The process begins with Thibodeau establishing a prompt; she finds it easier to work when she boxes herself into a concept first. "A pun could be a prompt, but so can a concept like 'A Japanese Kappa in a Bathhouse.' I try to make lists of puns and prompts beforehand so that I'm not scrambling for ideas every day (been there)."
"I'm now trying to devote a day to thumbnail drawing my artwork for a good month, freeing up more time for me to focus on the detail. It's also imperative for me to collect some references before I draw, which I also try to do in advance –I display my references on my dual monitor using the program 'PureRef.'"
The whole thing started off as an attempt to do 1 year of daily speed paints. "After I passed the year mark, I continued the habit and the daily drawings gradually took on a stylized look of their own instead of random subjects and style variations. Eventually, pun-prompts took center stage, and I've been keeping up that momentum for a while now," Thibodeau said, adding that she is trying to add other illustrations and comics to the mix as well.
Since she carefully analyzed and portrayed so many animals, we asked the artist whether she has any favorites. "Oooh, tough call!" she said, giving the answer a thought. "I'm very fond of badgers and otters but they're both mustelids, so I'll just use the whole "family". They're adorable little killing machines, very intelligent too! Tell me this video isn't the cutest thing you’ve ever seen!"
