About Rush Hamden

Rush Hamden is a published children's book author-illustrator & graphic novel artist specializing in American Comic & Anime/Manga. Rush is also an art teacher, teaching for years in the Southern California school system, as well as on the Skillshare platform. He has taught (and continues to teach weekly) hundreds of students how to: draw using shapes; add ink; color using watercolors; use perspective; and sculpt fun characters!

Rush began his drawing career at the age of 6, when he began to draw cartoons similar to popular comic books like Superman and Star Wars. He continued to draw for some years as he progressed through elementary school, receiving weekly art instruction in the school system. However, he didn't receive any advanced art training beyond the primary years, and no one told him that artists can make a good living. His capacity for drawing stagnated, and he shelved that dream away. He specialized in filmmaking for nearly two decades, working as a director of photography (DP) on features, documentaries and short films. His passion was always training films, so he created a video series teaching filmmaking.

After his son was born, Rush's amazing wife saw him drawing Mickey Mouse cartoons in 2013 and encouraged him saying, "You really should draw children's books." He thought she was just being nice, until his son's elementary school teachers, parents and principal noticed his drawings and allowed him to teach elective after-school art classes in August, 2017. About 30 kids signed up! Pretty soon, Rush was teaching regular weekly art classes. Amazing! This radically improved Rush's style and grasp of the elements and principles of design. He had to know it, in order to teach it.

Fast forward a few months, and in late 2017, Rush was creating handouts for his art class at his son's martial arts class, when a professional Disney animator, Mr. Bert Klein, noticed his work, and said, "Hey Rush, you can really draw. How about we train you?" So the ultra-talented Mr. Klein and his equally super-skilled wife, Mrs. Jennifer Klein, took him under their wings and for months, gave him weekly instruction in drawing. They would even encourage him to send them photos of his practice drawings, then send feedback even in the middle of the night. They were his "Angels of Drawing"! They encouraged Rush, gave him "street-credit" with the kids, solid footing in sketching, as well as a real sense of confidence as he drew and trained hundreds of kids how to draw. They also encouraged him to become the Art Chairperson of his son's school, teach nearly 500 kids weekly art classes, and stand up and speak for the school in art forums. Mrs. Klein also explained how to apply for grants for the school, and through that, purchase dozens of drawing books and art supplies to bless hundreds of kids for many years ahead. Mr. and Mrs. Klein seemed truly "divinely-appointed" into his life to help him on his art journey. Now he hopes to do the same for others for many years to come.

Later on, in 2018, the Hamden Family adopted a cute little 2-pound black kitten from the local Burbank Animal Shelter. Rush's son picked the sweet kitten, became enamored with him, named him Spike, and became a devoted friend to the little cat. The Hamden family's love for the little kitty, as well as Spike's amazingly dynamic, quirky personality sparked many ideas in Rush's mind. Stories popped up in his mind, seemingly by the dozens. Since Rush worked from home, he spent lots of time with Spike, who became his constant daytime companion as Rush worked on his art projects. Pretty soon, all the art projects revolved around Spike, his fantastic personality and adventures.

In 2020, Rush was hired by the California School System and went from "Artist In-Residence" to a "Board-Certified Art Instructor" in the Burbank Unified School District. This was a great promotion and blessing for him, and gave him financial freedom to help support his family and begin drawing children's books more regularly. That's when "Sprint the CAT" and other series were birthed.

Now Rush creates freelance art, training films, children's books and graphic novels from his home studio in Burbank. He's a devoted husband and work-from-home dad. In 2020, Rush published his first and long awaited children's book: "Sprint the Cat: What's For Breakfast? (Sprint the CAT #1)" This has been a labor of love for over a year. It was hand drawn and inked, inspired by the Hamden family's adoption of a cute, sweet kitten named Spike from the local Burbank Animal Shelter. The first book is based on a silly conversation that Rush had with Spike, the family cat, one morning. From that simple interchange, a 45-page children's book was born. Book 2 was set for release in January of 2021. Rush is working on three other series, all starring cats, all born of the love of his son for their adopted shelter cat, Spike.

Angela Marie Hutchinson

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Books By Rush Hamden

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Sprint the CAT: What's For Breakfast? (Sprint the CAT #1): Will Sprint The CAT get fish for breakfast? Sep 27, 2020

by Rush Hamden

( 3 )

$7.99

The first book in the Sprint The CAT series is titled "What's For Breakfast?" It is a children's picture book intended to entertain children ages 3-8+, and encourage them to eat healthy food. It is a dialogue between a person and an animal friend, Sprint. The person speaks in speech bubbles and suggests foods that Sprint could eat for breakfast. The cat rejects the suggestions, and tries to convince his human friend to give him a fish. The person simply doesn't get it, escalating the drama and the humor as the book continues to its conclusion, where the cat finally wishes for a fish. Will he get it, and how?

Other Formats: Paperback

Sprint the CAT: What's For Breakfast? (Sprint the CAT #1) [LARGE PRINT]: Will Sprint The CAT get fish for breakfast? Oct 8, 2020

by Rush Hamden

( 6 )

$7.99

Other Formats: Paperback

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