The Chaos And Joys Of Parenting: 33 Lighthearted Comics Illustrated By Anthony Holden

In an interview with Bored Panda, Anthony told us more about himself.

“Drawing comic strips has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I used to love reading the comics section in our newspaper: Garfield, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes. After graduating from college, I found myself in a career in animation as a story artist and designer. I love my work, and I'm so glad that I get to draw cartoons every day--especially since newspapers are not widely in circulation, and most people get their news online. 

There aren't very many people out there who can make a living doing serialized comic strips. Because so much of the drawing that I do for work is digital, I like making drawings with pen and ink on paper. There's just something wonderful about the tactile feel of a metal nib on paper that I love--it's totally different from the digital work I do for my job.”

We wanted to know what initially drew Anthony to the world of artistry. He wrote: “I think the thing about comic strips that really grabbed my attention was the way an artist could distill so much story and character into such a small and efficient space. 

Cartoons are a simplification of the things we observe about real life, and I would marvel at how much expression Bill Waterson could get out of his simply designed characters. I would read everything in the comics section, including the strips that were obviously more sophisticated like Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury or Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County, but there was something about the simplicity captured by a strip like Charles Schulz's Peanuts that really grabbed my attention. It felt like magic! How were they able to convey so much with so little? I was fascinated by that.”

Every artist approaches the creative process differently, therefore, we asked Anthony to share his.

“I don't know if any artist has a single process. I certainly don't. I think the joy of discovering new ways to look at things, and then new ways to make things is part of what keeps cartooning exciting for me. I am really drawn to the physiological aspects of drawing--I think that's why materials matter so much to me. 

There's something primeval and instinctual in all humans about making marks on a surface, and I really connect with that. When I make an observation, I try to capture it with as much life as possible. I don't like to make my work overly tight and exact, because most of life doesn't feel that way to me. We're all full of messy edges and lines that wiggle a little bit. Drawing digitally, there are many programs that can automatically correct your lines into perfect curves, but when you draw with physical media it's full of all these delicious little imperfections that help it feel alive and more like a reflection of what we experience living in an imperfect world” wrote Anthony.

Lastly, Anthony shared what he hopes for his audience to take away from his comics.

“As for an audience takeaway, I hope that the comics and drawings make you smile. I hope they make you feel like being a human alive on earth is great. I hope they inspire kindness, and I hope they give people a little spark to do something creative in their own way. I love looking at drawings that make me want to draw, so I would hope I could do the same. 

A lot of my comics reflect family life, which is also messy and weird and hilarious and infuriating by turns. Sometimes, I hear from readers that reading my comics makes them feel like having kids of their own would be great someday. Nothing touches my heart more than that.”