Artist Makes Comics About Everyday Life And Some Of Them Feature Unexpected Twists (30 Pics)
Interview With ArtistAndy Babbitz is a Los Angeles-based digital and comic artist from the US. He’s a creative genius that loves to make illustrations that feature surprising and funny endings with a twist. Given all of that, many of his comics have already been published in The New Yorker Magazine, and we can’t say we are surprised at all!
Bored Panda reached out to Andy to find out a little bit more about him and his works.
“I’m always looking for ways to make everyday things unexpected. With comics, it’s often moments in life. With tab art, I was staring at my phone thinking, what is iconic about phones that I could creatively hack? I’m very happy that people enjoy the work, that brings me tons of joy. I’m working on some new creative things now behind the scenes that I’ve never tried before and, gosh, I really hope folks like them as much as me!”
More info: Instagram | andybabbitz.com | newyorker.com
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First, we asked the artist if he had any major influences in his life that might've helped him to develop and refine his style.
"I started reading Gary Larson’s books in 3rd grade and even wrote him a letter I was too anxious to send thanking him for all the laughs. When I started cartooning six-ish years ago, I bought and studied The Complete Far Side.
Some other influences are comics like Chappelle, Key & Peele, Broad City, Demetri Martin, Mitch Hedberg, and loads of contemporary cartoonists like Kanin, Paul Noth, Ellis Rosen, Kim Warp, Mr. Lovenstein, Dogmo. And all the great art directors featured in Archive over the years like Menno Kluin."
The relatableness if off the charts. *Stares at this comic instead of doing any work*
Makes me wonder how much time I spend everyday, just staring at things.
Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked Andy how long it takes him to fully finish his comics.
"If my brain is on fire, I can concept and draw a comic in 45min-2hrs. Color takes longer. Complex or difficult drawings take longer, like a crowd of cows or big piles of food. Refining the joke halfway through a drawing takes longer. I still have to remind myself, get the joke right in the sketch, then draw."
"Look at the bright side" = "Hapiness is compulsory, and your misery is raining on my parade, so please hide your feelings".
Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask Babbitz about his ideas for the comics.
"Most of the time I concept four ideas in the first hour of the day and spend the rest of the day drawing them. I’ll think of what happened to me in the last day looking for truth nuggets—any social interactions, odd formalities, embarrassing moments. I write those in an ongoing ‘Ideas’ note as a single ‘explainer’ sentence like: 'I ain’t a cowboy, I’m a cowman” or “Subscription service to keep track of all your subscriptions'"
As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how he dealt with that as well.
"Yes. I’m burned out on comics right now, so I’m making what I call 'tab art' in Safari and a fun product. Like they say at the end of the Cirque du Soleil Extreme Abs video, 'If you wake in the morning and don’t feel motivated...don’t beat yourself up…do one thing that aligns with your goal…just keep going…there’s a certain satisfaction when doing a workout you didn’t feel like doing in the first place.'"
I wish there was a remote to control people then I would not have to say this
We also asked Andy about how people reacted to his work.
"A laughing emoji. Or for my tab art, they say 'sus' because they sometimes look like Among Us characters."
The creative process is not easy, but there are some enjoyable parts about it.
"Trying something new and people enjoy it. It’s always freaky and exhilarating trying something new, whether it’s a new visual style, joke structure, or subject matter. When you finish and people respond to it positively, I can breathe again."
i learned young that in order to avoid religious insensitivity but still wanna acknowledge a sneeze, i just yell out "BOOGERS!"
In Germany, we say "Health!" (but it's unclear, if the origin is, that we wish ourself to be well or the person who sneezed...)
This is me and my family - the skinny book is what I say, the fat one what they add to it. I am ALWAYS being misinterpreted. And they wonder why I don't attend family reunions anymore - I have better things to do than be the family punching pillow.
Load More Replies...We also asked about the inspiration behind the artist's Instagram account.
"It’s the best way I knew how to reach the most people and have a conversation with folks. Now there are lots of great places—I’m on TikTok too."
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’m an advertising art director by trade. I do some graphic design as well. I appreciate the level of polish an idea gets in advertising. The team takes a seed of an idea and everyone is responsible for pushing it as far as they can. Sometimes to fail, sometimes to a whole other level. Teamwork’s cool."
hehe idk why some down voted this i found it funny
Load More Replies...Now, the options for appetizers are exquisite moldy banana peels or some random trash we make into food.
Or, why I don't go to the movies anymore. Gimme a "golden oldie" on DVD or streaming.
Forgot one: "Feminazi propaganda". And yes, I know I'll get downvoted for this.
Self-love is important! Keep up the good work! /jk
Load More Replies...Oh,I have a funny story to share related to cooking and mistakes.
So once I wanted to make some cupcakes. I used a mix that (we didn't know at the time) had frosting too. I opened the box and took out the first bag in it. I didn't think to check to see if it was the frosting or the mix, and if I did,It would've been too hard to see because the print is smaller than this. I used the frosting mix and used the cupcake mix ingredients. It was overly sweet when I tasted it,so I knew something was up. When my mom and I double checked it, we discovered that I made baked frosting! I decided to then call it mistakes whenever we had it!It was realy yummy🤤
Load More Replies...Nah, can I have the muffins of regret? It's almost breakfast and I'm starving.
Gets sick - sleeps - feels better goes to work - gets way way worse - lives with lingering cold forever
Correction... Gets sick - sleeps - feels better goes to work - gets other sick - gets way way worse - lives with lingering cold forever
Load More Replies...Rompers are the same thing. But "drots" is a better name.
Load More Replies...I want a shat. Just so when people say 'the f**k are you wearing?' I can say 'oh, this is my SHAT'
I was thinking the same thing and came into the comments just to see if anyone else was thinking the same thing XD
Load More Replies...Puppy with a pacifier? Sure. Baby dressed up as a puppy? Of course! This? No way.
I dont just have gold medals in reading, son, I have platinum! Just let me warm up my allegories, stretch my similes, prepare my loanword cortex and I'll show you what a Real Bibliophile can do! My tropism for bookstores is whispered about in basement overflows, private collections, and back stockrooms all over the world! You are in the presence of THE Mistress of Her Field!
"You should do something about those nasty human lice you got, though".
Never let it be said that you wasted your time in college
Load More Replies...Gee thanks! I got this new facial and bodily cream called "corona!" And it works WONDERS on my skin! And gets rid of all those pesky things living on me!
Is this in the US? In the UK we have Little old ladies with nothing better to do than sew doilies on to cushions and little old men who spend all their time in the greenhouse and have far too many tomato plants.
she´s dead so she can't go to her own funeral
Load More Replies...At my mom's funeral the outside door opened and closed but no one there. So I said this exact thing
But she'll never see them because there is no connection where he's going
Load More Replies...why is this not a song yet!? i bet it would be pretty monotone though
With a name like that, it'd be a rap. A rap that is also a satire, sounds pretty good to me!
Load More Replies...the people: yea but we still stuck a really sharp yoke in your heart so... vampire: oh yes, you did *falls down dead*
This is true don't take the charger for the phone then I'm lost but I don't use the ring just take it whahaha
She values the charging chord over her grandmother's ring
Load More Replies...Optimism is a terrible flaw to have, because you keep trying, hoping, failing, and suffering.
Load More Replies...Up,down,down, listen, sorry, sorry, grovel+cuddle for infinite cash
well no. it's fake, fake meat. so it's actual meat. double negatives hahaha
Load More Replies..."I can give you eternal bliss" vs "I can give you heart attacks and fat stains".
Great comics! They remind me of The Far Side (https://www.thefarside.com/).
Great comics! They remind me of The Far Side (https://www.thefarside.com/).
