Mitch
Foust was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. His first artistic
influences were TV shows like Batman, Star Trek, and the Hanna Barbera
superhero cartoons. At the age of seven, his grandfather bought
him his first comicbook. That book was an issue of the Teen Titans
with Nick Cardy art. He was hopelessly and forever hooked. Mitch
also played many sports growing up, but football was his passion.
Foust continued to buy and read comics through high school. When
Mitch graduated from Harding Academy, he not only was a starting
player on the football team, but also was the president of the Art
club and socially misunderstood D&D role-playing club.
At
Christmas of his senior year in high school, Foust became a professional
artist. He was hired as an airbrush artist at a local T-shirt
store. Having watched Airbrush artists in the Florida panhandle,
he was sure he could be their equal. He wasn't. Foust spent the
next two years learning how to airbrush one shirt at a time. At
the same time, learning how to draw under pressure. Mitch carved
a niche for himself in the T-shirt market by rendering Fantasy
and comic images on T-shirts. At the same time, Foust was attending
Memphis State University full time.
In 1983, Laird
and Eastman made huge news in the comic world by striking it big
with The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A black and white book
was cheap to produce and profitable. Every Aspiring comic artist
in America wanted to the next one to make it big. Foust was no
exception.
Along with
friends Bill Bryer, Dave Bennent, and fellow artist David Porch,
Foust helped create Black Tie Studios. The first issue of The
Last Generation was printed in 1984. Though
originally planned for twenty five issues, only five were completed.
The group decided to cancel the book when sales dropped to an
unprofitable number. "I was the main reason the book failed"
says Foust. "I was working full time, going to school full
time, and tying to put out a quarterly book. Unlike most comic
artist's, the first page I ever penciled was the first page of
issue #1!" Even though it was never kept on a regular schedule,
the fact that Foust was considered a "comic creator"
opened the doors for him to meet several influential artists in
both the comic and fantasy industries. "Having the chance
to talk and gain first hand knowledge from some of the giants
in the industry helped my art mature and grow. They all said the
same thing in the end. 'You're doing good, kid, all you need is
a lot more practice.' That is good advice for just about anything,
but coming from these giants, it was inspiring." At this
time, Foust also found cover work for Adventure Comics, and later
Malibu comics.
Mitch married
Kathy Brosius in 1987. It was a good year.
In 1989,
their first child was born, a son named Daniel. Foust finally
graduated college with a degree in Marketing. The recession also
hit the economy. Foust's freelance work dried up.
In 1992, with
the help of friends A.G. Howard and Lin Workman, He opened an
airbrush shop called The Wild Hare.
The Foust's
second child was born in 1993. A daughter named Katie.
In 1995,
The name of the shop changed to Animated Jack's and screenprinting
capability was added to the shop. "The original idea was
to be able to produce our own line of T-shirts, but the custom
work quickly became overwhelming."
By 2001, Foust
had had enough. The business was not doing as well as he expected.
Instead of doing the art wanted to do, he was spending his time
wearing all the hats an owner of a small business must wear. After
much deliberation, Mitch closed the shop down.
Since then,
Foust has been a freelance artist working out of his home. Mitch
also found ebay, a natural place for him to sell his art and expose
it to people around the world. " I really enjoy ebay, and
the people you have the chance to meet. I also enjoy the commission
work. It is very satisfying to take another's creative thought
and translate that thought into an image."
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