Some people buy a nice car, remodel a bathroom, or go on vacation. When I have extra money I spend more time writing and less time working, I play more D&D and pretend dragons roam the skies, and the big red frog people plot in the shadows to return the material plane to a primordial state. I guess you could call this a vacation–from reality.
That’s how I met Fares “Approtis” Zoghlami. Not because he plays a bunch of D&D. Nope. He admits that he’s tried to start some games with friends, but they inevitably fall apart. No, I met Fares because he creates character art on commission and I was looking for some D&D character illustrations. In fact, that was his introduction to D&D in the first place. Traditionally, he’s been more interested in comics.
As the son of an architect, Fares learned the concepts of perspective and shading early in his childhood. He always had a pen in his hand, traditional or digital. When he dove into the world of comics, was to the work of Mike Mignola, the Jean Giraud (better known as Moebius). Now he finds much of his inspiration from a contemporary, Simone D’Armini.
It is a wonderful thing when those you admire for their skills and effort are actively creating alongside you. It allows you to learn from their style while searching for your own. That’s been the case for Fares. As a self-taught artist, he struggled to find a style to call his own–he wanted to create images that used flat colors, but still felt textured and real. Those shapes all over his illustrations. . . he calls that “confetti hatching,” but apparently his friends call it “art, with a side of sprinkles.” They both fit.
Fares has worked on some comics as well as novel projects, Fryktlose Nordmenn: Historien om Norges grunnleggere by Simon Vincent Reiben the Se: Lost to Lands Unknown by R.D. Thomas. Fares also features in the Monster Mashup Anthology, a successful Kickstarter. Much of his work comes from commissions over Reddit (which is where I found him), and through his Instagram. However, Fares recently opened an Etsy shop, which gives him a storefront from which to do business.
Currently, Fares is working on a fantasy card game and a steampunk adaptation of The Time Machine by HG Wells. He’ll also be listing a print set on his Etsy of art inspired by a friend of his who cosplays, as well as his own self published comic.
While Fares has lots of projects coming to fruition, he’s also got a longer story bouncing in his head. He just needs time to write it all down. Maybe someday, he says, he’ll pitch it to Darkhorse, his favorite comic publisher.
Take a look at the work Fares has done in the past on his Instagram, contact him by email at Approtis@gmail.com, or on his Etsy storefront.
