Profile: Dominican Comic Book Artist Elisa Féliz

				Elisa Féliz is a Dominican comic artist, web designer, concept artist, graphic designer, owner and founder of the first Dominican comic book publisher, “XSIDE Comics,” and the winner of eight comic awards dating back to 1995.   In 2008, Féliz moved to the USA to attend the Kubert School of cartoon and graphic art in New Jersey and quickly began to work steadily. She is currently the colorist for KIP: Knowledge is Power, published by 803 Studios, concept artist at Vintage Independent Productions, and penciller at Silent Nemesis Workshop. She has also worked on titles such as Dallas: The Gathering (based on the popular TV show), Intrepid, RX Tales by MC Studios, and Alice in Nightmareland, a popular comic strip in several national newspapers in the Dominican Republic. She is perhaps best known for her work on the comic series Villikon Chronicles and its resulting film. She was recently selected to contribute to the forthcoming title, Womanthology (IDW Publishing).  Perhaps most impressive is the fact that, at only 23 years old, she’s just getting started.
				Satisfying. You can express yourself in ways no one else ever could. You don’t have to search for words, you can use any device you choose. And still be in control of your own destination.
				I’m currently inking a comic book for XSIDE Comics called Le Strade della Vendetta, written by Alessandro Ferri, doing coloring for a comic by 803 studios, penciling another comic called Super Dyslalia, and doing illustrations for the Ripple Effects software and an upcoming book.
				Art itself, I’d say, is the main inspiration for my work. As much as a grand appreciation for beauty and everything that is visually attractive. (You know, “cool stuff”).
				From all of my projects I have created, the one that I’m the most proud of is my series Codename: X-Girl. Unlike my other creations, this one has evolved to become something very different from what it was at the start. The complexity of the story and the never-seen-before elements contained in these series separate it from what I would consider a typical story of the genre. But the character development is what interests me most.
				My whole life I wanted to do comics, and I wanted two things: to work for Marvel Comics and to have my own company to publish my own creations. So far I got the company, and I can keep hoping that someday I’ll be able to do some work for an X-Men book or something else published by Marvel.
				Britney Spears has been my main artistic influence in so many ways during most of my life. I was lucky enough to meet her two weeks ago and she definitely has my respect. I wasn’t really able to follow the work of any comic artists as I was growing up because I grew up in a place where there isn’t a comic books industry and it was really hard for me to get comics. This is why my style is not very influenced, it is mostly what I understood as comic art style. But a few years ago I started following the work of Mike Choi, Sonia Oback, Adam Hughes, Mark Brooks, Cristina Strain, Adriana Melo… I’ve improved a lot due to what I’ve learned from these amazing artists.
				I’d like to live and work in California, because I lived there for a while ‘cause I have relatives that live in there. USA might be boring for someone who comes from my country, but that’s where the comics industry is, plus I really liked that state. I’ve actually being doing a lot of work for companies from there while I’m in Santo Domingo. I would rather live in a more technologically advanced country than USA, but that would be in Asia and so far I can only speak Spanish and English.
				Working as part of the production staff at SD [Santo Domingo] concerts. I got the chance to work at many venue events, hang out backstage, etc.
				I actually stay up all night working, whether it’s drawing, inking, or coloring. 24 hours a day is not time enough for a comic artist. If I’m not working at night I can hardly sleep because I’d be worried about my tight deadlines. But it’s so much fun after all.
				Visit Elisa… www.elisafeliz.com www.xsidecomics.com www.ellizclothing.com facebook.com/elisafelizofficial @XSIDEComics