Bored Panda caught up with Alex Norris once again to dig into his creative process and personal insights. When asked about the inspiration behind his "Oh No" series and the creation of its iconic character, the pink blob, Norris explained, "The idea for Pink Blob was that the main character was the most generic, most simply-drawn character I could make. There are many webcomics with that sort of character now, but at the time it wasn't very common! The 'oh no' comics were supposed to be badly made comics, so they needed a bad main character."
According to Norris, initially, the "oh no" comics mocked the clichéd comic ideas that were all over the internet in 2015. The idea was to simplify these concepts as much as possible, with the "oh no" punchline highlighting how repetitive they felt. "Since then, I feel I have a lot more interest in ideas like social issues, philosophy, art, and internet culture generally, so usually my ideas come from observing people's behavior on the internet or reading books on various topics and shrinking them down to three-panel comics."
Norris shared with us that his favorite aspect of the series involves deciding how to illustrate something fresh, whether it's an animal, a concept, or a metaphor. He always aims to draw it in the 'worst' manner possible, simplifying it to the point of absurdity.
Naturally, the creative process comes with its own share of hurdles. For Norris, the hardest part of making comics is making a living from it. "There isn't much of an industry and it is a lot of work. However, I've been really lucky to have found an audience and a community online, and we help each other figure out ways to fund our creative projects. As someone who didn't have any connections to money or creative people growing up, I've been so lucky to have found so many amazing people through the internet."
"Most of all, I love making comics. I love shaping an idea and thinking of the best way to express it with images. That is at the core of all my work, and despite all the other distractions, it is what keeps me going."
