Local Artist Spotlight: Dean Rankine
Published on 28 October 2020
Dean said the grant from Frankston City Council had provided a massive boost.
“Being a comic a book artist in Australia can be kind of isolating. There’s only a handful of us working professionally in the country and options for professional development are limited,” he said.
“Most of the time I’m just making it up as I go along. But what’s great about this grant is, it means I can access training online through one of the Comic Art schools in the United States. And that’s extremely helpful.”
Dean said the grant would enable him to enhance his skills and make connections with other creators.
“I think comics still have a certain stigma attached to them that they are somehow not ‘real art’. For Frankston City to recognise comics as a legitimate art form and me as a practitioner means the world to me,” he added.
Dean said drawing gave me purpose, adding: “I was and continue to be heavily influenced by animated cartoons, comics and pop culture. I was kind of an awkward kid, but I discovered that drawing was my thing.”
Dean is a Ledger Award winning comic book artist whose credits include Simpsons Comics, Futurama (Bongo) Rick and Morty, Invader Zim (Oni), Hellboy (Dark Horse) Underdog, Laurel and Hardy, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Oggy and the Cockroaches (American Mythology) The Beano, The Dandy (DC Thomson) and Australian MAD Magazine (Next Media) and Itty Bitty Bunnies in Rainbow Pixie Candy Land (Action Lab). Dean is currently illustrating the Timmy the Ticked-Off Pony series, written by Magda Szubanski.
Frankston Council has significantly expanded its Community and Business Grants program this year to support up to 16 artists and creatives.
This was a result of the $6.434 million Relief and Recovery Package, which the council created to help Frankston City recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The arts grants are designed to help artists and those working in creative industries to pursue their passion while delivering culturally important work to the community.
They included Artist Project Grants each up to $4000 for eight artists to develop new works that can be presented online, on location or at a venue when restrictions allow.
There were also a further eight Creative Industries Professional Development Grants, each up to $2500, to support artists via further training, career development activities, mentorships and workshops.
