By Joshen Mantai
As the social media director for UC Santa Barbara’s Daily Nexus newspaper, I always yearn for the moment on our weekly print night when my email inbox lights up with one of art student Sam Rankin’s humorously relatable comics. The anticipation continues into the next morning, when the social media posts I scheduled for Rankin’s comics garner high digital engagement, as they have week after week. Rankin’s newspaper comics wittily comment on college culture — grabbing the attention of student readers at UCSB.
Art student Sam Rankin painting a piece for her undergraduate summer fellowship program. Photo by Miao Nie.
From comics about the prevalence of shower mold in Isla Vista to the infamous mountain lion sightings on campus, she captures the pulse of student life at UCSB.
Rankin, a third-year art major in UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, has pursued art seriously since the age of 15, viewing it as a way to investigate the world through images.
Rankin’s says classes she has taken in the Department of Art have influenced her greatly as a comic artist, in particular her two favorites: Introduction to Print and Intermediate Drawing.
“Professors in the art department are able to recommend artists for you to watch based on the art you’re creating, which is special because students coming in aren’t necessarily familiar with a lot of contemporary artists,” Rankin said.
Rankin doubles as the art director for the Daily Nexus, creating illustrations for the weekly print edition.
“My involvement in the Nexus stemmed from my desire to experiment with digital art and my motivation to work in a deadline-driven environment,” she said. “This allowed me to experiment in a fast-paced setting, whereas in my art classes I have open-ended deadlines for my work.”
Rankin previously hosted a Nexus drawing workshop based on cartoonist Lynda Barry’s methodology, which encourages rapid image-making and tries to dampen perfectionist tendencies. Rankin thinks about the purpose her individual comics serve when she goes from the initial idea to the conception for her cartoons.
“I don’t necessarily always want to make people laugh with my comics, but I always want to incorporate some kind of clever commentary,” she said. “I think UCSB is constructed as a very carefree environment, but I think there are students who are thinking very critically about what’s happening on campus.”
Rankin has created multiple series of comics such as “Goat Boy,” an imagining of three fictional roommates having existential conversations about the issues that pervade college student life.
“Goat Boy: Virtuous Reality” by Sam Rankin
“I write comics with a specific audience in mind, often with topics about the preoccupations in college like fear of loneliness or worry about college debt,” she said. “The goal is to present otherwise difficult topics in a fun, silly way.”
Rankin showcases her impressive array of work on her professional Instagram account that includes comics, portraits, and a tour of her personal art studio. She also uses this platform to promote her upcoming gallery events.
The “Impressions and Fantasies” student artist comic gallery organized by Sam Rankin. Photo by Sam Rankin.
She recently individually conceived and planned a group comic exhibition that displayed work from eight UCSB students in the Department of Art’s student-run Glass Box Gallery.
“I noticed that a lot of my friends make comics, and have impressive work that isn’t necessarily considered a part of fine art practice. It was a very successful show,” she said. People also hung around during the reception to buy comics and artwork at a sale I organized. Overall, I was very happy to have comic art make a positive statement.”
While Rankin’s art currently intersects with many aspects of her life, she’s not yet sure how that will play out in the future.
“The future purpose of art in my life is currently in flux,” she said. “But whether I’m going to pursue art professionally as a career or keep it for myself, I know I will always continue drawing.”
Joshen Mantai is a second-year Environmental Studies major. She wrote this article in her Writing Program course Journalism for Web and Social Media.