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“Toonhole John” is one of the four cartoonists behind the whole “Toonhole” project. His comics are part of the website but the artist also has his own Instagram account where he posts his work separately from his friends. John describes himself as “not only a professional animation cartoonist but also the most clutch Call of Duty player of the Toonhole squadron and possibly the world.”

John’s comics have quite the twist to them. What, you might ask? Well, they are pretty much unpredictable. The unpredictability comes from the way he ends his comics on a note no one expects. And, to be honest, his comics have a bit of a dark nature, but he has a genuine talent for making them funny, and the end result is always sure to make you smile at the very least.

More info: Instagram | twitter.com | twitch.tv | toonhole.com

Bored Panda reached out to John with some questions! First, we asked the artist if he had any life-changing influences that might have helped him with his art and art style in general when it comes to his comics.

"My comic influences are Calvin and Hobbes comics, the Far Side, and Will Eisner. Looney Tunes and Tex Avery cartoons are also pretty influential to me."

Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked John how long it takes him to fully finish his comics.

"My comics usually take a matter of hours to complete from start to finish. But, every once in a while, a comic idea has to simmer for days and take different shapes before it's finally finished."

Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask the artist about his ideas for the comics.

"Most comic ideas come from real world observations. However, we toonhole guys bounce topics and prompts between each other to keep the creativity fresh."

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As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how he dealt with that as well.

"Usually burnout is a result of outside factors and not the creative work itself. Sleep, exercise, and good eating stave off burnout. When I do feel it, it's because one of these is out of balance."

We also asked the artist about how people reacted to his work.

"I'm not sure of people's initial reaction, but I'm just thankful enough people like the comics and that they get any reaction at all. Though, the least favorable reaction is confusion, because it means I didn't get my joke across."

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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Oscar Joseph Ben-Ary
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Am I the only one that read the whole letter : edit HOW DID THIS GET SO MANY UPVOTES IM LEGIT GOING CRAZY

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The creative process is not easy, but there are many enjoyable parts to it as shared by the artist.

"My favorite part of the process is when time flies while completing a comic. I can get into gear while working where I don't notice how long it's been. Before I know it the comic is done and posted and I'm on to the next."

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John also told us a little bit about why he chose Instagram as one of the platforms for posting his comics.

"Instagram is just one of the many avenues for comic artists to show their work on social media."

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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PenitentEyeball
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who don’t know agaraphobia is the irrational fear of situations that might cause panic, helplessness or embarrassment.

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Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of patience, time, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented comic artist started his own career in digital art.

"I started by drawing traditional paper and ink comics and transferring them to digital. But now, like the other toonhole guys, I use a mix of digital and traditional processes depending on the comic, and it comes down to whatever the comic calls for."

Artists tend to get motivated by a lot of things such as curiosity, the search for beauty, or even meaning. Therefore, we asked John about that too.

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"I'm not sure where my motivation comes from, probably from somewhere deep under layers of lizard-brained behavior. Perhaps the easiest answer is survival, art allows me to eat."

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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jesus BoredPanda, stop with the senseless censorship. It is bordering on just plain idiotic now. There are better ways to fix your horrible troll problem rather then censor words like SEX...

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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François Carré
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait until he finds out Christmas is all about celebrating dependence on plastic gifts made from archaic fossil fuels.

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Susanne B
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I worked in a bank, I noticed severel cases where a mans name was alone on the final note, but both man and wife signed for the loan. Perhaps women are too trusty

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chaotic legal
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

code error they didn't specify the font 😃 Oh and 15 other things you have to figure out yourself, ur welcome 😉

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Trevor Nicholson
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Living with your parents is an act of anti-capitalism because you don't have to waste your money buying new things. It's sharing, and clearly the mom is ok with it. Our consumer culture encourages people to get in debt, to be enslaved and dependent on their crappy jobs, because they are expected to move out at 18, go to uni, get huge student loan debt, then get meagre entry-level jobs while somehow living alone because it's embarrassing to still live with your parents. I lived with my parents until I was 31. I've travelled the world and I have enough savings where I could live for two years or more without working after working for years at a dead end job that never valued or respected me.

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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