MAKING - PUBLISHING - COACHING - TEACHING - CLASSES
6822B EL CAJON BLVD., SAN DIEGO CA 92115 - (619) 356.1103
Instructors:
Alonso Nunez
Executive Director and Lead Teaching Artist
Alonso graduated from the School of Visual Arts majoring in Comic Illustration. A third generation San Diegan, he has always had a passion for the comic artform in all its various styles, genres, and purposes. He is an active comic professional, a 2021 Eisner Comic Industry Judge, and founder of Little Fish Comic Book Studio.
Serena Leitner
Assistant Lead Teaching Artist
Serena attended the School of Creative and Performing Arts and is currently pursuing a comic arts career while she attends Miramar college. When she isn’t drawing, she’s writing, and when she isn’t writing, she’s reading ridiculous amounts of fiction (comics and otherwise). During her time at Little Fish, Serena discovered a love of teaching and hopes to continue as an arts teacher and comic creator into the foreseeable future.
Mario Torres Jr
Teaching Artist
Mario is an artist and has been teaching at Little Fish since 2016. He has credits as an illustrator, cartoonist, graphic designer, self-publisher, and art director. He is currently editor in chief of the CASD (Comic Book Artists of San Diego) and is currently working on collecting his works together into a graphic novel series. He has been touring So-Cal with his arts installations called Ego Death since 2017. His mission is to inspire and show everyone that drawing is as essential as reading or writing.
TJ Shevlin
Teaching Artist
Born and raised in New York City, TJ had a long-time love affair with comics, thanks in part to seeing the Marvel Universe outside his window. Over the years, he has gone from comic fan, to comic retailer, to comic historian. In 2015, TJ had a hand in putting together IDW Publishing’s San Diego Comic Art Gallery and retail space, of which he then went on to manage both for 3 years. He currently works for Upper Deck as the product development coordinator for Marvel Publishing, but his heart always lies in storytelling. TJ has taken on the role of comic educator here at Little Fish, focusing on the art of script writing, character development, and storytelling. As of 2023, he's become an Eisner Awards Judge.
Aubrianna Robinson
Teaching Artist
Aubrianna graduated with a BFA in Illustration at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts at the University of New Haven and is continuing her education in animation at Mesa Community College in San Diego. She has experience in all illustrative practices including portraiture, traditional painting, and graphic design, but specializes in cartoons and comics. Aubrianna currently runs two webcomics and has multiple comics and books printed. She continues to create, sharing her process as examples during Littlefish classes.
Zyanya Hernandez-Grant
Teaching Artist
Zyanya graduated with a BFA in Animation from Otis College of Art and Design. She is a lover of storytelling and has pursued it her whole life, both visual and performance. When she’s not lost in a story, she is creating her own. As an active illustrator and storyboarder with a passion for the craft, she brings her experience to teach others how to do the same.
Nikita Atrash
Substitute Teaching Instructor
Nikita is a webcomic artist (pen name “Shard”) from San Diego. She tends to dabble in a little bit of everything, from traditional to digital mediums, and from illustration to pixel art. She draws inspiration from all manner of Western and Eastern sources, and has a particular fondness for Squirrel Girl and One Piece.
Angela Chan
Graphic Designer
A self-taught digital artist, Angela does a majority of her work digitally, mainly on an iPad Pro. She creates many of the banners used for Little Fish's website, as well as Facebook and Instagram accounts. She has made illustrated posters for the San Diego Italian Film Festival in 2016-2020 and even has had some of her art exhibited in Toronto in 2016. She loves Manga and Anime, and dabbles in both 2D animation and a little of 3D modeling in her spare time.
Nicholas Eskey
Executive Assistant
Nicholas received his Bachelor of the Arts in English from Arizona State University. It was during his studies there that he joined Little Fish as an intern and has been with the nonprofit ever since. He also serves as the Digital Marketer and a bookseller at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore. When not working, he enjoys reading, traveling, and writing his own stories.
Angeni Loewy
Studio Assistant
Angeni is an aspiring artist who works with various traditional mediums. She enjoys all kinds of fiction, from films, comics, anime, and manga. She loves to create fan art from whatever piece of media she's currently obsessed with that week. She hopes to one day start her own online shop to sell
her work.
Emilia Quintanar
Studio Assistant
Emilia is a student artist and cartoonist, as well as an occasional D&D Dungeon Master & writer. Her other interests include cartoons, zines, and comics of all kinds. For Little Fish, she’s an all-purpose assistant and helper, from assembling Ikea furniture to organizing bookshelves; no challenge is too big or too small! When she’s not working, she’s often found haunting bookstores and hanging out with her two dogs.