We also took the time to ask the author of the comics about the characters he portrays.
“Often it starts with a little moment or scene that comes to me and sparks my imagination. A squirrel that’s too old to chew its food or a chick that doesn’t fully break out of her egg. I’ll think, what kind of person (or animal) would be like that? How would others around them react? Pretty soon a story starts to emerge."
"Once I did a comic about two people who were each trying to hide from the other a physical flaw they felt insecure about. In the caption, I invited readers to tell me something about their appearance they didn’t like and for each I tried to argue why that trait was a good thing. I thought it would be cool to have a character who does that for a living and that led to ‘The Shape of Us’.”
When asked about whether the artist has always been working in the art field, here’s what he told us: “Yes. I’ve loved drawing since someone put a crayon in my hand. I got interested in writing as a teenager.”
The artist’s stories reach a lot of people on social media so we were curious how the artist felt about that.“It’s very gratifying. I’m really lucky to have mostly positive people and very little nastiness. It’s so cool to make something in my little part of the world and hear back from people in faraway places.
I think it’s important for creators to first write to please themselves, but seeing people’s reactions can be very instructive in terms of helping me know if I’ve gotten across what I intended to or missed the mark. I don’t need everyone to get a piece, but I want some people to.”
When asked about what advice he’d give to people starting out with comics, here’s what the artist said, “Just start now and draw a ton. Don’t be overly critical and perfectionist or it will tighten you up. Find the joy in making what you had as a kid and just explore. My girlfriend Yvee is a great artist and I’m begging her to put her drawings online so others can enjoy them. She doesn’t really get how good she is.”
