He has been drawing since he was in diapers.
Reuben Scott, a Grade 11 student at Summerland Secondary School, draws cartoons as a hobby with the goal of having a syndicated comic strip or panel one day.
Like every artist, his work has evolved over time. He also has had several ideas which he has since abandoned. One such idea was to do a high school satire comic strip based on Summerland Secondary.
Although he has other interests, such as two dimensional animations, his main focus now is on drawing cartoons on one rectangular panel, like The Far Side or Bizzarro.
“Some of my best work in my opinion are these gag panels.” Scott said.
In an attempt to get his work noticed he has used a Facebook page called Reuben’s Comics. He has also tried blogging and has thought of getting his own website.
He may have an opportunity to show his work in the school yearbook. This year’s theme is comic books and the school will give artists like Scott one page each to showcase their talent.
Scott says his own self advice is to “take everything with a grain of salt.”
He doesn’t want to stress about anything.
“I take everything lightly,” he said “It helps me keep a sense of humour.”
He plans to focus on the arts for his post-secondary schooling. He says it annoys him when people advise against taking up the arts, saying there is no money in it.
“You have to be happy,” he said. “Even if I end up on the street and all I have is a paper to draw on and people can see it, I’ll be happy.”
The thing Scott enjoys the most is people’s reaction to his work. “People bend over and laugh, they laugh out loud! That’s huge for me,” he said.