Bored Panda contacted Natalya Lobanova once more to gain further insight into her creative process and her background. When asked whether she intentionally aims to make people laugh with her art or if it happens organically, the artist explained that it is definitely an intention. "I think humor is a useful tool for talking about things that might be quite difficult as it's a softer landing in delivery. No one is interested in an angry rant or a pity fest, but they don't mind if it makes them laugh!"
When it comes to deciding which ideas are strong enough to transform into a comic or illustration, Natalya shared that it's somewhat of a guessing game. "Sometimes I know something is hilarious because it makes me laugh as soon as I think of it, but other times I just note the idea down and come back to it after some time. Usually, I just make things and hope for the best – for example, my Old God comic did surprisingly well and I really did not expect it to do so and was on the fence about even creating it!"
The majority of Natalya's work does not feature color, so we asked her how she decides when to keep things simple or incorporate more vibrancy. "I tend to be quite scared of using color as a cartoonist who works primarily in black and white, but it's also usually actually the most enjoyable part when painting anything. Some works just require color for context, though, so I need to add it, whether I like it or not!"
Every artist has their favorite part of the creative process, and for Natalya, it's painting and inking. "Drawing can be very frustrating, but once you're painting or inking the work then you can just switch your brain off and really get into the zone."
