For as long as I can remember, I’ve been interested in art and comics. Even so, I really haven’t made a lot of comics. My background is in drawing and painting, but for the past twenty years, I’ve worked as a marketing creative, coming up with ideas, designs, and communications for all kinds of companies. It’s a demanding career, so I haven’t made as much art on the side. But things changed during the pandemic. I don’t usually share my artwork, but 2020 was such a strange, confusing time. It motivated me to make art that expressed my feelings and connected with others. So I started an Instagram page and posted cartoons. Kind of a COVID diary, I guess.

In general, I love coming up with ideas. It’s my favorite part of the creative process. I think that’s because I’m a problem-solver by nature. And to me, idea generation is like solving a problem. With the COVID cartoons, I sat down each morning with a notebook and thought about what was going on in the world and how I felt about it. I wrote down a lot of ideas that didn’t go anywhere. But once in a while, I’d find a gem. I bounced ideas off my wife to get a second opinion. She can be tough, and I knew if she liked it, it was probably worth pursuing. Once I circled a few ideas in my notebook, I’d move to my drawing table and sketch them up.

I tried to make the cartoons my own, but I'm certainly not without influences. I like funny, dark, sarcastic humor. I took a lot of inspiration from New Yorker cartoons, especially amazing artists like David Sipress, Ed Steed, Joe Dator, and Lars Kenseth. My drawing style is pretty simple, clear, and bold. I like working with brush pens and then adding color in Photoshop. Style-wise, my influences include illustrators like Mike Lowery, Chris Judge, and Gemma Correll.

People seemed to really enjoy and connect with my Instagram posts. While I was creating and posting the cartoons during lockdown, it helped alleviate some of the feelings of isolation. The process was therapeutic. And it gave me a focus and sense of purpose during a very uncertain time. Plus, they were really fun to do!