Just like last time, Bored Panda reached out to Steve Nelson with some more questions. In the interview, he shared memorable experiences, and some thoughts on his artistic style, new projects, and his overall creative process.
When asked about any recent memorable experiences that might've happened to him, Nelson actually mentioned a negative one, "Everything has been going more or less the same really, which is great! Confused comics is still in full swing. We’ve been doing 2 insertions a week most weeks and socials so it’s been a really busy couple of months for me. I would say the most memorable experience I’ve had is very negative! Burger King stole my artwork, edited it, and put their branding all over it for an advert without my permission! No credit, no payment.
I’ve contacted them multiple times but they’ve completely ignored me. I managed to get it removed from their socials for copyright infringement luckily but that’s it. Tried to get a Twitter thing going but still no word from them. If big companies can get away with stealing our work then that is a way bigger threat to artists than AI," the artist shared.
Regarding his artistic style and approach to humor, Steve believes that his "style and humor has stayed the same (he thinks)."
The artist also went on to share that, "there’s always that rebellious part of me that wants to chuck it all away and do something new but my wife kindly reminds me not to! There are certain jokes and ideas that I have that don’t lend themselves to a nice, clean drawing so I have to figure out ways to get around that. Kinda hard to explain I guess. Sometimes it’s funnier when the drawing is rudimentary, if that makes sense. I shared one the other day and I’d happily draw these characters forever but I’ve got bills to pay and maybe not it's not a good idea to alienate my audience/employers to try something potentially niche. You might see a new page coming from me if I can’t shake it!"
As for new collaborations and projects, Nelson mentioned that as of right now there's not much going on as Confused and personal projects take up all of his time, however, he also said to Bored Panda that "I get a break in May so hoping to finally finish up my book pitch and do some other projects before Confused starts up again. The greeting cards have now arrived in the supermarkets and big garden centers here in the UK which is really fun to see. Oh, I do actually have an illustration appearing in the summer issue of Reader’s Digest so keep an eye out for that!"
When discussing his creative process and staying inspired, Steve said that he treats his work "like a job really. I sit at a desk, writing and drawing all day long coming up with as many ideas as possible. Or if I’m out and about I keep an eye out for ideas. You have to just try and stay switched on all the time, which can be exhausting! And then deadlines can be really helpful for idea generation too. For Confused we have deadlines to hit every week so I have to keep coming up with new material constantly. It affects my day-to-day life as well. One of the Confused comics that was used came from standing in duty-free with my wife, and I asked her, 'How did they get all these liquids past security?'"
When asked what sort of artistic advice he would offer to his younger self, he was quick to share.
"Well, I started out as a comedy writer and I often think I’d have been better off focusing on drawing rather than writing. But, at the same time, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now without all those years of writing jokes. So maybe I’d just tell him to borrow as much money as possible and put it all on Spain winning the 2010 World Cup 1-0," he told us.
Lastly, we asked Steve to share some of his future goals, and he expressed his desire to have his work featured in the New Yorker, stating, "The list is very long but the main one would be getting at least one cartoon in the New Yorker." He submitted his work for the first time last month and hopes to see it published in the future.
