Some people are born with the need to create art. That's exactly who Brian Kings is. Since he was three years old, Brian dreamed of being a cartoonist. He is finally making his dream come true.
Brian creates fun and silly comics filled with all sorts of topics, from fantasy themes to real-life stories to naughty jokes. His art style is very simplistic, but there is no denying the artist is very creative.
Brian told Bored Panda: "Well, I wanted to make comics my whole life but I never felt ready, had a bad bout with depression, and used the comics to kinda lift myself up. I take an hour a day, usually my lunch break, and make a comic, sometimes I will color when I get home, but being a dad I don't always have a big pocket of time. In 3 years I think I have missed 6 days of making comics, I have over 1000… guess I was always ready! It's one of the best parts of my life and my day.
I try and just improve my comics every time I sit down, the first comics were black and white, the colored ones in the very beginning took 5 hours… but now I can knock out a good-looking comic to me in one hour. There are some beautiful comics out there, it's easy to get intimidated."
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Brian shares the main goal of his illustrations: "I have always wanted to make cartoons/comics since I was 9. Finally, when I was 38, I got serious about it. For me, the goal is to make use of my creative spark and hopefully make people feel something. I plan on doing some long-form stories soon, mostly comedy/adventure kind of fun."
The artist shares how he got into art: "Always loved to doodle, and always doodled in sketchbooks to get better and someday be "ready" to make something.... but I was already ready, just did not believe in myself enough. Like most of us with the things we are passionate about."
Brian opens up about what the most difficult part of creating these illustrations is: "In the last 3 years, I have always sat down to make comics for 1 hour every weekday (usually my lunch break). Strangely, I always could find an idea, but the hardest part was being open about things in my life that I could not talk about in person. That has also been one of the best rewards of doing this. I have heard from lots of people how the comic has helped them with not feeling alone, with regard to their mental health, and even just laughing on a hard day."
The artist tells us more about the topics he chooses to cover in his comics: "Being a dad, there is always me and my daughter but I range from everything from wholesome feelings/mental health to computer problems (I work in IT) to dirty comics. I joke with my audience that if I have had a wholesome week, the dirty jokes are right around the corner."
"Adult cutesy. I love bright colors, rainbows, unicorns, I have a 7-year-old daughter, this is my life. I like making dark characters cute, like the devil and death," Brian describes his art style. As for his humor, Brian says it's: "Awkward situations mostly, weird ideas but relatable stuff about toilets clogging and dealing with the person you live with, of course, parenthood. It's all over the place."
"I started being serious about Mayoking 3 years ago, and I plan to keep doing this stuff till I die. It is one of the best parts of my life. Chasing a dream is hard, but once you can feel it becoming reality, it feels amazing and I am not living full time as a cartoonist, but someday... I might and that would be everything to me."
The Goonies ! I remember my former pre-school teacher, who was also the wife of my mom's boss and happened to look after my brother and I from time to time, brought us to see that movie in theatre. We enjoyed it very much but she was quite embarrassed at the amount of curse words the characters said - and it was the French version, which was slightly less foul-mouthed than the English one.
Here is some advice from Brian for aspiring artists: "Don't get intimidated by all the awesome art out there, be unique and be yourself. We all bring a weird mix of things in art, be you as long as you can and you will stand out. My art is not professional looking compared to other comics, but people can see the style and say, "I have seen these before". We are our worst critics but once you get going and fill a sketchbook and move to the next look at the first page of each, you will see that you are growing. Just keep drawing, keep growing, and keep being proud of yourself for putting in the time."
Brian tells us more about himself and his journey: "Oh gosh. I will skip the most recent journey where I was just down as deep as I have ever been, I was suicidal and just ready to quit. I got into therapy and got help, and talked to friends. That to me is when I started to live my life the way I wanted and that meant doing this comic. I am a father as well, I got divorced a little over 2 years ago, we are all doing great and still a very close 'broken' family. Life feels weirdly good, and I don't think I am used to that. I always felt so out of place as a kid, and now I feel like I am just being myself and enjoying life. A complete turnaround from probably 8 years ago, but it took a lot of work and lots of small changes. It is doable to get to a better life."
"Chase your dreams, I don't care how old you are. If there is a spark in you, set it on fire and chase it. I am 41 now, I draw like a 10-year-old... I am happier than I have ever been! Go do it!"
I may be wrong, but my guess is she sent him lip prints from the lips not on her *face*. I mean, they appear to be below the obvious bewb prints. Or maybe I'm just dirty-minded.