Given the chance, Bored Panda reached out to the comic artist once more with some new questions! Dieter often mentions that his daydreams inspire his cartoons. When asked to share an example of a daydream that turned into one of his favorite comics, he said: "The one with the tap-dancing fish on the top of an aquarium comes to mind. I always thought of this joke when seeing a note that says 'Please don’t tap on the glass.' But I must say that this idea seemed funnier in my head than the resulting cartoon that I dragged out into the 'real' world..."
Deciding which of his daydream-inspired ideas will make it into a cartoon doesn't follow a strict process for Dieter. He explained: "I just use my own judgment. If I think an idea might work, I develop it into a cartoon. So there is not really a specific process. Sometimes, it turns out that I was wrong: that a drawing doesn’t turn out like I had in mind, that it turns out I don’t think it is funny after all. When that happens, I don’t use this cartoon and I just start with another one. I have plenty of ideas, so it’s not a big problem when things don’t work out."
When it comes to using old sketches as inspiration, Dieter is modest about his achievements. Asked if he has ever turned an old sketch into a finished piece he's particularly proud of, he responded: "I’m never particularly proud of my work. My cartoons are just simple little things that can (hopefully) sometimes induce a smile. I don’t think of them as very artistic creations. So they don’t fill me with pride afterwards. I admire other artists, but I think I am a small player compared to them."
Understanding his audience's reactions is a challenge, and the artist acknowledges that he can't gauge them like a stand-up comedian might. On staying motivated when feedback is limited, he shared with Bored Panda: "My followers are dwindling. I mean, the number of people that follow me on Instagram is diminishing instead of increasing. This tells me that I’m probably not very good at what I do. Some people thought that my cartoons were interesting enough to start following me, but now it seems that they are changing their minds for some reason. So this has a demotivating effect on me. I guess that they made a mistake or that they discovered that my cartoons aren’t that interesting after all. Well, I don’t blame them. The public is always right... but it is frustrating that I don’t know WHY people are unfollowing me. It would be interesting to have this feedback. So the motivation is a bit low for the moment, but I will keep making cartoons because I like doing this. That is the reason I keep making cartoons. The act of drawing relaxes me. It is a hobby for me: some people watch TV or go out, I like to make silly pictures. To each his own, eh?"
Despite facing challenges in gaining widespread recognition, the artist remains driven to continue working in the comic industry. Discussing his personal goals and dreams, he said: "A personal goal is to get published on paper. This can be a collection of my cartoons or maybe my comic strips. I feel that publishers are more interested in making comic strips than in publishing cartoon books. Cartoons are more used to illustrate an article or fill up some empty space in a paper or magazine. But there is no real interest for them afterwards, when they have served their purpose. Seems to be like this for me, but maybe I’m wrong. So I’m thinking of making longer comic strips or illustrating a children’s book, because there seems to be more interest for these things (from a publishers’ point of view, I mean)."
