Meet Sam Grinberg | Cartoonist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam Grinberg and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I actually can’t remember a time before I wanted to be a cartoonist. I naively didn’t question or assume that there would be any other path or any obstacle for that becoming a reality. (There are, of course, plenty of those.) There are pros and cons to that mindset; the pros are that I confidently kept moving forward and never stopped drawing, always crafting new ideas and thoughts for comics and animation and always reaching out for opportunities whether or not I was ready for them. The cons are that without any potential fear that this dream may not come to fruition, I didn’t push mysefly creatively as hard as I could have, such as taking life drawing lessons and drawing things I was too intimidated to draw. That would have propelled me forward faster at a younger age.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love working on as many different projects as I can. It’s fun to mess around with different things. I love animating, making band flyers, and drawing comics and illustrations. My go to will always be making comics, but because making comics can sometimes be a very long process, having these other creative outlets is a great way to exercise a different muscle. Any opportunity I get to create anything is a pleasure. I get the most excited when I’m allowed to experiment in my own style for a project, because that means the client decided that they trust my style will represent what they need.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love going to Frank and Sons (a large flea market-type warehouse size toy emporium) and going to Old Town Orange where you can rummage through tons of vintage shops. There’s also plenty of amazing comic & book stores in LA like Other Books, Skylight Books, Pulp Fiction, Iliad books, among others. Melrose & Pasadena City College flea market is great. New Beverly Cinema, Vidiots, American CInematheque are some of my favorite movie theaters to go to. I also love Magnolia Street in Burbank that has a plethora of vintage & toy shops.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people to mention that supported and encouraged me. I wouldn’t feel right to single out one or two specific people, so I have to be broad and say my family, elementary school teachers, my friends, my college professors, all my fellow artist friends on The Simpsons, and cartoonist friends I’ve made over the years!

Website: www.samgrinberg.com

Instagram: @samgrinberg

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-grinberg-21bbb74b

Twitter: @Sam_Grinberg

Image Credits
Love SoCal, Shop Local collaboration with Olivia Pecini & Matthew Nastuk, large banner hung on Blast From The Past in Burbank, CA. Graphics for SmartPunk Records Illustration for Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Artwork for “Fat Mike’s On Drugs’, by Less Than Jake Merchandise Illustration, T-Shirt for Ameoba x Academy Museum at The Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA