SNELSE has previously shared that he's been writing comedy since he was 16 years old. "Starting as a stand-up comedian then moving on to writing for radio and TV until I eventually got my own comedy series on Audible (called The Temp). But I became frustrated with writing so many scripts and spending years and years in development to ultimately end up with them not getting produced. I wanted to start making comedy myself so I could be in control, so I turned to my first love, which was drawing. It’s extremely freeing to think up ideas, draw them, and then put them out there for people to see every day."
Bored Panda reached out to the artist again to find out more about him and his creative process. We were curious to learn about SNELSE's way of coming up with funny ideas for his comics. "I just treat it like a job, really," the illustrator shared. "And you have to. I sit at a desk, writing and drawing all day long coming up with as many ideas as possible. Or if I’m out and about I keep an eye out for ideas.
The idea generation aspect is a difficult thing to explain. I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s just muscle memory. My brain can kind of sift through what I see and hear and instinctively know whether something has the potential for a joke. Sometimes the joke comes fully formed, for example, I read ‘nasty bug’ somewhere and that wrote itself. Sometimes it’s half-baked and I have to work on it, like with the Frankenstein in the coffee shop - the initial basic idea was a barista calling out a name in a coffee shop and causing confusion. I explored what that confusion could be and along the way, Frankenstein popped into my head. Voilà! Job done. But that all just comes with years and years of experience - you have to train your brain to do that and it takes a long time."
Exploring the roots of inspiration, we wanted to know who or what has left a significant impact on SNELSE's artistic style. The artist shared that he has a lot of influences! "Going back to when I first started doing comedy I was heavily influenced by one-liner comedians like Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, Demetri Martin, Jack Handey and Milton Jones.
I came to the art world a bit later on. I could always draw but I never pursued it in any way and didn’t give art a second thought - I just focused on comedy. It wasn’t until I discovered the works of Pete Mckee, Jean Jullien and David Shrigley that I really became interested in it. They really opened my eyes to how you could make great art using cartoons and humor. Weirdly I’d never seen that before. From there I started to discover more illustrators and cartoonists including Pieter de Poortere (Dickie comics), Far Side, Safely Endangered, Liana Finck, Matt Blease, Joan Cornella, Seth Fleishman, Will McPhail, Joe Dator… So many!"
We were intrigued to discover if SNELSE has any specific rituals or habits that he finds to help him get into a creative mindset. "When I’m writing I need dead silence! I’m VERY easily distracted so I need to get myself in a very quiet room and focus. But when I’m drawing I’ll have music or a podcast on mostly or sometimes I’ll put the TV on. Drawing is very relaxing. Writing is the exact opposite!"
SNELSE's comics often capture everyday scenarios. We asked the artist how his environment or surroundings influence the themes and ideas he incorporates into his art. According to him, comedy, whichever way you look at it, is really about observing the world around you. "How you interpret those surroundings is what forms the basis of your style of humor. I think my humor, or at least my favorite stuff, is taking a real-life situation and giving it an absurd twist. When I was looking at a picture of the pyramids in Egypt my brain thought they looked like roofs and that led to thinking what if it was a construction error? That led to the pyramids cartoon. So I’m always keeping an eye out for material because anything can lead to the next funny idea."
Looking at these comics and thinking about the people who enjoy them, we were curious about who the artist makes them for the most. "I think my work is relatively broad, so to speak - it’s pretty non-offensive and inclusive, so I feel like everyone should be able to get a laugh out of it," Steve replied. "I have followers from all around the world too, which is super fun, but sometimes I do wordplay which is based on the silly nuances of the English language, and that can go right over your head if English isn’t your first language! My followers are really supportive and nice, though, so if someone doesn’t understand a cartoon there’s always someone who will explain it to them."
