Bored Panda has reached out to Dave Blazek to find out more about his work. We wanted the artist to tell us about his background and how he got started working as a cartoonist. Blazek said: “I have a most unusual background. I never drew as a child. I never went to an art school of any kind. I accidentally became a cartoonist and learned to draw when I was 43 years old. I had a previous career working for The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper as a graphic artist and radio and TV commercial director … eventually ending up as Creative Director of their in-house creative agency. I was also dabbling in standup comedy in and around Philadelphia. The editors of the paper would bring the comic strip submissions sent by syndicates by me for my opinion. After I kept saying they weren’t funny, they suggested I try making a comic then. Since I didn’t draw, my partner John Gilpin drew up 30 of my ideas and Loose Parts was launched with me writing the gags and John drawing them. Unfortunately, a year or so in, John had to drop out because of health reasons. So I had to quickly learn how to draw and Loose Parts has been both written and drawn by me for the last 23 years. Now that I’ve drawn over 9,000 of them, I think I have it down.”
Next, we asked how he comes up with ideas for his comics, and Dave shortly answered: “There’s no magic creative process. It’s just hard work. I sit in a chair and stare at a blank wall, slamming ideas and concepts together until something clever leaps out.”
We were curious to learn what the creative process for Blazek looks like, from idea generation to the final product. The cartoonist told us: “All my gags start out as just words in a sketchbook. I never sketch out the idea. I just write down the concept and the caption. Then, a few days a week I sit down and start drawing. I work entirely digitally, drawing on a Wacom Cintiq screen. Then, using Photoshop, I do the final coloring and shading. Then, once a month, I take all those pieces of art and assemble them into frames adding caption balloons and putting the final touches on them. It’s interesting to note that Loose Parts goes out to newspapers in both panel and strip form, and both in color and black and white. That means that in a given month of, say, 30 days, I prepare and ship well over 100 pieces of art.”
Asked about how he manages to balance humor with social commentary in his works, Blazek answered: “I don’t. There is no social commentary in a Loose Parts cartoon. People can get that from plenty of places. I want Loose Parts to be a safe fun place where people can come to get away from the seriousness of the rest of the world. Besides, why would anyone care what I think about social issues?”
We were wondering what is Dave’s opinion on what makes a good comic, and what are some common mistakes that artists should avoid. The artist explained: “A good comic places the joke just below the surface. The reader kind of has to put it together in her or his head. It’s more involved that way. And it doesn’t insult the intelligence of the reader. It’s really tempting to come up with an idea and go with the obvious execution. It’s much harder to figure out a way to convey it in a more subtle and hidden way. I think one of the ways you get to that point is to try creating different types of humor like a written humor piece or a standup comedy routine. Seeing the different ways humor can be conveyed makes it easier to see the different ways you can do that in one little square on paper.”
We wanted to find out if the artist has any exciting projects in the works, and what Blazek’s fans can expect from his future work. The cartoonist revealed: “Well, Loose Parts is now appearing in, like, over 120 newspapers in the USA and Canada with a lot of those new markets coming in recent months. So I’m eager to reach a whole new audience. Accordingly, I’m working harder than ever at writing gags while being way more selective at which jokes I eventually draw up. I want to push the quality level to the highest notch I can. I plan to do this for a very long time, and the only way I can do that is to make sure I’m getting better, not just treading water.”
