Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Shannon Manor of Roswell, GA

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Shannon Manor. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Shannon, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
My day starts against my will with my cat demanding food than she won’t touch until later. She’s still primed to my alarm from my old studio job so I can head back and get a little bit more sleep once she gets to look at her food. My day properly starts when I get up for myself and get my coffee brewed.
I’m not the biggest morning person so I am one of those people that needs a coffee and some time alone before I can really try talking to people or doing things. I am the only coffee drinker in my house so I make a single cup using a pour over dripper. It is a nice little ritual to start the day. Some days–I have breakfast, usually just a bowl of cereal, and catch up on my socials or mobile games. This can vary. Some days, no breakfast and I accidentally lose an hour because I did more than just my dailies in Infinity Nikki. Some days or I got a little too wrapped up in checking in on all the k-pop news that happened overnight. Just giving myself thirty minutes to myself so I can wake-up and focus. I cannot roll out of bed and immediately start. Well I can but you’re not gunna get much.
For the hour after, I head upstairs to my office and get my work day started. I am currently in-between jobs so I’m focusing on my own work and freelance when I have it. But regardless of how much freelance I have, the first hour of my workday is dedicated to my webcomic. This is a routine I started to try to keep myself on schedule and motivated when working on my projects got too overwhelming. It doesn’t matter what that hour of work is but as long as it’s towards my webcomic. Most days, it’s inking. Some days it’s updating my outline or working on thumbnails. Some days, I finish a page. Some days, I struggle to get one panel finished. Doesn’t matter, as long as something happens. I’m also a second monitor person–there’s absolutely a movie, show, or youtube video up while I work. I can’t work in silence or else I immediately drift. If I’m doing anything with text, I put on music that either doesn’t have lyrics or is in a language I don’t speak. [Right now, I’m playing my k-pop summer playlist for something peppy while I do this interview!]
It’s probably not the most exciting start to the day but it’s a routine that works for me!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Shannon! I’m by trade a character designer and illustrator. I’ve worked in the Atlanta animation industry for the last thirteen years as both an artist and a director! My favorite subject to draw are people! I always try to make sure I show someone for who they really are in my art–either through their clothes or how they are interacting with their world and friends.

Currently, I don’t have a studio job so I’m getting some time to focus on my own stuff! I’ve been working on a webcomic since 2018 and as my professional job got more demanding, I had to shift focus and it ended up on and off hiatuses for a few years. It’s become my main focus and has been running consistently since 2024! I’m on a break between acts currently which for me is very exciting. I didn’t think this second act was that long but all the hiccups made it take about five years to finish. I’m very excited it’s done! I’m excited for this third act and trying to make sure I don’t burn myself out!

I’m also trying to make more merch and expand my convention circuit! Mostly to help fund myself as I work on my comic but it is also fun to work on fan art of things I love and try out things that aren’t just comic books. Recently, I played every single Dragon Age game and have been making wood standees of the romance characters from each game. It’s not groundbreaking but I’ve been having a lot of fun with it! I work with Zap Creatives for the manufacturing. The standees look great, I’m having fun drawing the characters. I’m thinking about doing some commission work to make custom character standees to match. I love drawing people’s original characters and I think it’d make for a unique piece of merch to have your own main character next to the characters from the game.
I’m also trying to expand myself into more stationary! When I’m buying merch, I love getting practical things I can actually use so I’d like to make the types of things I buy. Recently, I did magnets with matching notepads that have been pretty successful.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
So early last year, I got diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and have been pretty slowly revisiting my own ideas of myself. There’s a part of me that was constructed so I could try to interact with the world in a way that I thought was proper and I’m trying to let her go. It’s been really exhausting and not as much of a pathway towards a new, better version of myself as it sounds like on paper. I tend to hold myself to standards I do not expect from other people, thinking I need to bend myself into something other people will like and I’m working on the fact that I don’t need to do that and people will still accept a messier version of myself. I am still going to turn in this interview and spend a week hiding under my desk, thinking I messed everything up and I’m going to look like a complete goofball. But I’m still doing it anyway! So like, I’m pretty sure that’s a step in the right direction. Probably.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
There’s nothing wrong with you! Stay weird and loud! You’re going to have a Kingdom Hearts themed wedding and once you’re over 30, talking at length about the multiple versions Sailor Moon and why you love all of them is going be your #1 way of making new friends. You’re fine, you’re just autistic. Go get too excited to talk to the new girl about Sailor Moon and give up on jeans, they’re not going to stop being itchy.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That you need to overwork yourself. It’s not worth it. It’s just cartoons. Your body and mental health are real. Work 8 hours and go home. End the week at 40 hours. Enjoy your weekend. Take your PTO. When I was a department director, I never denied people’s PTO. The schedule is on me! I worry about the work load, not my artists. If a department falls apart cause one person leaves for a week, that’s on ME! The director! That’s my job!

I worked as an art director recently and I still showed up at 9am and left at 6pm. I remember someone was trying to get in contact with me but saw I was in a meeting at 5pm–our show runners were in California–and they told me ‘I know you didn’t make that meeting, you’re not gunna let anyone stop you from leaving at 6.’ He was teasing but I wore that like a badge of honor. Your work is important but so are you. Take care of yourself.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
Anything that ever made them laugh.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shannonmanor.myportfolio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonmanorart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-manor-98a58226/
• Twitter: https://x.com/shannonmanor
• Other: Bluesy: https://bsky.app/profile/shannonmanorart.bsky.social