Hi, my name is Matthew J Wills and I am the creator of the webcomic Swords!
Since his debut in 2020, Quest Sprout has captured the hearts and minds of adventurers everywhere. He's a small but determined hero and he's always on the lookout for QWESTS!—grand adventures that will bring him closer to his ultimate goal.
After his mother mysteriously disappeared, Quest Sprout set off on a perilous journey, joining forces with powerful mercenaries and even mighty monsters to bring her back. Along the way, he has faced many trials, including his most dangerous enemy yet: the Demonic Sword, Eternal Slumber. But he's never alone—countless strong heroes have taken a liking to their little buddy and gladly fight by his side.
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Even Pest Sprout, a doppelgänger created to stop him, couldn't resist Quest Sprout's charm. Instead of remaining foes, the two have become brothers, proving that even villains can find a place in this ever-growing adventure.
With unwavering spirit and an endless hunger for QWESTS (check the previous part on Bored Panda), Quest Sprout's journey is far from over!
As a kid I grew up on Mark Kistler's Draw Squad, which taught me the fundamentals of cartooning. When I got a bit older my work started getting heavily influenced by Pokemon, Dragonball Z and Yu-gi-oh. I think there are still a wide range of anime influences in my work. Even though people often compare my work to Scooby Doo or Tin Tin because of the simple faces, I don't really consider those strong influences on my style.
My comics started out as traditional lineart, colored digitally with a mouse, which is the way I did several short-lived comic series - but after my mother and brother bought me my first Surface 4 drawing tablet a few years ago, that's when my comic career online really started to take off. With a drawing tablet I can work anywhere, any time, with a lot less steps between creating the art and finishing the coloring process. A little sketch can be online within seconds of me drawing it.
To create a comic usually takes about 2-3 hours, from concept through to lines, coloring, shading and finally lettering. My sketch process is usually very rough to save time. I think I enjoy the lineart stage the most. All the other bits are just work! The longest step is usually doing flat coloring because I tend to go crazy and add a lot of small details. When coming up with concepts, working within some simple constraints like "everything has to be about a sword" might seem restricting, but in reality, the opposite tends to be true. You can begin to experiment and bend tropes while always having a clear goal. I think the hardest part is how many ideas I've had to scrap because I couldn't quite make them swordy enough.
Quest Sprout's journey has captivated many with its thrilling adventures and intriguing doppelgänger encounters.
His tale, reminiscent of curious stories involving unexpected similarities, reminds us of the inventive technology for discovering look-alikes through art, shedding light on the unexpected connections in our lives.
