Coming up with ideas for my cartoon happens in a few ways. If I’m lucky, something will randomly pop into my head. Although rare, it’s like a gift where the joke has already been packaged with a punchline and presented to me with a neat little bow on top. It’s as if a gag has been given to me fully formed without any effort on my part. For the majority of my cartoons I create my ideas by sketching and combining random subjects, situations, and characters. When I’ve come up with a subject and situation that I find interesting or unique, I pretend to have a conversation with the characters in my head. This doesn’t always lead to a joke but it often gives me a gauge whether the gag has anything funny to it. If not, it will often point me in a different direction with new possibilities.

Character design and development takes more time than any other step in my process but is also one of the most rewarding. I'm still growing as an illustrator, so designing each character and applying proper proportions can be time-consuming. It’s a lot of trial and error, along with experimenting in different poses. I’m always growing and each cartoon gets a little easier.

I’m always finding new themes and genres that interest me. One month I may really find cavemen interesting, the next, alligators. Once I tap the well of jokes and drain it for everything funny I can think of, I move on to the next theme. Now that I’ve compiled quite a few gags I often revisit a theme and combine it with a new one. I use this as a way to generate more ideas.

My biggest artistic influence is Matt Groening, creator of the comic strip Life in Hell and of course, the greatest cartoon series of all time, The Simpsons. Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be a part of The Simpsons show in some way. Not knowing how to do that, I figured I’d make my own cartoon. I read that Mr. Groening got his start by placing his cartoons in the LA weekly. I figured I’d try the same. Even though newspapers aren’t what they once were for cartoons I began submitting Fret Buzzed. I still find myself ecstatic every time I see my cartoon printed in a newspaper.

My creative process is relatively simple. I tend to work digitally because it helps speed up the process for me. I use the app Procreate with my iPad Pro for all sketching, inking, coloring, and lettering. Once I have come up with an idea I roughly sketch out the scene and blocking for the characters. I take time in deciding which angle works best for the gag. Once I have everything sketched and visualized, I ink the outlines. Next I color the image and lastly add the lettering and speech bubble.