Newsmakers: Sean Andrew Murray brings fantasy to life in illustrated book

When he wasn’t drawing editorial cartoons for The Daily Orange or doing work for class, Sean Andrew Murray was filling his notebooks with fantastical doodles.

He didn’t know it at the time, but Murray was setting the groundwork for his book “Gateway: The Book of Wizards.” Murray wrote and illustrated the book, which he funded through a Kickstarter campaign he started in 2012 that raised $25,062.

“I’m trying to sort of build my own products, my own property, my own thing I’m most passionate about,” Murray said. “When I’m drawing in my sketchbooks or drawing for myself, I’m drawing for this world.”

Murray (’98) was art director at The D.O. during the spring and fall semesters of 1997. Since then, his career as an illustrator has taken him in many directions: from video game concept art to working on a TV series with Guillermo del Toro.

“Gateway” is about a giant city — bigger than any on earth — originally built by magic. The story takes place at a time when the use of magic is prohibited for everyone except those in power. The city’s wizards practice their magic in secret.

Murray is working to expand the book’s magical world by creating more products based on the story. He’s creating a graphic novel and also working to get a “Gateway” card game published. Murray is collaborating on the graphic novel with fellow illustrator and former D.O. art director Devin Quinn.

“If you make work that comes from an honest place, people will gravitate toward it,” Murray said. “People will see your passion, and that passion is infectious, and that can turn into a viable career.”

Working at The D.O. pushed Murray out of his comfort zone, he said. He also learned to deal with criticism after several of his editorial cartoons were not well received.

It was an important lesson, he said, and one of the best things about The D.O. is that it provides an outlet to test your ideas in front of an audience.

“Just put your ideas out there. It’s scary, and it’s a great tool for doing that,” Murray said. “College is still a microcosm, but you get a sense of what it’s like to put yourself out there and essentially be judged.”