We contacted Kasper and asked him to share the story behind the name ‘Hoppy Doodle’. The artist shared with us: “It’s actually a contraction of two words: ‘Happy’ and the word ‘Hobby.’ I love drawing and creating comics, so it’s a bit my hobby that makes me happy, and that’s how it became the word ‘hoppy.’ Plus, I think it carries a positive vibe when you say ‘Hoppy,’ which is why I feel it fits perfectly with my cartoonish art style, as you can see in the Reddit comics I draw.
Purely by chance, I’ve also found out that ‘hoppy’ has something to do with beer, and I do like beer! Hoppy Doodle!”
Asked how he approaches character design and expression to evoke laughter, the artist answered: “Many sketch on paper before they start on the computer, but I don’t do that. I begin the drawing on the computer and then build more and more layers onto the drawing until I reach a level of detail I am satisfied with. Often, you have to adjust or delete something because you just got a new idea that fits better, but it’s a process, and sometimes you hit the mark right away, and other times, you have to delete and work several times.”
Adsbøll continued: “Expressions are very important for the way I draw, and they contribute to determining the entire mood of the comic. That’s also why I often expose my characters to extreme situations, so I can create very exaggerated expressions.”
We were wondering how Kasper navigates creating content that resonates with a wide audience while staying true to his own comedic voice. The artist said: “I have never really thought about having an audience as such. It’s more like when I come up with an idea and can laugh at it myself. I then hope a bit blindly that there are others who share the same bad sense of humor as I do, and fortunately, there are.”
We were also curious what advice the author of the ‘Hoppy Doodle’ series could give to aspiring comic artists who are looking to establish themselves in the online space. We heard: “The way I got my comics out there was through Reddit, as there are many webcomics posted there. Initially, I posted on r/comics, thinking it would make sense for my comic, but they didn’t perform well. I had published my comics on other platforms where they did better, so I was puzzled. I then started targeting my comics to other Reddit subs like r/funny, r/memes, and r/gaming, since many of my comics revolve around gaming. That’s when my comic began to gain traction, and people started to share and like it. One needs to be very patient and try to share their comics/art in as many places as possible because even if there aren’t many on a particular platform who like your content, there may be others elsewhere. You end up creating 20-50 bad comics before you make a good one, so persistence is key.”
