Brandon Dayton
| Brandon Dayton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) Los Angeles, California, US |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Brigham Young University |
| 💼 Occupation | Comic book creator |
| 📆 Years active | 2009–present |
| Notable work | Green Monk Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Annie Dayton |
| 👶 Children | 2 |
| 🏅 Awards | 2011 YALSA Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens |
| 🌐 Website | http://brandondayton.com |
Brandon Dayton (born 1977) is an American comic book creator, artist, and podcast host. After studying film at Brigham Young University, he worked as a video game concept artist for Electronic Arts and Avalanche Software. He then self-published his first comic, Green Monk, in 2009. After the comic was named one of the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) in 2011, Dayton was able to publish an expanded version—Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs—with Image Comics in 2018. He has hosted the podcast "How to Be an Artist" since 2020.
Early life[edit]
Dayton was born in 1977 in Los Angeles, California.[1] He grew up attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[2] He became interested in art in junior high school, particularly through Disney animation and Image Comics. He read Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel comic books.[2] He attended Brigham Young University (BYU).[3] Dayton wanted to study animation, but BYU did not have an animation program at the time, so he studied film instead.[2] He made a film for his senior project, and it won a few awards.[3]
Career[edit]
After graduating from BYU in 2004, Dayton worked in animation and illustration.[1][2] He worked as a concept artist for video game companies Electronic Arts and Avalanche Software, a division of The Walt Disney Company. While at Avalanche, Dayton created art for the video game Disney Infinity.[2] He has said that his time working for these companies helped him refine his drawing skills.[4] Dayton was also a contributor to the art instruction book Making Faces (2008), which focused on drawing the expressions of cartoon characters.[5][6]
Around the same time he started working as an artist in the video game industry,[4] Dayton self-published his debut comic, Green Monk, in 2009.[7] He created the mini-comic while working full time for EA Salt Lake, completing a panel a day in the evenings.[3] Dayton has said that the comic began as a "silly idea that [stuck] in [his] head”:[8] namely, that of a warrior with a blade of grass as his weapon. After being exposed to Andrei Tarkovsky's films in college,[2] particularly Andrei Rublev (1966),[4] Dayton decided on medieval Russia as the setting for Green Monk.[2] He has compared it to the "wild west" and described it as "an appropriate setting for a wandering warrior type of story."[9] He had attempted a few other projects before starting work on the mini-comic,[3] but found that comics were truly what he desired to create[2] after finishing Green Monk.[3] He became involved at comic conventions (such as the Salt Lake Comic Con)[8] and on social media (particularly YouTube) to garner a small but enthusiastic following for the mini-comic.[9] The Young Adult Library Services Association named Green Monk one of its Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2011.[10]
Dayton wrote a 22-page comic for Jim Henson's Storyteller: Giants in 2017, a project that took him a few months.[11] On August 29, 2017, he drew on the wall of the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art as part of a collaborative effort for the Salt Lake Comic Con.[12]
On September 26, 2018,[13] Image Comics published an expanded version of Green Monk, entitled Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs, as a graphic novel.[9] It follows a young, peaceful monk discovering a powerful weapon.[14] Dayton worked to avoid Green Monk becoming a comic with a good-versus-evil storyline with a defined villain. He was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke in this regard. Dayton also sought to "sustain a sense of ambiguity about what is 'real' and what isn't" during the main character's dream sequences. Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs explores themes of violence and heroism.[9] Dayton published weekly videos on his YouTube channel while working on the project.[4] The comic was a finalist for the 2018 AML Award in the comics category.[15]
In 2020, Dayton began producing his podcast, "How to Be an Artist."[1] His goal for the show is to explore the different facets of art and how they relate each other. He has also expressed his wish to create a space for artists apart from the world through his podcast.[2] Dayton oscillates between creating his art digitally and by hand: he begins with hand-drawn thumbnails, then formats his layouts on a computer, then fills them in with pencil and ink, then uses a computer to colorize them.[9] He has expressed a desire to create more comic books in the future.[2]
Personal life[edit]
Dayton lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife, Annie, and three children, Lucy, Grey, and Evangeline.[1] On his YouTube channel, he has addressed topics such as mental health and the importance of art. He sees art and spirituality as being connected[11] and practices meditation to assist in maintaining his mental health.[2] Dayton has said: "My goal is to empty as many stories out of my brain as I can before I die."[3]
Awards and nominations[edit]
- 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens – Green Monk[10]
- 2018 AML Award finalist – Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs[15]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Brandon Dayton". Lean Into Art. Retrieved June 8, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Hudkins, Matt (March 13, 2021). "Brandon Dayton". Cali Claptrap: Integral Conversations (Podcast). Anchor. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Jepson, Theric (November 25, 2009). "Preparing for Black Friday with Brandon Dayton". A Motley Vision. Retrieved June 3, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 O'Keefe, Matt (February 11, 2020). "Matt Chats: Brandon Dayton on Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs, his take of Star Wars with some Miyazaki mixed in". ComicsBeat. Retrieved June 3, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Between Panels". Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Making Faces: Drawing Expressions for Comics and Cartoons. Impact Books. 2008. ISBN 9781600610493. Search this book on
- ↑ Hall, Andrew (February 14, 2019). "2018 AML Award Finalists #4: Comics and Film". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved June 3, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jolley, Faith Heaton (September 5, 2014). "5 local companies to check out at SLC Comic Con". KSL.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Shannon, Hannah Means (September 7, 2018). "Mythical Russia Breeds Heroic Dreams - Brandon Dayton on Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs". Comicon.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens". Young Adult Library Services Association. 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 11.0 11.1 Kerr, Cory (July 27, 2018). Interview with Brandon Dayton, creator of The Green Monk & sketchbook summer (illo talk interviews) (Video).
- ↑ "Get in on the Comic Con". 15 Bytes. Artists of Utah. August 26, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs OGN TP". Image Comics. Retrieved June 8, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs Teaser Trailer Revealed". Image Comics. Retrieved June 8, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 Rappleye, Christine (March 10, 2019). "Association for Mormon Letters 2018 award finalists announced, conference March 29-31". Deseret News. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
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