Meet Michael Barnard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Barnard. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be an artist. My parents were very supportive and enrolled me in private art classes, and I would draw and paint as often as I could for fun. After I graduated from Vandalia Butler High school, I received a Scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design. I spent the next 4 years learning everything I could to prepare me for a career as an Illustrator. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1998 and began an internship in Dayton with the Iams Company creating promotional/advertising material. When my internship ended, I was hired at L.M. Berry, creating ads for the yellow pages. Although I was happy to have a job, it wasn’t the creative position that I had worked so hard for. Ultimately, I ended up moving to Ormond Beach, Florida, and landed a position as a full-time artist with one of the best screen-printing companies in the nation called Hot Action Sportswear. Here, I learned from the best and took the dive into the world of Digital illustration. I slowly worked my way up through the ranks over the next 17 years and eventually became the Art Director there. When my wife went back to school to get her Master’s Degree, I began taking on Freelance work in the evenings from home. This opened up doors to a great big world of new and exciting opportunities. I quickly found that this was the path I was meant for. So, I left my job and created my own company, that I call Sunburn Designs Inc. in 2016. It was one of the best decisions of my life. Right out of the gate, I had almost more work than I could keep up with, and it hasn’t slowed down yet. A lot of the work I do revolves around pop culture and the entertainment industry, so a few years ago we decided to move west to southern California. The majority of my family still lives in Dayton, so we go back and visit often! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Mostly a smooth road for me. There was certainly a big learning curve in the beginning – transitioning from traditional hand-drawn artwork to digital. A lot of my friends and fellow art school students never made that leap… and a lot of them never succeeded in the industry because of that. There was definitely a time early on in my career where I took on jobs for way less than I should have. But it was all part of a plan – to build up my portfolio. And later in my career, I worked really hard to load up my freelance client base while still working full-time during the day. This meant many years of getting little to no sleep – all while my daughter was an infant. But ultimately, all of that hard work paid off and worked to my advantage. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I run my own freelance illustration company and work on a HUGE variety of projects. I would say a good chunk of my work comes from working with various tee shirt and screen print companies around the country. I do a lot of custom art for car show designs, event tees, restaurants, theme parks, etc. I also do a lot of work for Rock Bands, toy packaging companies, private commissions, logo Design, and more. One thing that I’m particularly known for is my work in the Disc Golf world creating custom disc art for clubs, tournaments, players and putting out my own line of discs. I’ve been doing that since 2018 and created hundreds of custom disc illustrations in that time. 

There is an awesome disc golf shop in Dayton called Hazy Shade – over near the University of Dayton. I’ve created a lot of custom work for them – including a huge mural used as a window wrap across the front of the store. 

Some people know me for my work with Topps trading cards… I’ve worked on projects with them on their Star Wars, Garbage Pail Kids, Walking Dead, Stranger Things, and TMNT sets just to name a few. 

I also work for Stern Pinball which is my favorite of all. I created the entire art package for the RUSH pinball game that came out earlier this year. 

I grew up in the 80s, and I am very nostalgic. So, a lot of people who follow my work know that I like to create artwork that often references things from my childhood in the 80s. 

One project that I am most proud of is the concept art I created for Adam Goldberg (from Tv’s The Goldbergs) for his screenplay for the Goonies sequel. I was one of just a few people who were lucky enough to read his script. I created a handful of illustrations based on his story that were then used in a pitch to Richard Donner. That was a huge deal to me! 

What does success mean to you?
I would define success as finding a path that allows for total happiness in your day-to-day life. When it comes to my success in my career, I feel very lucky to be able to do what I love for a living. There are some projects that I work on that I just can’t wait to get back to. The fact that I can make a living while doing something that I would otherwise do as a hobby feels like a big success to me. 

Contact Info:

• Website: sunburndesigns.com
• Instagram: @mikebarnard_art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/michaelbarnardart

Image Credits
Michael Barnard