Given another opportunity, Bored Panda reached out to David, the author of the "Meloons" comics with some more questions. First, we asked the artist if he had any life-changing influences that might have helped him with his art and art style in general when it comes to his comics.
"I think StupidFox on DeviantArt was my first introduction to webcomics in high school. They’ve been around for a while, and I found them hilarious and relaxing to follow. I especially appreciated how they told stories with no text. Next, Ken Sugimori was definitely my unofficial childhood art teacher. By trying my best to replicate all of my favorite Pokemon he designed, I learned a lot about drawing animal anatomy, especially when cartoonifying them. Lastly, a shout out to all my classmates growing up who helped push me to draw the weirdest things with their doodle requests."
Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked David how long it takes him to fully finish his comics.
"Once I have a decent idea, it generally takes me three to five hours to complete a comic. It always surprises me what a ridiculous amount of time it takes to just output four images. This work is usually spread over a few evenings, unless I get really invested and choose to sacrifice my sleep (but I don’t recommend it)."
Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask the artist about his ideas for the comics.
"In general, my comics are often inspired from my daily life. I usually like to illustrate relatable struggles we all have (overdramatized for sure), but sometimes my ideas are totally random too. My original character design for my penguin was that he has all the seven deadly sins. I think these sins are what resonate with and amuse people the most, so I like to give him different predicaments to respond to."
As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how he dealt with that as well.
"Absolutely. I wish I could do a better job posting new content consistently the way those super successful Instagram artists do. I often get burnt out and then feel like I’ve run out of ideas or reached my limits as an artist, but it’s always so touching and inspiring when people tell me they’ve missed my posts when I haven’t posted for a while. I think the trick to avoiding getting burnt out is to pace yourself and remember to balance other aspects of your life too. I’m definitely working on getting better at this!"
We also asked the artist about how people reacted to his work.
"Oftentimes, if I create a relatable comic, a lot of people will comment 'mood.' Having comments that say 'mood' is a pretty standard measure of success on the modern-day internet, so it’s nice to know HelloMeloons isn’t doing as bad as my anxiety tells me it is. Other times, if I give up on appeasing the Instagram algorithm and illustrate some of the dumber ideas I have (peep the cow comic from November 15th), people often react in adoration or horror. It varies quite a bit. I find these comics a nice break from relatable content because sometimes we all just want some unsolicited repulsive content instead."
The creative process is not easy, but there are many enjoyable parts to it as shared by the artist.
"My favorite part of the creative process is definitely implementation. The whole creative process feels like climbing a big hill for me. The first part of the hill is the ascent, me painfully searching for a decent idea through the wasteland that’s my head, debating with myself if people will actually laugh or if they will click unfollow. But once that uphill battle is overcome, it’s such a great feeling to roll down that hill with no more barriers. To sketch out the comic, trace the lineart, toss on the same four colors I always use because I don’t know how to change, is the best feeling."
We also asked about the inspiration behind the artist's Instagram account.
"I’ve always enjoyed drawing for as long as I can remember, and it was my childhood dream to become a comic artist. My school notebooks were littered with doodles of animals (mostly penguins) in whimsical predicaments. After graduating college, I found myself with a lot more free time and a wonderful crippling depression like never before. While seeking ways to bring more excitement to my life, I decided to create HelloMeloons to bring more happiness to others’ lives instead. I wanted to return to my hobby of drawing, breathe new life into those doodles, and blend in my (garbage) sense of humor to see if I could create something that others might enjoy. I wanted to create something that could help others smile even on their worst days, even if it was the dumbest joke they had ever seen."
Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of patience, time, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented comic artist started his own career in digital art.
"My first ever course in digital art was in middle school, but before then I had always been practicing traditional art on my own. Digital art seemed revolutionary to me. To buy a single product that could allow me to create so many different styles of brush strokes, blend modes, colors, and more, it just seemed like the most cost-effective and time-efficient form of art. I fell in love with it and haven’t stopped being a fan ever since."
Artists tend to get motivated by a lot of things such as curiosity, the search for beauty, or even meaning. Therefore, we asked David about that too.
"My greatest motivation is to look at a finished piece of beautiful art and know that I was responsible for it. It’s always so inspiring to see the amazing artworks others are able to create, and I’ve always wanted to be able to create things like them too. To create something that I love, to create something that I’m proud of, to create something that others can appreciate too is what drives me to keep learning how to improve my art."
