ALEX KONSTAD

Alex Konstad was broke. The illustrator had been living in San Diego where rent was relatively cheap. To get by, he had to make around $1,000 a month – though, at a push, $800 would do it. But then he moved to Santa Monica – the beach city west of downtown Los Angeles – and his bills almost tripled.

Alex was living with his friend and fellow artist Dan LuVisi. They were both at the beginning of their careers. Literally and metaphorically, they were hungry (their combined weekly grocery budget was $10). The pair rented an office together where they would work from 8am right through to 3am, cycle home, sleep a few hours, then get up and do it all over again.

“I had a lot of help from my parents while I figured my life out” the American artist says, “and, also, lots of credit card debt.