In a conversation with Bored Panda, Andy shared his passion for making the ordinary extraordinary. “I’m always looking for ways to make everyday things unexpected. With comics, it’s often moments in life. With tab art, I was staring at my phone thinking, what is iconic about phones that I could creatively hack? I’m very happy that people enjoy the work; that brings me tons of joy. I’m working on some new creative things now behind the scenes that I’ve never tried before and, gosh, I really hope folks like them as much as me!”
When asked about his influences, the comic artist reflected on the artists and comedians who helped shape his voice. “I started reading Gary Larson’s books in 3rd grade and even wrote him a letter I was too anxious to send thanking him for all the laughs. When I started cartooning six-ish years ago, I bought and studied The Complete Far Side. Some other influences are comics like Chappelle, Key & Peele, Broad City, Demetri Martin, Mitch Hedberg, and loads of contemporary cartoonists like Kanin, Paul Noth, Ellis Rosen, Kim Warp, Mr. Lovenstein, Dogmo. And all the great art directors featured in Archive over the years like Menno Kluin.”
The process of creating comics is no small feat, but Babbitz's method emphasizes both speed and precision. “If my brain is on fire, I can concept and draw a comic in 45 minutes to 2 hours. Color takes longer. Complex or difficult drawings take longer, like a crowd of cows or big piles of food. Refining the joke halfway through a drawing takes longer. I still have to remind myself: get the joke right in the sketch, then draw.”
Ideas for his comics often come from personal experiences or everyday observations. “Most of the time I concept four ideas in the first hour of the day and spend the rest of the day drawing them. I’ll think of what happened to me in the last day, looking for truth nuggets—any social interactions, odd formalities, embarrassing moments. I write those in an ongoing ‘Ideas’ note as a single ‘explainer’ sentence like: ‘I ain’t a cowboy, I’m a cowman’ or ‘Subscription service to keep track of all your subscriptions.’”
Like many creatives, Andy isn’t immune to burnout, but he finds ways to keep his creative energy flowing. “Yes, I’m burned out on comics right now, so I’m making what I call ‘tab art’ in Safari and a fun product. Like they say at the end of the Cirque du Soleil Extreme Abs video, ‘If you wake in the morning and don’t feel motivated...don’t beat yourself up…do one thing that aligns with your goal…just keep going…there’s a certain satisfaction when doing a workout you didn’t feel like doing in the first place.’”
Audience reactions to Andy’s work often reflect the humor embedded in his creations. “A laughing emoji. Or for my tab art, they say ‘sus’ because they sometimes look like Among Us characters.”
For him, the thrill of trying something new is one of the most rewarding aspects of his creative process. “Trying something new and people enjoy it. It’s always freaky and exhilarating trying something new, whether it’s a new visual style, joke structure, or subject matter. When you finish and people respond to it positively, I can breathe again.”
Social media has been a crucial platform for Andy to share his work and connect with his audience. “It’s the best way I knew how to reach the most people and have a conversation with folks. Now there are lots of great places—I’m on TikTok too.”
