Bored Panda reached out to Salma, who told us more about her background: “I never studied art, in fact I graduated as a software engineer. But I ditched my engineering degree for the art path, and that's one of the best decisions I've ever made.”
Salma also explained what drew her to the world of cartooning.
“Since I was a kid, I loved drawing and crafting. But making comics started as doodling caricatures for my friends in high school. They made them laugh and that made me happy.
They did get me in trouble sometimes, I got suspended for one week for drawing my high school teachers. But no regrets,” shared Salma.
In order to get a better understanding of the essence of Salma’s comics, she shared the repeating themes.“My comics are inspired from my daily life, my friends and family and my mental health.
I love to draw silly situations that happened to me or to my friends, deep stories about my past experiences and mental health awareness,” wrote Salma.
Next, we were curious about Salma’s creative process and how she comes up with ideas for comics. The artist shared: “I could be doing house chores, working or in bed when a comic idea hits me. I immediately doodle it in my sketchbook and later, draw it on my tablet. The ideas are really random, it could be something that happened to me that day, a conversation I had with someone or a past memory that I remembered.”
Moreover, Salma shared what she hopes for people to take away from her comics: “What brings me satisfaction and happiness about making my comics is when someone tells me that it made their day or that it helped them in some way. I would hope that a comic would put a smile on someone's face, or even if it makes them cry, it would be in a peaceful and kind way.
I also hope people would be more aware of mental health and more understanding of it.”
And lastly, Salma added: “Growing up with crafty hands, everyone was reminding me that art in Tunisia won't get me anywhere. So I pursued a path that I didn't like and that never fulfilled me. Taking the decision to switch to the art path wasn't easy, the road was bumpy and full of mental breakdowns. But it was worth it. And I'm happy I'm here.”
