286 - Chris Shary "Chris Goes To High School"

Chris Shary is a illustrator and designer from Stockton, CA and for the last two decades has been the “in house” designer for the Descendents and All. How Chris Shary accidentally became a high school drama teacher and used that down time to get back into doing sharpie illustrations of iconic punk rockers. Chris explains how he puts his narrative on character illustrations. How the Descendents are the greatest rock band to never act like a rock band and how a generation of kids didn’t fit in while rocking out to their music. With a constant relationship forming with the Descendents Chris has found himself feeling a part of the group he grew up loving. How working hard and getting recognized opened all of the doors in his rock design career. How living with his parents was the best move in being able to work for pride and experience. Why Chris realized that teaching was the way he could make a difference in the world and decided to make art a hobby again. 

In The Circle of Trust

Mark quizzes Chris about being a teacher and what he sees from his high school students, how the world has changed and stayed the same all at once. At what age do people start doubting their artistic talents and give up. Chris today sees his drama class as a metaphor to the punk rock scene that he grew up in. Is the generation coming up as bad as we think they are? The balance of nurturingtalented students and giving what you can to students that don’t care. 

In Memory of Brandon Carlisle.