Cameron Spires, the man behind these comics, is a polite Canadian comic artist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. By day, he's an advertising copywriter, and by night, he's the eccentric comic creator that just wants to make people laugh. As it's been 11 months since the last 'Goat to Self' post on Bored Panda, we were happy to contact the author and ask how his creative life has been, wondering what he has planned for the future: "Hello! My creative life is great. I'm mostly making lots of ads (my day job), and I have a kids' book coming out in May. It's called 'What were you expecting?' and it's probably more for parents than kids."
Cameron told us that having a full-time job and being a parent requires a lot of time and he feels lucky to create at least 1 comic strip a day, "These days, one if I'm lucky. I've got a couple of kids and a full-time career so time is precious." Yet with his sense of humor, 1 comic a day is great news for the audience!
Burnout is inevitable for the artist, and Cameron agrees that he feels his creative vessel emptying: "Oh yes [I feel burned out creating original and funny comics]. Very often. Sometimes I just need to take a break. Or make rules for my work, like no puns, because I use puns too often and hate myself for it." His sense of humor is priceless but when asked if he's as funny in real life, the artist is realistically grounded: "You're not legally allowed to call yourself funny."
Creating 'Goat to Self' gives Cameron "an outlet to let my dumbest thoughts shine. No joke is too stupid." Yet if he is respectful to those who manage to make their hobby a source of living, he keeps it as "just a hobby" for himself. Bored Panda asked the artist if he would change anything if given a chance to start over. Cameron said, "Probably [would choose] a different name. And would manage the files better. [Because I] would love to make a book [from the created comics] but where the heck is everything?"
Cameron's advice for future comic creators is simple: "Just start, get a sense of what you like, and what people respond to - evolve from there. You can always go back and delete older stuff if you grow out of them. I did."
