40 Hilarious Comics Straight From Toonhole Chris’s Sketchbook

We reached out to the cartoonist to discuss his new series of comics. To start, we asked him to explain the biggest difference between creating comics in a pocket sketchbook versus his previous polished and more complex work. Here’s what he shared with us: “The biggest difference is TIME. I'm trying to juggle a lot: parenting a newborn, full-time job, fixing up a house, etc., so sometimes I only have 5 minutes to draw a couple panels and I'll finish the comic later in the evening or the next day. It's a lot of the same obstacles to tackle: making sure your composition reads quickly, that the information is communicated clearly, and that it's funny. With painted comics, I could add a lot of details and things can be a lot more complex. I can't fit that much information into these small comics, so I have to think a little smarter how to approach things.”

Next, we were curious about how Chris’s regular audience reacted to the shift from his polished comics to these raw, spontaneous sketches. The artist shared with us: “Everyone has been super supportive of my shift to these rough comics! Whether it's fully hand-painted or if it's a scribble, I think people read my stuff for the ideas. The jokes. I guess the maxim rings true: it's the thought that counts.”

When asked about the most surprising part of sharing this new chapter of his artistic journey with his followers, the creator of the series responded: “It was surprising that some of the rough comics that I've posted have done better than their fully painted counterparts. Sometimes a rough drawing is just FUNNIER. Or maybe I hit a lick of luck with the algo with a certain post. I'm not sure. But it's a good lesson to learn: more detailed, more realistic, more color doesn't ALWAYS make things funnier or more appealing to audiences.”

Lastly, we wanted to know if the cartoonist sees himself returning to more polished comics in the future. Chris’s answer to that was: “I think I'm going to do both. It's been nice getting feedback on rough comics, and it might be smart to paint the comics that people respond to the most. I have some other longer-form projects I'd like to try to tackle too. I just love making stuff, and as my baby gets more independent, I'll hopefully have a little more time to spend back on my projects.”