Given an opportunity, Bored Panda reached out to Ambrata, the author of the "Amby Draws" comics with some questions. First, we asked the artist if she had any life-changing influences that might have helped her with her art and art style in general when it comes to her comics.
“I've always been doodling for as long as I can remember (be it newspaper or textbooks) if I had a pen/pencil and any paper... I'd doodle subconsciously (there's a 10 rupee note with a funny cow doodle on it somewhere out in the world thanks to me), and when you do something that long, you somehow develop a style of your own. I think I just jumped into this with what I know and it seemed to work.”
Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked Amby how long it takes her to fully finish her comics.
“I don't have a set time. If I don't get distracted by snacks, then maybe 2-4 hours. But also I procrastinate like it's my religion, so I tend to drag it out over 2 days, and it doesn't help that inspiration usually hits me at like 3 am.
The fastest comic I've done was when my follower challenged me to make pizza and a comic about making that pizza in 1 hour (it's in my story highlights).”
Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask the artist about her ideas for the comics.
“My messy life is a huge inspiration for my comics. The characters are actual people closest to me. Most of my comics are about things I've experienced or things I know are destined to happen to me given my crappy luck. I think that's why I have the followers I have because they relate... and they know me so well by now.”
As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how she dealt with that as well.
“YES. Making comics is my therapy, but when I'm suffering from an art block, it can be very frustrating because it's a big part of life now and it feels ‘not normal,’ but I love making comics. FOR REAL. When I do get a good comic idea, I get so excited I'll start right away even if it's 3 am. It's fun for me!”
We also asked the artist about how people reacted to her work.
“Over the years I've gained the best followers who support my work and I like to think we have a good relationship. Some of their comments are funnier than my comics and always make me laugh. I leave bonus panels for my followers as something extra from me to them (only those who follow me mostly know to scroll till the end).
Although, when I started back in 2017 I've had a few bad experiences and mad haters, I even considered stopping my page but I liked making comics far too much for that. Now I don't pay attention to the hate. It's a part of the gig.”
The creative process is not easy, but there are many enjoyable parts to it as shared by the artist.
“The actual ‘drawing part.’ I love seeing it come to life and I get so many more ideas when I'm actually drawing, like ideas to make the comic better or an alternate ending or a whole new comic altogether.
Also, I love drawing comics involving my mom's character. Those are my favorites even though they are mostly there to roast me *crying emoji*.”
We also asked about the inspiration behind Amby's Instagram account.
“Believe it or not, an ex of mine suggested I should do this. The only useful thing he did, if you ask me *wink*.”
Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of patience, time, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented comic artist started her own career in digital art.
“I've never professionally learned art, so I did not have access to all the different mediums. When I started making comics in 2017, I drew on paper with a pen and then posted the picture. After a while, I stumbled upon an app and I used it to draw comics on my smartphone with my fingers. I did this for a good year and gained quite a few followers. That’s when I saw this going somewhere so I invested in a tablet. I think anyone who is interested can do it. You don’t need fancy gadgets.”
Artists tend to get motivated by a lot of things such as curiosity, the search for beauty, or even meaning. Therefore, we asked Amby about that too.
“I wish it was something deep like beauty or love or a glorious vision. But I do it because it makes me happy. I just enjoy making comics and I like to have fun with my characters. It's my therapy, and it makes people laugh and relate so that's a lovely bonus.”
