Scribbly G, a digital artist from South Africa now residing in the United Kingdom, has carved a niche in the webcomic world with his unexpected and sometimes darkly humorous comics. Reflecting on his journey, he shared with us, "I started making comics as a way to deal with depression. I was on medication for a long time. The meds didn’t fix anything; they just made me not care about being sad. My life was a blur."
After more than a year away from his usual rhythm of comic-making, Scribbly G has returned with honesty about the mental and creative burnout that led to his break. “This year hasn't been the best for my webcomics,” he admitted. “I took a little break from my regular weird comics for a while. It was meant to be a few weeks, but it ended up being for most of the last year and a half.” Despite having countless ideas sketched out and ready, he found himself unable to follow through. “I just didn't feel like drawing them,” he said, explaining that the pressure of an ever-growing audience began to eclipse the joy that originally drove him to create.
His comics, which started as a personal outlet during depressive periods, slowly became sources of anxiety. “These comics were originally just stupid drawings that I'd make to take my mind off my depression. I never planned on anyone seeing them,” he shared. But when thousands of followers and opportunities came pouring in, everything shifted. “One day, the fun started slipping away... I suddenly started worrying about what people would think of my cartoons. Everyone seems to try and find hidden meanings in any dumb comic I'd make.” What used to be lighthearted turned into a spiral of second-guessing. “My heart would pound, and my hand would start shaking before I pressed the post button... My cartoons brought me so much anxiety, I stopped posting them.”
Despite the struggle, he didn’t completely walk away from creativity. During his break from webcomics, the artist told us that he experimented with more traditional forms of cartooning, including single-panel magazine work. “It’s been strange having to adapt my style to please editors,” he said. “The hardest part is trying to act like I'm a normal person and make cartoons that editors will like.” This shift even led him to begin drawing on paper for the first time. “I never thought I'd ever draw traditionally because I've only ever drawn on an iPad, but here I am with a drafting table and lightbox like a real cartoonist.”
Going viral also changed how he approaches online platforms. “Whenever one [comic] starts taking off, I know I'm in for a mix of messages—some from people wanting to work with me and others from people wanting to tell me how much they hate me,” he said. That tension eventually pushed him to cut back on social media altogether. “Now I don't even keep social media on my phone anymore. I reinstall the apps when I want to post a comic, and then I'll delete them again until I'm ready to post the next one.” But despite the distance, he’s learned that real opportunities don’t disappear just because he’s offline. “If someone really wants to get hold of you for a project, they'll eventually email.”
