Meanwhile at the Creation Station
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My name is Brian Russell and I'm a cartoonist and illustrator. I've been making webcomics for 14 years, been married for 15, and have 3 amazing kids. My art and humor have evolved over the years and I couldn't be more pleased than to be an illustrator for children's books that are so funny and full of humor.
I haven't experimented too much with different artforms other than assorted pens and pencils before acquiring a digital drawing tablet. I had the dream to become a cartoonist for newspapers when I was in middle school. I wanted to make a comic about Tech Support people based on my dad and some of the people I knew at the time. Funny enough, I've come a bit full circle there and many of my comics are about working in tech support in some fashion.
The story of the book "God Creating Animals" started when Charles Peterson reached out to me to illustrate a tweet of his. His writing and my art styles really just synced up. We collaborated on a few other comics in a similar fashion, and one day he approached me about creating a larger project that he said my art was what he saw when he thought of it.
He had written a series of "God Creating Animal" tweets and had expanded one into a children's book-length story about a snake learning all about himself. That was "God Creates a Snake". It was great because we were able to give some animal facts, and still be very funny along the way. It was a match made...well, in heaven! ha!
"God Creates Penguins" is now our second book in the series and we're planning to make more and more. Charles always said he saw these books as not only meant for children but also for the parents who read the books to their kids. Think Shrek meets Veggie Tales meets Elephant and Piggy. Jokes and puns only parents would understand, right alongside jokes that the kids will get a kick out of.
Charles handles the overall story and jokes, and I focus on the art. We have a great working relationship, similar humor, and both of us push each book (and even each page) to be better and better.
We had a few different goals we wanted to accomplish: cute, funny, and not the typical old white man God. The animals have been relatively straightforward trying to find a balance between scientific drawings and chibi art. Snake was cute, but I really wanted to push myself for "God Creates Penguins". I really love them now. They're my favorite characters I've ever drawn. As for the God character, I really wanted it to be funny first, and with that in mind, sketched out a version of a giant being sitting at a tiny desk in a minuscule office chair. We both loved it so much that it stuck. I decided to make the skin look like a purple galaxy of stars because I thought that was a better representation of a creator being. Seemed magical in a way! Also, we both thought it would be hilarious for them to have glasses. Funny first!
I have two favorite parts of the creative process. The first is really just getting the humor sketched out with the jokes (thumbnailing). Getting that first pass with something to look at next to the words is the most fun to me because it feels the most creative. You think about the blocking of the scene, how to make pages different, layout of the text and characters...and then you get to look at the whole thing. It's exciting.
My other favorite part is when my kids read the drafts (and the final product) and laugh and laugh. That's when I know we hit the mark.
