Grant, presently a student of Orthodontics at the University of Colorado - Denver, started drawing comics at an early age of 15 and it has been his passion since then and that is how IncidentalComics was born. He started out drawing for the for the University of Kansas student newspaper and gradually became more and more popular.
His comics/illustrations now appear in newspapers, magazines and across the internet. His drawings have been featured on prestigious publications like the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Kansas City Star.
His comics/illustrations now appear in newspapers, magazines and across the internet. His drawings have been featured on prestigious publications like the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Kansas City Star.
He draws inspiration for his drawings from common things that surround us and very cleverly infuses wit and humor into them.
He features subjects like art, design, architecture etc. and also manages to bring out the sarcasm that exists with some of the preconceived notions that we have.
Some of his illustrations are a window of self introspection but always presented in a happy and fun way. The guys sense of humour is reflected in the closing line of the bio on his site and I quote "being a student of orthodontics hoping that readers of Incidental Comics are easier to entertain than teenagers with braces.". Be sure to glance through the collection of cartoons and illustrations on his website and I can guarantee you that they will keep you enthralled and manage to illicit a smile or two. Keep reading to find out what Grant has to say about IncidentalComics:
What inspired you to get into freelance cartoons/illustrations? Did you always have an artistic inclination?
The thrill of seeing my drawings in print (and having them seen by others) inspired me to start drawing cartoons midway through college. I’ve always had artistic inclinations but until I discovered cartooning they were very unfocused.
What is Incidentalcomics all about and what inspired you to create it?
I’m not sure what started it or what inspired it, but it’s grown into a weekly comic about art and ideas with a bit of self-examination mixed in.
A student of orthodontics and a cartoonist for a hobby, I must say a unique combination. How do you manage to take out time from your busy schedule for your hobby?
Good time-management skills, an often non-existent social life, and the ever-present deadlines of new work!
Since you are studying Orthodontics, I guess you must have encountered some funny/difficult situations in the course of your studies. Did you ever come up with a comic/illustration about them?
I try to keep my drawings and my dealings with teeth separate, but once I drew a comic about something funny that happened in dental school: http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2009/08/dental-school-moment.html
What is the inspiration for your comics? How do you plan on the topic for your comic/illustration? Do you approach drawing a comic and an illustration in the same way?
I find inspiration in the books I read, visual art I consume, music I listen to, and the pages of my doodle-filled notebooks. Internet culture is an endless source of both great and terrible ideas. Public libraries are a more finite and better-edited source of ideas, but they have physical limitations and, occasionally, mean librarians. The weekly topic for my comics is usually whatever thought fragment from my notebooks strikes me as fun and clever enough to draw. I approach comics and illustrations very differently. Comics come easier to me because I’m drawing only to entertain myself. Illustrations require me to be more unselfish and consider the needs of the text and the preferences of the unseen art director.
What are the hardware and software tools that you use to create your art? It would be great if you could elaborate on this.
This often changes, but here’s my current method.
Hardware: Mechanical pencils and Bristol board for the initial sketch. Micron pens and tracing paper for final inking, Prismacolor markers for shading, a large-scale Epson printer/scanner to digitize the drawing.
Software: A rickety copy of Adobe Photoshop on my old PC. I add digital color and touch up some lines and formatting, but I try to make every line hand-drawn, including all the text. The actual process in Photoshop is confidential. Actually, just too boring to explain.
From drawing Cartoons for the University of Kansas student newspaper and now your comics/illustrations appear in many newspapers, magazines and across the internet, how has this journey been? What is the biggest compliment that you have received for your work?
My earliest published cartoon (for the University Daily Kansan) was Fall 2006. So nearly six years of cartooning. Can’t remember exactly the biggest compliment – I seem to have deleted the compliment archive from my computer! But I once got an email from a reader saying something to the effect that my comics seemed to have been eerily drawn from their own inner thoughts. I think that’s secret the goal of every artist – mind infiltration.
What other artists do you look up to? If you could peek inside the studio/toolbox of any one other artist, whose would it be and why?
Saul Steinberg, Roz Chast, Chris Ware, Matt Groening, Edward Gorey, Tom Gauld, Bill Watterson, and countless others. Saul Steinberg’s studio would have been amazing to see, to witness a genius choosing the tools, technique, and materials to express his genius.
What are your future plans with respect to Incidentalcomics?
To always be motivated and intrigued by new ideas. From a more practical standpoint, to continue to meet deadlines.
What advice would you like to give to aspiring/budding artists?
Keep drawing! Seek internal and external motivation. Share your work with others.
Thank you Grant for taking the time for this interview, it has been a pleasure learning your story. We wish you the very best for the future.
You can read more about Incidental Comics at:
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So he is an artist, cartoonist and studying orthodontics, odd combinations often produce some of the greatest stuff. I like it.
Hi Garrack,
Well said, this is indeed true :)