Today I have another fantastic interview for you! I hope you enjoy it.
@cobmaximus is in the chair (swoon). I'm the lucky one ;)
@cobmaximus is well-known to many of you for his Funny Comic Strips Contests. I enjoy seeing all the entries every time.
So, here is the interview:
Dee:
You already have an online presence from joining other platforms, often about comic strips. So, what drew you to Steemit in the first place?
Well yeah, I did have some presence before Steemit by making vlogs in Youtube with my wife, if you're interested in watching some of the videos, here's the link to our youtube channel.
We did that for about a year. People started following us and liking our content, but at some point, it was more of a burden for us than anything we enjoyed doing, so we stopped making those vlogs. Maybe in the future we'll resume it but for now there's now plan on doing so.
Going back to your question, a friend is what drove me to Steemit. @moaphotography told me about how you can make money by blogging in Steemit. I got curious, so I made my account in June of last year. However, I found it hard to use, with a very steep learning curve, and with an interface that was 0 appealing. For these reasons, I stopped using Steemit. Eventually, around October of last year, I decided to give Steemit another try. I wanted to be active, at least for a full month, and try to understand as much as possible, if by then I still didn't like it, then I would stop using it. So having that vlogging background, I started writing blogs of what I did on the weekends. Around that time I had my mom and sister visiting, so we did go out to interesting places. I also did some food tutorials and food photography. That's why I also have in my blog that I'm a food enthusiast.
Not until December is when I started to draw. I bought a drawing tablet (those that you connect to your PC) and started a 30-day drawing challenge. These were just cartoonish drawings, which later on became comics. By the time I finished the challenge, I knew I wanted to shift my blog from food topics to comics. I've been focusing on comic making since January.
Dee:
You say on your Steemit profile that you are a ‘Catoonist Noob’. What is the history of your art career outside of Steemit?
I would say not much haha. I did take a "drawing cartoons" summer class in school to learn how to draw cartoon characters. But since then, I haven't taken any other "art career". Everything I know is just on my own mostly (with the help of some tutorials online).
I do however have some experience making comics. When I was in school I did a series of comics called "Loser Boy" which told the silly adventures of a kid and his chubby friend. I don't know where these comics are, xD, probably in the trash :(. But here's a drawing of what it looked like:
I also did silly comics with my high school friends, where we would pass each other a piece of paper with a single panel of a comic, then the next person would add another panel and pass the paper back. We would be doing this until we made a full page of a funny situation. These comics were very simple, with stick figures (again these comics are lost in oblivion). I did follow this tradition in college with other friends.
After graduating from college, I did stop making comics until last year when I got the drawing tablet :)
Dee:
I know you as a hilarious comic strip artist (https://steemit.com/steemit-webcomics/@cobmaximus/arriving-at-mars-comic-strip) and the creator of the the Steemit Webcomics Funny Comic Strip Contest. What led you to this niche on Steemit?
By early January I knew I wanted to be more involved in Steemit. I learned to love the platform and wanted to dedicate more time to it. I also wanted to leave a mark in here, help grow other people while they also helped me grow here.
I knew the importance of working on a niche subject. If you think about it, Steemit is still very young, it's still very chaotic and lots of people trying to figure out how to become successful. Compared to other big social media like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc., Steemit still doesn't have that many influencers. Sure, it has a lot of successful people in here, but content-wise, not many of them focus on a single topic, in other words very few have a niche audience. Or at least this is how I see it. This is why I think it's still early in the game to find a niche you like and try to work with that subject. For me that topic was comics.
There are multiple communities for art in general, but not for comics. I saw this as an opportunity to grow on the platform. At some point in mid-January, I got contacted by @jonathan-greer, who wanted to get me involved in a Facebook community called steemit-webcomics. I started working with him promoting the Facebook channel. Then we also started running the discord server and using the #steemit-webcomcis tag.
Dee:
Do you foresee your Steemit input developing in other directions than your contest and comic strips?
Not for now. Well as some of you know, I'm also working on a card game on my free time (when I'm not making comics or being lazy), so when I finish the game I will probably make some posts about it so people can support me or also buy the game, but it will take some time to finish.
I have more plans for the steemit-webcomics community. I want to make another contest that runs in the middle of the week and I also try to motivate others in the community to make their own comics related contests in Steemit to help spread the word. Someone that took the chance (and even without me asking) is @organduo, he started doing his comic contest based on #pinkyandspiky. We'll see in the future if more contests come and if more people are inspired to try comics.
Another thing I would like to do is make a webcomic in steemit. Think of it like Superman or Batman, where there's a main story and I would make a page every week or so... but to be honest, I don't think I have the time to do it :S
Dee:
Over the past year, Steemit has changed remarkably. There have been a couple of hardforks and it has become a viable social media. How do you see Steemit developing in the future?
I see the platform growing more. However with the many other platforms that are popping in like Dmania, Dtube, Dsound, Busy, etc. I'm not really sure if Steemit itself will be a major social platform if they don't overhaul it and also fix some of the issues it has. I don't want to worry too much into detail about what flaws and what things I would like to see get changed in Steemit just because I will have a separate post about this. What I do want to say is that the blockchain STEEM is what has truly great potential, and with SMTs coming, that will allow for other platforms to be put in place, with many many improvements. This is what really has me excited.
Dee:
Could you please choose one/some examples of your art to show us?
This is the latest funny comic contest: https://steemit.com/steemit-webcomics/@cobmaximus/steemit-webcomics-funny-comic-strip-contest-week-13-win-sbd-and-have-fun
Some of my latest work as well:
Follow this link for the full comic strip:
Dee:
Is there anything else you would like in the interview?
I would like to add that a great inspiration for me to continue working with my comics is @corinneiskorean. Her art and the way she makes her comics is actually what made me make comics again. So I would like to give a big shout out to her and give her many many thanks for helping me awake that sleeping creative bug in me :).
Many thanks to @cobmaximus for sharing some of history, motivations and views with us.
Would you like to see another interview? Click here for @organduo and here for @MagicCleatus.
Last but not least, please, please, please spare an upvote for this interview!
Awesome interview, it shows a lot about where @cobmaximus started and where he is going!
I love the comic of the sausage dog being drawn as a 'hot' dog!
hahaha yes that's one of my favorite comics so far :). I hope with this interview you get to know me a little bit more :)
Love the interview. One of my favorite excerpts is here:
This game is probably even better than watching a movie together with friends.
you should try it, is lots of fun :D! specially when you're bored at class xD
Yes. But now kids when they are bored at classes, they simply stare at the screen...
true, I didn't have that privilege when I was in school :P
Fantastic interview with @cobmaximus Dee, wonderful questions so nice to understand about his artistic background, and how, when and why he has moved towards Comics. Especially love that you ask the artists to show examples of there work! Wow it’s awsome. Thank you so much @cobmaximus for sharing your colorful history pertaining to your art, and for sharing some of your incredible works of art that you’ve created!❣️Blessings friends
thank you as always @lildebbiecakes :) I'm more than happy to share my art with all and to help inspire more people into making comics. You should also be interviewed by @deemarshal :D
She has asked me, I’d love to I don’t have Discord, we are perhaps going to do it another way, but I haven’t got around to it yet. Thanks cobmaximus, your a dear and I pray that you will achieve all of your goals friend❣️Blessings
If you don't have Discord, you can still use email address like in the olden days.
Thank you @organduo I will, lol 😂 I’ve never used it before ❣️
yes, as @organduo says, good ol' email works as a charm :D
Your going to think I’m an old dinosaur, or something I have an email account but I’ve never used it 😂 lol! Sad isn’t it!
hahaha well that's something I haven't heard in a while :P but you're on steemit and that's quite advanced for even the youngsters :D
Yes, @deemarshall's questions are thought-provoking and she is doing terrific work with the series.
I am happy you enjoyed it :) I agree his art is fantastic. We did speak of using email. The last thing I'd want is to press anyone for an interview. It's not like that. The interview has to enjoyable for the person.
Hi dear deemarshall, oh I don’t fill like your pressuring me at all, I think you’ve been very kind. Rick said he could get me on Discord, that it would be easier for me. I have email, but I never have used it 😂 lol! What time is good for you? That’s going to be interesting. And also when you ask me questions, will I have time to think of an answer, and type it up myself? I’m looking forward to it, I’m very honored that you asked me Dee. Thank you so much❣️
I will send the questions to your husband on Discord. You can answer them at your leisure. There is no hurry. I will send them next week along with information about what will happen after you return your answers :) Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed :)
Your welcome @deemarshall, I’m looking forward to it. I pray my article is as interesting as the others. There’s where so good. Thanks again friend I’m excited about it❣️
Cob and magic took their time with their answers. Organ got help writing it up from his students so you just do it your way.
Take it easy and enjoy yourself :) I'll send the questions on Monday. Take as long as you want :)
Thank you @deemarshall❣️
loved reading this interview! and of course, omg, big thank you @cobmaximus for giving me a shout out! :O im still processing it tbh. im so glad i was able to inspire you to make comics again, especially since your comics are so funny, and even inspire me in turn! honestly, i've seen you grow so much in just a matter of months, whether its the content or the drawing skill, and i'm so happy that your webcomic contest has become a weekly thing. I still remember the very first one!
i have to say thank you in turn for being a great friend and presence here and on the discord. you know i've been going thru some tough times -- and still am -- but your patience and understanding have helped me so much. maybe this is sappy, but i'm both proud of you and humbled by you. please keep it up and never stop drawing :)
aww thanks for all the kind words :) tbh from all the comic community I see you as my senpai haha, that's why I also cheer for you! (that way can you can make more comics for everyone xD)
Whoa @cobmaximus! You're doing interviews now? YOU'RE A ROCKSTAR!
I love knowing all this about you man! Loser Boy looks very cool! :D
Loser Boy was a pretty funny comic (as I remembered it).
Hahaha you could also be a rockstar, I'd like to know more about your background, maybe @deemarshall could also interview you