Self Portrait

Major: English – emphasis on creative writing.

How did you get involved with The Lumberjack?
The first semester of my freshman year I went to wander around the job fair and stumbled across The Lumberjack’s booth. They mentioned they were looking for cartoonists, I picked up an application, and that was that. Of course, the “being involved” is much more interesting and fun than the “getting involved,” but there you have it.

What’s your inspiration?
My beau, Robert, is just about as responsible for the comic as I am. He named it, and many strips are based off of experiences or conversations we’ve shared in varying degrees of directness. Occasionally he even helps out in the scripting process. Our encampment in geek subcultures heavily influences the comic, of course, though nowadays I think the balance has shifted so that OMGWTFBBQ!? is more about silly things drawn from real life for the sake of general readers and The Lumberjack’s higher ups. Still, I have no problem seizing on a joke that would leave some people in the dark. I won’t make apologies for my sense of humor.

What comics are your favorite?
If I had more time to read, I would like to catch up on the Marvel-verse, because I’ve loved Marvel heroes since I was a little girl watching cartoons with my Dad. Mostly I just have Robert fill me in on what’s going on. I do, however, read a number of webcomics. DMFA is my guilty furry indulgence, Penny and Aggie is my guilty teen-dramedy indulgence, and I find myself quoting Penny Arcade on an almost daily basis. Other webcomics I read, in varying degrees of frequency: Fey Winds, Dr. Mcninja, Roza, Order of Tales (all highly recommended), White Noise, Strays, Megatokyo, Earthsong, Catena, Slightly Damned, Looking for Group, Super Effective, Girl’s Don’t Play Games, Adventures of Blanc… Eryl, Undertow, Van Von Hunter (less to more hiatus’d, respectively)… aaand That I Am.

What do you plan to do after undergrad?
Grad-school, probably. And then… I don’t know. Trying to write novels while I do something-or-other.

How long does it take to draw your comic/what’s your process?
It takes me about three hours, not including the scripting. Coming up with the joke itself can take a matter of minutes or hours depending on what happens that week, but I need a pretty solid script before I am able to commit myself to drawing. After that, it’s all done in Photoshop (CS3) on my old Wacom Graphire 2 tablet — first sketching, then black outlines, then filling the colors, then adding dialogue and drawing word ‘bubbles.’

When did you first start drawing?
First grade, I think. I didn’t start developing a ’style’ until fourth grade when I got all into Pokemon and Digimon. I didn’t start getting good until… uh… well, I’m still working on that.

Do you doodle in class?
Almost constantly. Most of my school papers – aside from what I have to turn in, and even those after I get them back – have doodles all over them.

Favorite music/movie?
On my own I listen almost exclusively to video game and some movie soundtracks – Jade Empire, Dragon Age: Origins, World of Warcraft, Rayman, Soul Calibur, Pirates of the Caribbean, Prince Caspian, Spirited Away, Advent Children, etc. etc. Needless to say, I like instrumentals. I have maintained since I was in elementary school that The Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite movie. I don’t care that it’s become ridiculously popular and merchandised …much.

Any hobbies?
Aside from cartooning – creative writing, gaming, reading, and watching Scrubs DVDs with Robert.

Any words to someone who wants to draw comics, too?
Read comics. In the same way that reading good writing will help you to write better (and reading bad writing can help show you what to avoid), reading good comics can help give you a sense of how to organize your art, to see what works in cartooning, and to understand how to write for the space you are given.