Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual, so like everyone else, I am just out here making it up as I go. I create relatable comics about my life as a 30-something bear. Whether it’s me being tired of being an adult, or spilling food on my pants, we have all been there.
Sharing my comics is my way of connecting with others out there who have also been left unsupervised for too long.
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One of my biggest influences on my style was growing up with the cartoons of the ’90s. Everything I watched seemed to have animals as the main characters. Whether it was the Ninja Turtles or the animated Disney movie Robin Hood. I was all about it as a kid, and am still all about it now as an adult.
In case you are wondering, the actual process of making the comic takes me a couple of hours. Getting the wording right is the hardest part for me. I often try out different variations, and will often change something last minute before I post the comic.
Most of my ideas come directly from things that are happening in my life. The rest of the ideas tend to come when watching TV or scrolling through social media. If something sparks me as being relatable, I jot down the idea to see if I can’t make it into a comic later.
I have felt burnt out several times over the years when doing creative work. This usually happens when I am working on something I am not passionate about or have taken on trying to do too much. I thankfully haven’t had to deal with any burnout yet with my comic.
I have gotten a lot of positive responses when people see my comics. They often tell me how cute the bear is and then they will tell me which comic or comics they related to the most. I am often surprised as to the comics people choose as their favorites.
As soon as I came up with the idea for my comic, I knew I would share it on social media. The whole concept of the comic is about being relatable, and there is no way to know if I am being relatable to others if no one else is seeing it.
My favorite part of creating my comic is the inking process. At this stage, everything has been mostly worked out in a way I like and I am able to draw without doing much if any thinking. I often listen to music or podcasts while I work, but during this phase, everything goes away and I am in my happy place.
My journey as a digital artist started with me trying to do a little bit of everything. Photography, illustration, typography, graphic design, and even making videos. I knew I wanted to create but wasn’t sure exactly what to make so I made it all. Slowly, I was able to figure out what I really loved the most was drawing and telling stories, and comics was the perfect solution.