26-year-old Luxembourger Valérie Minelli, AKA Mrs. Frollein, has been making her sweet, simple-yet-funny comics for around 5 years, with the noble mission to cheer people up and make them smile.
“I think most of the time I just want to make people happy and leave them with a warm and fuzzy feeling, so I try to make my cartoon drawings really wholesome from time to time,” Valérie told Bored Panda. “I‘m a pretty rough person in real life, I curse a lot. But I don’t like that kind of humor in cute comics.”
Describing her style as “rather simple and kinda inspired by the Japanese 'Chibi' characters,” she explains that she's not a fan of the big, expressive eyes and prefers the challenge of creating as much expression in her cartoon characters as she can with just two dots and a mouth. “I mostly use an IPad and Procreate to fulfill my creative ideas and some Photoshop,” she told us. “When I began drawing them, I used some fineliners and paper, which worked too!”
“I am still a student, so I don’t do these cute drawings for a living (I study comics though, which is amazing!). I work as an illustrator for children's books and try to manage to do all of it. For now, webcomics are just a hobby, but I have some amazing followers who buy my prints or buy me some ko-fi to support me, so I can at least make a little money by drawing these relatable comics. Hopefully, I can someday make a living from just comics.”
Most of Valérie's comics are inspired by everyday life and her relationship with her boyfriend. “I always hated most of the cute couple comics out there, so I decided to draw some myself, she said. “Some of them are just my own thoughts, almost like writing a diary. I mostly read webcomics, but I try to get more into German graphic novels.”
“I really enjoy comics by jakelikesonions, nathanwpyle, natemorebikes, lizclimo and War and Peas. (One half of War and Peas is my comic teacher so I‘ll get in trouble if I don‘t name them!)” Valérie told us with a laugh.
Scroll down to check out Valérie's work for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
