We reached out to ToothyBj once more asking some questions yet again! Over the last few posts, we came to a realization that the artist never really spoke a lot about what they do outside of being a comic artist, so we asked the artist to share a little bit about himself from a different perspective.
"I'm a designer, going back and forth between the branding and product team inside the company I work for. The comic is actually a departure from that world, it's erratic, untidy, sometimes borderline ugly, poorly drawn, etc."
We were also curious to find out what kind of hobbies the artist had besides drawing, and here's what he told us, "I'm gonna be super cliché, but video games, reading, and lifting are my answers. But each day more responsibilities make it harder and harder to get 'free time' for those. So I should add 'being perpetually stressed' to the list."
When asked about what he'd love to do if he'd have more time in a day, ToothyBj shared with us that he'd love to improve when it comes to art. "I would dedicate it to drawing studies. Practice, practice, and more practice. Progress for progress' sake. I really do love drawing (you can check me out at @toothydraws). I have great nostalgia for the days when I was a teen with a book by Parramón just doing dozens of his drawing studies a day."
We also wanted to know what were the artist's plans for the upcoming 5-10 years, however, the artist had a rather amusing response to the question. "I can't see that far into the future. My clairvoyance only goes 60 seconds into the future, like the character from that Nicholas Cage movie (Next, 2007)."
ToothyBj has been working on his comics for a really long time, therefore, we asked him to share what he thinks he improved the most over the years when it comes to his work. "My relationship with my audience. Interacting with them is a joy, they're funnier than me (but that's a low bar)."
When asked if his comics were always intended to be on the darker side, here's what the artist told us, "Well, It's the humor I enjoy the most, the year I started there wasn't as much of it as nowadays or the years prior. It's a wave, some people take it too far and wholesomeness/relatability takes hold again, people get bored of the predictability and think something darker is exciting and the cycle repeats.
The reality is that there's nothing new. You can see the same happening in any medium. And it's ok, healthy even! But I'm a deeply cynical person, so I'm comfy in my dark, humid, cave of poorly written humor. 'Dark but not edgy', good intentions have to come first, if not, why do it?"
Comics are a rather interesting art medium. We asked ToothyBj to tell us a little bit about the way he usually composes his work. It was interesting to know whether he focused on the page as a whole or on a more individual panel composition first. "I start with the whole page and then go micro, I think that's the fastest most comfortable approach." He told Bored Panda.
As a comic artist, we were wondering if ToothyBj reads comics from other artists too, and here's what he shared, "I used to read comics, I like the European style the most, big formats with unorthodox storytelling. But nowadays I mostly consume the webcomics my friends do, so many talented folks that I'm blessed to know."
