From drawing and writing cartoons for The Bark to reaching millions of readers worldwide, cartoonist and Redwood alum Reza Farazmand has built a career around humor and simple drawings. 

As the creator of Poorly Drawn Lines, a website where Farazmand uploads new comics every week, Farazmand has expanded his work from school comics to books, an animated series and a massive online following. Former Bark adviser Tom Sivertsen remembers Farazmand standing out from the very beginning.

“He had a strong, clear voice,” Sivertsen said. “This was a person who had high expectations for himself, and he took the radical path. He did not go down the path of becoming a lawyer or a doctor. He chose to become a cartoonist.”

Farazmand explained that cartooning was not something he had always planned.

“I wasn’t really into art [in high school], I was more into writing,” Farazmand said. “Comics just felt like a fun way to bring a visual element to my comedy writing.” 

In fact, his first comic was created almost by accident when he was a senior. 

“A space for comics had opened up in The Bark when I was Editor-in-Chief, and we had nothing to fill it, so I [decided] I’m going to try making a comic,” Farazmand said. 

That comic turned into “Teacher, Teacher,” a strip poking fun at high school students’ and teachers’ frustrations. But one “Teacher, Teacher” comic led to complaints from the social studies department, which felt targeted. 

“I did one [comic strip] that made fun of teachers, and the social studies department took issue with it. I offered to have a sit-down meeting with them. Looking back, [the comic] was probably overly harsh, but that’s part of growing as an artist,” Farazmand said.

Sivertsen viewed the incident as a sign of Farazmand’s bright future. 

“He had a great sense of snark and loved poking fun at things. One of his comics even landed him in trouble, but that’s what a good cartoonist should be doing,” Sivertsen said.

After Redwood, Farazmand attended University of California, San Diego, where he launched Poorly Drawn Lines. 

“Freshman year, I submitted a comic tryout to the college newspaper, and I called it Poorly Drawn Lines because of how rough it was,” Farazmand said. “I was just trying to own the fact that I couldn’t draw.”

What started as rough sketches grew into an online series, rapidly gaining popularity.

“One of the first comics I did that really blew up was about different ways people write essays. That went viral on Reddit, and seeing all the traffic to my site was a big motivator to keep going professionally,” Farazmand said. 

Today, he has over 2.2 million followers on Instagram, several books published and even an animated series called “Poorly Drawn Lines” that aired on FX and Hulu. 

“It was pretty surreal when an editor from [the] Penguin Random House [publishing company] reached out to me,” Farazmand said. “That book deal was when I realized I could do this long term.”

Sivertsen said it was no surprise that Farazmand’s humor succeeded beyond Redwood. 

“He was an easy leader at the front of the room that really held the bar high while being really nice to get along with,” Sivertsen said. “I have tremendous respect for him as a person.”

Farazmand also offers advice to current students and future artists.

 “My biggest piece of helpful advice is to make bad art until the good stuff starts coming out again. Don’t try to make things perfect, just try to complete things. It’s kind of like not working out a muscle for a while — you get rusty. It’s best to just keep the momentum going,” Farazmand said.

For Sivertsen, watching his former student’s career unfold has been rewarding.

“I’m so happy that [a Redwood student] chose to be an illustrator and a cartoonist. I think that was a great choice, and I’m so proud of where [Farazmand] has gone with his life,” Sivertsen said. 

Reflecting on his journey, Farazmand encourages students to take risks with their creativity. 

“There are more opportunities than ever to get your work seen by a lot of people, which can translate into doing it professionally,” Farazmand said. “Just go for it.”