Jules is a Texas-based artist who stumbled into cartooning in 2006. The artist shared with Bored Panda that she has been a comic reader all her life, but never considered them something she would want to do herself. The New Yorker magazine cartoons were her favorites and she enjoyed them as soon as she could read. The artist found Sunday comics like Bushmiller's Nancy and Pogo fun and entertaining.
Jules grew up in an artistic environment: both her parents were professional painters and college professors. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts was in painting and classical Greek and her Master of Fine Arts was in sculpture.
The artist began cartooning as a lark. She was already a syndicated illustrator with Creators Syndicate, but carpal tunnel issues forced her to quit and work in a different sphere. When Jules began drawing comics, she set a challenge or "dare" for herself to see if she could get a cartoon published in The New Yorker. "I was a skilled illustrator but had no skills as a cartoonist. It's easier to understand a cartoon than to draw one."
Jules' comics are fun and so felicitous we got curious where she finds inspiration for her illustrations. She revealed that she doesn't try to come up with ideas as much as have the ideas come to her.
"Laboring over a gag, for me, tends to lead to a result that seems forced. A random fragment of conversation or text may strike me as odd or funny in a unique way and I'll use that as a caption or as a starting point for a full-fledged gag. I'm so busy with non-cartoony activities that I just trust that ideas will drop in time for submission to the editors. I do rely on Twitter/IG, etc. to find idea germs in the random posts. Human nature is so fully exposed on social media and of course, that's what cartoons are all about."
For Jules, making cartoons is a fun and healthy way to vent, to express fears and anxiety. She like that cartoons can entertain people and maybe make them feel less hopeless - "like we're in this life together all grappling with our own catalog of issues."
The most challenging part of the creative process, for the artist, is starting: "changing gears from a morning of tennis or hiking into creating jokes is a sharp turn! And a blank piece of paper is never friendly. I have to warm up with mindless doodling. Many times an idea springs forth from the simplest of strokes. The other big challenge I have is reining myself from overworking a drawing. I want my cartoons to look loose and effortless; minimal and slightly messy. But most of them don't."
If you are passionate about drawing and cartooning and want to become a comics artist one day, Jules has advice for you: "trust your skills and the evolutionary process. Don't compare yourself with others. Persevere, yet give yourself plenty of time. Years, decades if you need to. Balance: Live a full life beyond the drawing board."
