Bored Panda got in touch with Valérie again to learn more about her creative process and herself. We got curious about the time she first realized that she wanted to create comics. The artist shared that it was mostly when she was at school that she wanted to draw them. "I had always done drawings, painting and illustrations but it wasn’t until I took a comic class when I knew that’s what I wanted to do!"
The most challenging part of the creative process for Valérie is compressing an idea into only a few panels. "You get an idea for a story or a joke, but trying out different compositions is the most tricky part for me. Things like 'how many words do I need?' 'Where do I put the speech balloons?' Stuff like that."
Talking about the part that she enjoys the most, Valérie shared that recently she started coloring her comics, "so right now that’s the most exciting part for me! Trying different colors, using shading, putting in little details, etc."
Since these comics are inspired by Valérie's everyday experiences, we got curious about how it feels for her to expose her life like this. The artist revealed that the comics are only as personal as she wants them to be, so sharing personal stuff has never been much of an issue. "I try to keep them pretty vague too! If I do share some very intimate (maybe sad) moments, it’s mostly because I know that someone out there feels the same way, and we can all help each other heal. Some comics also aren’t biographical, but no one will ever know which ones are and which I just made up, or got inspiration from other people."
Being an artist can be a challenging and rewarding journey, but having the support of one's family can make all the difference. So we asked Valérie if her family supports her artistic journey. The artist answered that her family wasn’t the happiest when she went to study fine arts, but they're used to it by now. "I make a living as a comic artist/ illustrator and as long as I can pay the bills, my family is fine with that! I also just started doing some stop-motion stuff, and I'm excited to see how that will turn out!"
"I always loved storytelling. I like using the little characters that I created to provoke emotions in people. To make someone laugh or cry or feel warm and fuzzy inside with your own art is the best thing there is, right? Also, I get to choose my own hours, so I can work at night and get up at 12 pm and nobody cares, so that’s great too!"
For those that want to become comic artists one day, Valérie has some advice: "Go for it! You can just start with pen and paper (I did!), you don’t need a fancy tablet or expensive software. Heck, you don’t even need to be good at drawing! The most important thing is that you want to tell a story.
I'd also suggest not comparing yourself too much to others, especially in the social media world. I struggle with this myself, but there will always be someone with more followers or more skill and that’s fine. As long as you like what you create, you should go for it."
