Welcome back to the Awesome People Portfolio! project!
The first series of interviews for FfK: APP consists of introductory interviews with 10 webcomic creators. From July 5 to September 6, there will be a new interview each Wednesday at 9AM PST; be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
And now, Series 1, Interview 5: G. Pike!
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B.E. patrons: get your printable PDF of the interview here.
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Tell us a bit about your comic 🙂
My current comic is called “Title Unrelated”, it’s a sci-fantasy adventure story about a family of queer characters who travel to another world to find their missing sister. I’ve been drawing it since 2011, and am about to start working on the 6th chapter.
What inspired you to start your comic?
Title Unrelated is kind of a reboot of an earlier comic I drew from 2000-2007. I wasn’t done working with these characters, but I wanted to try some new approaches to my art and storytelling. I’ve always been in love with sequential art! Animation, newspaper strips, film, and graphic novels are all inspirations for me.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome (or are overcoming) in creating your comic? What strategies have worked well in your experience?
The biggest challenge, I think, is the amount of time and work it takes to finish a big project like this. Trying to balance posting pages on an update schedule with promoting my work at conventions and also dealing with daily life is really exhausting. I don’t recommend posting comics weekly like this, and in the future I plan to find a routine that works better for me.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of creating a story and putting it out there (online or elsewhere in the world)?
My advice:
a) Just do it! You can do some prep work but there’s a point where you just gotta start making the art.
b) Challenge yourself and practice daily. That’s the only way you improve at any skill!
c) Your early work may not be great, but don’t worry about going back to fix it. Your next project will turn out better. You can still be proud of your old work!
d) there’s literally no right or wrong way to do art!
e) use art references and research stuff before you write it. XD
Which of your characters do you most identify with and why?
All of my main characters are really parts of myself? I guess if I had to pick I’d say Twapa, Keer, and Mara.
(I tend to write “characters” as if they were real people, fwiw)
Twapa is my headstrong, scientific side, Keer is my sensitive, anxious side, and Mara is my artistic, whimsical side.
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Title Unrelated is a part of the Spider Forest webcomic collective and updates on Mondays.
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Up Next on Awesome People Portfolio:
Series 1, Interview 6: Huschicho
Falling for Knowledge 