Bored Panda reached out to Josh to find out a little bit more about how he got into making comics in the first place.
“I grew up reading the comics section of The Washington Post every morning before school. When I was in second grade I began creating my own characters and inserting them into little storylines that I most likely ripped off from Garfield. I also had a phase of drawing the entire Simpsons family naked but my therapist tells me that is totally normal.”
Then we asked the artist about where his inspiration usually comes from when it comes to his creative work.
“Mostly existential angst. I really hadn't been making comics in my teens/young adulthood. It was only as I began to approach 30 that I took on a more active, disciplined approach. I knew I had to make something - I was raising two kids and working multiple jobs in Manhattan, and just did not feel creatively fulfilled...and yeah, I know that's a first-world problem, but I also don't want to make light of the importance of mental health."
"The bottom line was I felt better when I was making things for myself, so I began to treat comics as exercise, focusing on the repetitions with the hopes to engage those mental and emotional muscles that were atrophying. It was and still is an exorcism of sorts - it helps me process, emote, evaluate and have fun.”
Josh believes in expressing himself in a variety of ways when it comes to art.
“Looking back I believe I was often expressing myself in a variety of ways - singing, acting, dancing, screaming for someone to look at me, etc., but drawing was the first material manifestation of this energy, and helped me put these ephemeral musings into something concrete.”
Taking all of that into consideration, we couldn't help wondering what people, or in other words, Josh’s followers, thought about the artist’s comics.
“You spelled 'terror' wrong. Hah, no, for real, I am thrilled by any reaction to anything I make - even if it's negative. I love seeing who responds to what, and as far as joyous reactions go, I am just astounded and grateful to think that I could have brought a smile to someone's face...especially when that smile breaks into maniacal laughter.”
