When I was a child, I would watch The Simpsons and try to recreate the DVD box set designs with my own characters and stories, even plotting out episodes for my own cartoons. I would also buy the comics, as well as Futurama and other popular shows of the time, and use them as inspiration to make my own comics.

As I grew older, I moved away from the hobby until university, when I decided it was time to follow my passion again, but this time studying animation. When we participated in group work making films, I soon realized that I enjoyed character and background design more than animating. So, with the encouragement of my friends, I decided I would pursue comics again - leading to the creation of Simon Said Comics, and I've never looked back!

I always read children's books and online comics to see what other people are making; it inspires me to start my own projects and develop my ideas as it improves my knowledge of how to create content that people like to see. By doing this, I gain a better understanding of color theory and how to compose scenes in my comics and illustrations, what kind of humor lands best for certain audiences, and it helps me avoid coming up with similar-looking characters and stories from someone else's work.

My advice to aspiring artists who want to get into the world of comics would be to pick up a pencil or stylus and start drawing. It doesn't matter if your ideas aren't polished or refined, if they don't look like someone else's, or if you don't think your story is quite right. The important thing is that you are making them.

An idea will always just be an idea unless you start creating what you want to create, so don't let anything hold you back, and if you are stuck in a medium that you don't like, you can always try a different one. I switched to comics and illustration from animation, and I have no regrets! The more you draw and write, the better you will get, so don't be held back doing something you don't enjoy.

Sometimes I don't think my story is right, or I think people won't enjoy them. To combat this, I remind myself that I'm really creating my comic for me and what I enjoy, and if people then go on to enjoy my work, that is brilliant. It's best not to chase an audience but to do what makes you happy, and other people's enjoyment will come along. It keeps my ideas honest and my motivation to make things strong. Other times, I get stuck disliking elements of my artistic style; to get past this feeling, I make sure I spend some time sketching and looking to improve elements I don't like so that I can't grumble at myself for too long!

I'm currently working on a story called "Clip Clop the Silly Horse" about a horse that has satanic urges while trying to live the life of an ordinary field-dwelling pony. In between that, I'm working on commissions for children's educational literature and making weekly comics for Simon Said Comics.