Bored Panda reached out to Simon again to learn more about his creative process and himself. We were curious about how he decides on the personalities and traits of his fruit characters and whether any of them are inspired by people he knows in real life. "Apple is actually me, although often slightly exaggerated," the artist shared. "Most of the characters are a mixture of people I’ve met in real life, and many stories are based on events in my life or experiences I’ve had. Except Snail—he’s the 'villain' of the story, but even he has a good core. He’s a kind of dark reality check manifested as a snail."
Talking about challenges and creative blocks, Simon told us that he doesn’t think the biggest problem is creative blocks, as he writes down his ideas immediately and thus has a surplus of ideas stored so that he still has them to hand when he's less creative. "The difficult thing is that I try to find time to draw a comic every day under all circumstances. Life is often difficult, as we all know, but I usually give it my all so that at the end of the day I have a new comic for my awesome followers. Of course, I still try to keep the quality consistent, which is more important than quantity, I think."
We asked Simon about a typical day in his life as a comic artist. "I have my little desk where I usually sit, and as soon as I find the time, I continue to draw my things. I like it to be quite simple and tidy and am glad that it is a fairly bright room. But since I mostly draw on my iPad, I almost always have it with me. No matter where I am, as soon as I find a good table and a little peace and quiet, I continue to draw. I love to draw when it is raining outside. Add to that a quiet Nintendo music playlist in the background, and I have everything I need."
If you're someone who wants to start your own webcomic series, Simon has some advice for you! "I think you should think about a basic concept—where is my comic set, which characters appear (people, animals, aliens, etc.), and what genre is it (humor, drama, action, etc.). I think the most important thing is to just start. Over time, new ideas and characters will come, the quality will improve, etc. Collect ideas, start, and draw, draw, draw. The rest will come with time if you do it with love."
