Bored Panda got in touch with Katherine to learn about her creative process and background. She shared that she has been drawing since she was a child. "My dad would bring me a stack of paper back from work every week to just draw on all weekend. I would spend hours just doodling while the TV was on. I was lucky that I grew up in a family where we all loved art. My sister was studying art and both my parents were really good at it! So they were happy to supply me with as much paper as they could get a hold of, haha!"
It never occurred to Katherine that she could create or draw comics until she attended a comic convention in the UK, where she met Sarah Graley and Marc Ellerby, who were drawing for Rick and Morty. "I remember being blown away that people local to me were drawing for such huge IPs. I remember leaving that convention and saying, 'I want to be a comic artist.'
About a year later, I came across this comic book course called The Comic Creative Catalyst which was led by industry professional John McCrea. On the course, he taught us along with guest artists how to tell a story, lead the eye with artwork and how to work with scripts. It was incredibly interesting and in the end, we all worked together to create an anthology of our work from that course! Since then I have been working on silly little books in my own time in between work and loving every second of it!"
Katherine shared that usually, the ideas come to her just before she falls asleep. "It is very annoying as it means scribbling random ideas on bits of paper and waking up in the morning very confused at what happened, haha." These moments of inspiration, though chaotic, often draw from Katherine's past experiences, forming the foundation of all her books. "Being Ginger was my first book and it focused on all the funny/strange/weird things I had to deal with just growing up with ginger hair! And I had A LOT of things happen so it was quite easy to pull those ideas from my memory. And similar with my next book, which was Being a Cosplayer. I have been cosplaying for 10 years, so I can have plenty of stories to also pick from. They always say ‘Do what you know’ and I guess I really did do that, haha."
While drawing from personal experiences made Katherine's stories authentic, it wasn’t always easy to turn difficult memories into something humorous and uplifting. "Sometimes it was hard to alter the stories from what was a sad time in my life (for Being Ginger) into a funny 4-panel way, but it is so rewarding seeing people read my stories and relate to them and tell me that the book has helped them also accept their beautiful red hair!"
Continuing with her creative process, Katherine said she usually writes a rough script and then jumps straight into drawing. "I draw everything digitally now as it helps me create the comics faster and it means that with my busy life, I can draw on the go! Being Ginger was actually drawn almost entirely on a train! I then put the text in on Photoshop and ta-da! A comic is done! And then I post it on social media and hope people find it funny or relatable, haha!"
No matter how joyful it is, creative work can be challenging at times. Katherine shared that finding a balance between regular work, comic work, family, friends, and a love life is always tough at the start. "And my life has had to fluctuate drastically over the past years of doing art," she said.
"When I first started, I was in full-time employment and it was hard making time for comics and my own life. I was drawing comics on the train home and then until about midnight every night for about a year to get that first book done. After awhile I decided to go full-time artist and while that was fantastic, it was hard working in my head as ‘I need this to make me money now, and a lot of money, and quick’. And while, yes, of course, I wanted comics to be my life, I never wanted to just make art to sell. I wanted to make art because I wanted to tell these stories I have swirling around in my brain!
Right now I have gone back into full-time employment and once again, I am trying to figure out a new structure to my life to balance everything again. But when you love making comics, you find a way to do it."
When asked what she finds most fulfilling about creating comics, Katherine responded, "Meeting people who have read her comics for sure!"
"When I first started I didn’t do tables at comic conventions but recently I have started to do this and actually meeting the people that have bought my books and hearing them tell me they related and loved my comics is incredible! It is easy to forget about the people on the other end when you are just posting funny little comics on social media in your own home. I love meeting people and them telling me they also want to get into comics and now that I have been through this process, I can help them! I have made so many new friends through making comics and I couldn’t be happier that I went on this path and I am excited for the future!"
