Graduate Student Spotlight | Taurean Washington '12

I am an alum here. I graduated with my bachelor’s in studio art in 2012. I’ve always pursued the arts in my career. I’ve had my own LLC since 2008—Cr8n St8n—and I’ve had an entrepreneurial mindset since I was little. People would sell lemonade when they were little, but I would sell comic books as a kid.

I found that working with youth is a good skill of mine, and I did it for about a decade. I’ve been doing childcare on military bases, Boys and Girls Clubs, nonprofit groups and so on. I did it behind the scenes and working upfront. I’ve worked for the FDA as well, doing HR and personnel work. Now, I’m a full-time entrepreneur for Cr8n St8n.

The location helped, since I earned my associate degree at Frederick Community College and wanted to move onto my bachelor’s. Hood was around the same area and had an arts program, so I went with it.

I was happy that Hood had courses for studying in the studio arts. I gravitated toward it thanks to the liberal arts focus. My parents were stationed at Fort Detrick when I was in high school, so I was already familiar with Frederick as early as 2002.

I’ve always been making comics since I was a kid. I’ve evolved as a creative, because I’ve been doing fine arts at this stage, but I was making cartoons as a kid. Around 11-12, I started making my original characters. When I had writing assignments, I would do comic books, and my teachers would give me extra credit. I remember doing a comic book on the Revolutionary War for a project!

I started with 90s comic books, but my dad also gave me comics from the 60s. They inspired me. I wanted to be taken seriously as an artist, and I wasn’t sure how to juggle fine art with comics. It took a long time to become comfortable with myself as a creative. It’s like a different sport, like Michael Jordan going from basketball to baseball.

Ghoats is an acronym: “Greatest Heroes of all Time.” Marvel is my biggest inspiration for comics. I’ve noticed a lot of League characters are European and white. It’s nice that the movies changed that, but I wanted to start with diversity and inclusion from the offset.

Ghoats has a unique background for each character. One character is from India and is comparable to the Hulk, but he can manipulate his body mass and make himself grow. The leader is African American, another member is Latina, one is an indigenous deity and so on. Each of these guys have backstories.

The goal is to write five comics in this world, but their stories will be interwoven and build up to something big. I want to keep people engaged and be creative with the powers, the slang and the current events. Sometimes, the superhero genre can get a little unbelievable, so I want to keep it as real as I can. My goal is to have a mirror up to everybody and examine stereotypes, and to empower people that we see as one way. I want people to say, “Oh man, that’s me!” I’m looking to have one-offs for each character, since representation is important.

This is self-published. I’ve been self-publishing since 2019, but I did it with my fine arts conceptual work. It helped me get to this point, though! It’s been a learning experience, and I’ve been doing a lot of trial and error for three to four years. Now, I’m comfortable with the way this is all going.

There are pros and cons to being self-published, but if I get a large presence and maintain ownership, then I think it’ll pay dividends. It’s important that I trademark characters, get copyright and maintain creative control.

In the Ghoats comic, you’ll see a coming soon section. In November, there will be comic called “Heroes of Ministry” that’ll focus on the first Christian superhero team. I want to explore stereotypes about faith and show that people are more than what you think.

The goal is to create a shared universe for my comics—“Taureanverse.” Even now, I have voices for all the characters, and I’ve been doing proofs for each character using the voice actors. It’s amazing to see the characters come to life! I want to eventually get into animation for my comics.

Hood will be having a release party for the comic on October 31. It’ll be from 1-2 p.m. at the Beneficial-Hodson Library and Learning Commons, and the book will be added to the alumni collection. We’ll have a moderator interview, read an excerpt from the book and take questions from the audience. I’ll try to get promotions from around Frederick and outside Hood. My goal is to do this and to show unity among all people, no matter what skin color or differences people have.

I would say to be patient with the process. We’re used to instant gratification and getting things done quickly, but it takes time and work to get this done. Sometimes, you have to go back and edit things you’ve made, even when you’re still working on the comic. My process is structured but loose enough to let me tweak stuff.

You should also look around and do your homework, see what other artists or writers are doing. Figure out what you like, what you are and what’s unique to you. Knowing the specifics of what you like helps you find out what’s unique to you. A lot of it is hard work and dedication, though. You can only eat an elephant piece-by-piece, right? You have to take it day-by-day, be patient with yourself and savor what you’re working on. Enjoy the journey.

Also, learn more about what’s going on behind the scenes with publishers, museums, galleries and agents. Make sure you line up with the sort of stuff that they normally put out. Don’t be discouraged by rejection, and learn from it when you can. You won’t always get the answer you want to hear, but it can help you grow and do better next time.

I’m very outgoing, but it feels like I’m an introvert sometimes. I’m not a super-social butterfly, but I have a lot of energy when I’m around people. I lived in Panama for a year because my parents were stationed there, and that changed my life being there. Also, I miss Alex Trebek on Jeopardy.

Inspired by Taurean’s creative work and ready to #GOFURTHER in your career? Learn about Hood’s graduate programs, including the humanities program, by clicking here.