Zach Zellars: Determined to follow his artistic dream

While his older brother and cousins were outside playing football, Zach Zellars sat in the house drawing and watching cartoons on TV.

Later, he would learn to love the sport that helped him earn a college scholarship. But art is what really captured his heart.

Zach Zellars

Zach’s path to making a living as an artist, which these days requires digital expertise to go along with natural talent, has taken a few unexpected turns. At age 25, though, he remains focused on that goal.

“My interest in art started when I was very young. I would always draw and stuff,” Zach said.

“My dad was a really big fan of movies. One of the films he had me watch was ‘Princess Mononoke’ by Hayao Miyazaki. It just blew me away that someone could draw something and make it look like that. It was awesome. That’s when I really knew that I wanted to draw.”

Zach took art classes in school, including at Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown. That’s also where his interest in playing football took off, placing his art on the back burner.

“I had never really played football before that. I was a defensive end and nose tackle, and I got a scholarship to play at Incarnate Word in San Antonio. It was their first year having a football team, so I thought that was kind of cool,” said Zach, who as a freshman started at defensive end. He also was a shot put and discus competitor for the track and field team.

Unfortunately, the injury bug derailed his football career. After rebounding from a slipped disk during his senior year at Lee, he sustained a torn hamstring during his first season at University of the Incarnate Word.

Frustrated by those setbacks, Zach decided to leave San Antonio and take classes at The Art Institute of Houston. He continued for about a year before financial challenges steered him back to the football field.

“I returned to Incarnate Word, and then I tore my Achilles. After that, I just felt like I was done with football. I didn’t want to keep dealing with all those injuries,” Zach said.

While at The Art Institute he met Jon Hughes, who was trying to create his own comic book company. He offered to help Zach get his feet wet in the business.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you come and help me out? I’ll teach you how to draw, and you can see what it’s like to be in the industry,’” Zach said.

As Hughes was getting Overground Comics started, Zach gained some valuable experience.

Colors by Zach. Line art by Jon Hughes.

When he returned to school last year, through the Academy of Art University’s online program, Zach got a chance to intern with Hughes as his company was taking off.

“When I was younger, I always thought about getting into video game design. I wanted to design characters and do environmental design and visual development. That’s what I’m going to school for now, visual development,” Zach said.

“I would like to end up some place where I could flex my creativity and my imagination. I would love to work in an animation department or in the video game or movie industries doing character design and stuff like that.”

Along the way, Zach has dealt with his share of personal challenges. There was a failed relationship. A business venture fell through. And his car was repossessed.

“I had no money. I was on depression medication and going through withdrawals. It was like, whoa,” he recalled.

Zach credits his renewed connection with God for putting him back on the right path.

“I realized that I just wasn’t living right, and everything was taken from me,” he said.

Zach said he now spends most of his time studying the Bible, praying and drawing.

He also has learned to venture forth on his own more confidently, after following others’ directions for years.

“I’m a guy who always responded well to taking orders. My dad was a Marine. So as a kid growing up, there was a lot of, ‘Do this. Make sure you do that.’ I always had directions, a list of things to do. And I didn’t mind being told what to do,” Zach said.

“When I started playing football, I fell right in line. You tell me where to go, what to do on the football field, and I’d go do it. But as I got older and was on my own in the real world, I discovered that if I didn't have those orders or that direction I’d be like, ‘What do I do now?' At times, it’s been hard for me to just be still and wait for opportunities to happen. So I’ve been trying to take some initiative.”

Charcoal portrait for one of Zach's classes.

That includes staying on track to complete his art school courses and drawing every day to improve his skills.

“I compare a lot of things in life to working out and playing football. If you do it every day, in the end doors will open and you’ll be running that 40-yard dash like you want to. You’ll get that opportunity to make it as an artist,” Zach said. “So I’m just trying to take those small steps that I know will lead to big steps.”

One of his dreams is to work on a project like “The Action Bible,” which features comic book-style illustrations that help tell classic Bible stories.

“There’s a lot of action and life in those stories” Zach said. “I would love to be able to depict those in a way that is visually stunning and interesting.”

Check out some of Zach’s work.