Ball fan, with some really awesome cosplays from both franchises. He is actually an artist for his own comic as well. He has a page on webtoons.com, called Dark Fire Comics, with an ongoing comic series called The Dark Flame. It features seven heroes who are tasked with fixing cracks in the multiverse. He had given me a physical copy of the first chapter, and it was a pretty cool story with some great art. I could definitely see the DC Comics inspiration with some of the character designs (one design has a mask that reminds me of Nightwing). It certainly gave meCrisis on Infinite Earths vibes. Rich also has another series in the works that's part of the same universe called Embers which is still in development. Embers will feature two characters from the main story named Mike and Chuck, a slice of life series. You can also buy his digital prints on Etsy and his instagram is TheSuperBoy00.
SideNote: On his Instagram, you can see his cosplays as well. At Katsucon, he went as Superman, showed off a fantastic Future Trunks cosplay from Dragon Ball Z and even showed me the modifications to his costume in which the sleeves rip off similar to what Trunks wore in the Bojack Unbound movie (My personal favorite). FYI he is also a baker!
Both Geoff and Rich have different skills in different mediums, each bringing something new to the table. It's great to see people express their love and passion for their interests in varying creative ways, be it comics or paintings. I highly recommend checking them out, through their social media, website, or by keeping an eye out for their booth the next time you go to a convention.
