Mesut revealed that when he was a kid, he was obsessed with cartoons and comics. "I would watch every cartoon show I could get my eyes on and read all the comics they had at the public library. When I figured out that most shows and games I loved came from Japan, my focus shifted more towards anime and manga."
"I’m not a big fan of giant robots and action. Like every kid my age, I loved Dragon Ball, but more for the gags than the fights. I was fascinated that Akira Toriyama was not only the artist and the author but also that he managed to place gags in between the action. That’s when I wanted to become a mangaka who writes and draws gag mangas. I didn’t pursue that dream. Fast forward to today: I’m a digital designer, who draws little sketches here and there."
The artist is a UI/UX and motion designer and therefore constantly in front of a screen. "Maybe that's why my art is all digital. Sometimes I scribble on paper, but I don't have a beautiful sketchbook. I always wanted to tell stories, whether it was via books (I wanted to become an author), music (I play guitar), games (as an indie game dev), or comics."
The artist shared that he was never a big fan of lengthy webcomics. He loves little bite-sized comics. "They are like a distillation of the gag mangas that I loved."
When asked about the inspiration for his comics, Mesut replied that he thinks about these little illustrations all the time. "I bounce around ideas in my head and avoid going to obvious places. Some are inspired by real-life events, but most are a result of me connecting dots. My wife is also very involved in my process. I show her drafts and tell her what I want to do and where I want to go. She also reminds me, that I shouldn't overcomplicate certain ideas."
"I like to tell stories. The challenge for me is to tell them in four panels. It's an arbitrary rule, like a Haiku, but the limitation is what makes it fun. I also love the process. I take my time, rewrite the story and test several ways to tell it. It's meditative and lots of fun. I only post once a week, which gives me the time to reflect on my work and the stories I want to tell. Sometimes I 'waste' a post for a stupid gag nobody gets, and sometimes it's quite wholesome. My comics would definitely change if I posted every day."
Check out Mesut's Instagram if you don't want to miss out on the "little dude's" adventures!
