Where do I get the inspiration for my webcomics?

illustration of words in black pen on white

I've been asked where I get the inspiration for my webcomics.

It really is inspired by what happened to me that day. That's why I call the series "Then this happened..."

The concept really is kind of like that - today this happened and then I draw the thing, and then the next day this happened.

It first started out being a cathartic thing there was a year that we were going through a really rough time.

Then This Happened Book 1 is available on Amazon

Then the second year is when we had gotten through that time and how our lives had changed.

Then This Happened Book 2 is available on Amazon

By that second year, I had started the podcast, I was doing more with my website, and I was doing public events.

So it was kind of like growing from this really rough time to how our lives had changed.

I always forget to take pictures

And also, the main reason that I started this webcomic is that I had just started using Instagram and one thing I realized is something would happen and I would forget to take a picture of it. Afterward, I'd be like, "Oh! I should have got a photo of that".

Then it occurred to me that I could draw about it later and then I'd post this on Instagram. To me, that was just as good as a photo.

And people do ask me if some of the things I draw about really did happen. Yes, they did! 🙂

So that's the inspiration behind these webcomics, something that happens in my life every day and I always forget to take pictures of things.

Check out the video

I made a video talking more about this and making my webcomic book. You can check that out on the site here! Making a book of my webcomic - Part 1

Artwork for the original Candy Land game by Milton Bradley from 1955.

I have a vintage Candy Land game from 1955 by Milton Bradley and I was about to sell it so I thought I would add it to my personal art history course concept I've been doing . I'm going to try and see if I can find out how this game was created, designed and why? Here is what I found out about this game https://candy-land.fandom.com/wiki/Candy_Land_Wiki Candy Land is a board game about children exploring a world made out of candy and other sweets that originally came out in 1949. In every version of the game, there are a group of children that go through Candy Land. In the earliest versions of the game, it was a realistically drawn boy and girl. Drawing of the Candy Land kids I did on my phone ☝ https://board-games-galore.fandom.com/wiki/Candy_Land The game was designed in 1948 by Eleanor Abbott , while she was recovering from polio in San Diego, California. It's rumored that Eleanor also did the original artwork but I didn't find anything that

Some history about artist Alex Toth

So recently I decided I was going to try and learn something about each item in my toy collection and the artwork behind it . Kind of like my own impromptu art history class. Then I'm going to sell it so I can start collecting more! :) Moltar One of the first things I put up for sale was this Space Ghost Coast to Coast Moltar Action Figure from back in 2000. By the way, I learned a valuable lesson when shipping this item to the person who bought it. Never let the people at the post office touch your collectibles! The Space Ghost Coast to Coast show actually used the original artwork from the Hanna Barbera Space Ghost cartoon from the 1960s. Those characters were designed by Alex Toth . I knew his name but didn't really know anything else about him. Here is a sketch I did of Moltar on my phone. So I decided for my first art history lesson I would do a little bit of research on Alex Toth . he died at his drawing table on May 27, 2006, from a heart attac

Can I Buy And Resell Copies Of My Own Book From Amazon KDP?

There are two questions that I get asked about publishing my webcomic books on Amazon KDP . 1 - Can I Order A Print Copy Of My Own Book From Amazon KDP? When I started printing on Amazon KDP I also had that question. The reason I put the books together is I was just kind of doing it for myself. I could make a paperback version of my webcomic books and then I and my family could get a copy. It didn't even occur to me that I could actually start selling the book in public. I thought it was just print-on-demand and then maybe I could order one. But when I print a book on Amazon KDP I can also get up to 999 copies and sell it on my own! I was able to get my own copies from Amazon KDP sent to me. As the author, I can get them at printing cost . So they're at a discounted price. The option to order author copies is right in the KDP publishing setup. The button is next to the book in KDP. 👇 The other question I get about publishing my book on Amazon KDP... 2 - Can I Sell My A

Art Inspiration: Digging on old Scooby-Doo cartoon background artwork

Can we all just take a second to appreciate the background art of the 1969 Scooby-Doo cartoons ? Easily the most inspirational artwork from my childhood right here. I think this scene from the cartoon is what inspired my recent nostalgia for the Money Island computer game I wrote about in my webcomic . Who did these background paintings? I wrote a post about the artist Walter Peregoy who did the background artwork for the series over on my pop-culture roadshow blog . Some of the things I learned about the artist He had a modernist 50s style Designed the 101 dalmatians cartoon look Was an artist for one of the Liquid Television cartoons on MTV Go here to see more... Read more about the artist and their artwork on my pop-culture blog. Go here to see more background artwork

Tom Ray

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