SS: Who is the target for You’ll Have That?
Wes: The target is me to be honest with you. It used to be I would sit down and try and target the demographic, but basically if it makes me laugh, I try to put it in there. I’ve been very happy with the demographic of the audience. It seems pretty wide. I’ve got young teenagers all the way up to middle aged men and women who love to read it. I think that is one of the nice things about writing a comic; it is very accessible to everyone.
Doug TenNapel has a blog I read every day. He talks about the writing process, and he says it doesn’t matter what you write about as long as you are passionate about it. And if you are passionate about it, people will read it. So even if someone is not in the same stage of life that I am, I think they can read it and get a laugh and see where the humor is coming from and enjoy it that way.
SS: Speaking of writing and being creative, did you post recently that you were going through a down time?
Wes: I think I used the wrong words in that post, because a lot of people thought I was going to throw in the towel.
SS: That’s kind of how it came across…
Wes: You just go through periods where you just have a hard time getting motivated and you have to find different ways to attack the comic to get back to where you really enjoy drawing again. I’ve always enjoyed drawing, so that isn’t the problem, but every job has its ups and downs where some days you want to be there, and some days you don’t. And I just happened to be going through one of those spells.
I think my biggest problem is I procrastinate really bad and when I get down to drawing the comic I don’t get to put as much detail into it as I would like because of the deadline. And that means I have to go back to my schedule and readjust some stuff… Right now has been a really busy time for me, with the book coming out and the comic book signing. My job schedule is very rigged and I know what all of my days off are going to be for the rest of this year. All of my weekends are planned for family things. The second book will be coming out soon. It’s stress, but it is good stress. It gets tough, but I love drawing, and I can’t ever see me not drawing this comic. I don’t want anyone to think I’m ready to give up or anything.
SS: GOOD! How do you get over these ‘blah’ times?
Wes: Sometimes I just wait it out and do some of my other hobbies, like playing guitar. Sometimes it is just a matter of forcing yourself to do it to meet the deadlines. When I’m writing I have a college ruled notebook, and I sketch out strips on the paper, using the lines to kind of measure how big the strips are, and then I write the dialogue. They are really loose thumbnails. My wife looks at them and can’t understand them, but they are there for me to use. I try to write about two months ahead, and I draw the comic about a week in advance.
SS: You are not short on story at all, because you’ve already planned it far enough out.
Wes: Yeah, pretty much.
SS: What are the tools you use?
Wes: 2-ply Bristol board, cheap Bic pen, plastic eraser, an exacto knife to cut the board. The pens I use are from Faber-Castell, called Artist PITT Pens. They come in four sizes, and I use the brush tip for my outlining.
SS: Do you finish in Photoshop?
Wes: I scan everything into Photoshop, and add the gray tones there. Then I save it twice, once at 300dpi for the book and 72dpi for the website.
SS: You’ve always worked in black and white, any plans for color?
Wes: The problem is it takes a while to color, which adds a few extra steps. I would like to someday do full color Sundays.
SS: How many hours a day are you spending on the strip?
Wes: It depends on how much detail is needed. Typically it is about 15 hours a week. Add to that my 40 hour per week job, the time I spend with my wife, and it adds up.
SS: Your day job knows about your strip, how are they with it?
Wes: I work in a factory, and you wouldn’t think factory job people would care, but I have a lot of support there. My bosses ask me about it… my picture was in the local paper because I did the book signing, so everyone was bringing in papers and having me sign them. It was weird, but at the same time I’m happy everyone is supportive.
SS: Your day job takes precedent, which makes traveling to cons difficult.
Wes: Yeah, it’s all Union stuff. I only get one week off a year and that time is committed to family events. Next year I get two weeks vacation, so I am hoping I can make it to Comic Con International. I went to Wizard World Chicago last year with Viper, and had a good time, but the distance was a bit much for Viper to travel from Texas to do it again this year.
SS: What is in the future for You’ll Have That? Give us some spoilers…
Wes: Overall, the next book comes out in December. It will be titled You’ll Have That Volume 2…really creative title. Hopefully volume three will be out next Spring, probably about the same time as the first book.
Story wise…. Oh!… this is one of the ways I battled my burn out…I decided instead of writing a strip and thinking of a funny gag, I thought of something that would be fun to draw. I don’t want to give it all away, but Andy will have a pretty fantastical dream that will last a couple of weeks. We have one more week to finish up the current story line, then will go with that one. I’m pretty excited about that one.
SS: Finally, what are the top five web comics you read?
Wes: That’s about as many as I do read every day. Scott Kurtz’s PVP. I really enjoy Wapsi Square, I think Paul Taylor’s artwork is fabulous. Ugly Hill by Paul Southworth is a well drawn strip. I like it because I think it has Simpson’s type humor. A comic I really love and think really helps me with my comic is James Kochalka’s American Elf. I really like it because his is a real life strip like mine, but he focuses on the little things and that forces me to do the same thing. And I read Joe and Monkey – it is so funny.
SS: What has been your favorite story line or favorite strip you have done?
Wes: The one a lot of people ask for is where Andy and Kate are at a grocery store.
That is my wife’s favorite one, and mine too. We have it hanging in our living room.
SS: Wes, thanks so much for taking the time and talking with me today.
Wes: Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time and asking me to do this!
3 Comments
Great interview of one of my favorite webcomic artist.
You should review Comic Life. It would fit the theme of the site.
Great interview, fun and insightful!