About the artist

Dusty Higgins is an illustrator, cartoonist, designer and comic book artist operating from his home in central Arkansas. His work has appeared in local and national publications since 1999. He has won several awards, both local and national, for his work at newspapers in Arkansas. He is currently a graphic artist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, best known for his sports cartoons and feature illustrations.
Higgins works in both digital and hand-drawn art. Higgins works primarily in editorial illustrations and sequential art, through comics and storyboarding. His favorite thing about art? Never being tied down to one particular style to solve design problems. The limit is the imagination.
It's difficult for Higgins to recall a time he didn't love drawing. From doodling on worksheets in elementary school, to drawing to impress girls in High School, art has always been a part of his life.
For his undergraduate studies, Higgins went to the University of Arkansas, majoring in art with an emphasis in drawing in graphic design. There he developed a love for figure drawing, as well as the stressful day-to-day deadlines that come with working for newspapers. By his Junior year in college, Higgins was drawing cartoons and illustrations not only for the college paper, but the local paper as well. He would eventually move on to work for the largest newspaper in the state, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
In 2009, Higgins illustrated his first graphic novel, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, written by Van Jensen and published by SLG Publishing. In 2010, Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer was chosen as one of the top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens by the Young Adult Library Services Association.Previously he had worked on several comic strips, including God, The Devil and a Monkey, and The Anarchist (which actually ended up having very little to do with Anarchy).
Higgins currently lives in Arkansas with his wife, Kristin, and dog, Starbuck. When he’s not illustrating some new project, you can probably find him playing the violin or working on some new DIY house project (they never end!).

Books

• Pedestals, Parapets, and Pits by Robert V. Smith, illustrated by Dusty Higgins
• Pinocchio Vampire Slayer by Dusty Higgins and Van Jensen
• Where You Stand is Where You Sit by Robert V. Smith, illustrated by Dusty Higgins

Publications

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
• Arkansas Life
• Arkansas Times
• Benton County Daily Record
• Frank magazine
• Northwest Arkansas Times
• Sync