Jennie is the hillarious and talented creator of The Devil's Panties. The Devil's Panties is hosted on Keenspot and published by Silent Devil Productions. Jennie is a full-time comics artist and graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design. She is constantly on the go, promoting her comic at convenions all over the country. In February she took the time to sit down and respond to some questions via email.

What is your day-to-day routine for creating comics? How many hours a day, and days a week do you spend creating comics? What percentage of your time do you spend doing what? What do you find the most difficult?

I still have a day job so the work is interspersed between being a register monkey at a comic shop. It helps not having a life. Someone asked what I do in my free time. I said "sleep".

On my days off I get up and start drawing. I'll get enough cartoons done to cover the rest of the week on my day off. During the week I work on cartoons for books and commissioned art. I'll also spend the week setting up the next weeks cartoons. I'll lay out about seven cartoon strips at a time. Put the dialogue in and figure out what will be said and done in each panel. It helps that I have limited myself to a four panel layout. Then I'll pencil the seven cartoons. This takes the most creative work. I try and balance at least one detailed panel (backgrounds, full establishing shot) with close up shots and single figure panels. This way the strip doesn't get cluttered and I can pace myself. I'll then letter and draw out the word balloons and panel borders with a sharpie. All this can be done while waiting for my car to get fixed or watching TV with my boyfriend.

On my day off I'll sit down at my table and use a dip quill to ink the figures and organic shapes. This usually takes about a half hour per cartoon. The penciling and lettering would have taken about fifteen to twenty minutes per cartoon. I'll do a stack so that once I get to the seventh cartoon then the ink would have had time to dry on the first. I'll go back in and add detail with a micron. Usually 01 or 005 for the backgrounds or non-organic shapes like furniture or buildings. This is another job that can be done in a coffee shop or once the boss has left the shop.

After that I erase the pencils and scan it into the computer. I change to levels to clean it up and flip it to bitmap to crisp the edges (changing it to 1200dpi so that the edges are still smooth). I'll fill in the blacks and erase little mistakes. Put paintings into picture frames in the backgrounds and save each cartoon at 600dpi in an archive folder. Then I spot some color and archive it again in a color folder before shrinking it down to 72dpi for online and saving that.

The entire process takes a little over an hour for each cartoon but I usually spread that out over the course of a week doing the bulk of the work on my day off. The rest of my time is taken up with website maintenance, convention planning, promotional advertising, merchandise design, product shipping, commissioned work, and that pesky sleeping and eating thing.

How much time to you devote to writing your comics? Do you write the entire series/arc in advance, or as you go along?

That's kinda the easy part. It's all taken directly from life. I recently got a tape recorder so that I can document the cartoons as they happen. I went to a convention where they had a geek auction and I just turned the tape recorder on and started taking reference pictures. But sometimes a good story doesn't make for a good cartoon and visa versa. I have to figure out what makes something funny and then how to communicate that. It helps that I went to Savannah College of Art and Design and majored in Sequential Art (comic books).

It really has nothing to do with the skill of drawing and everything to do with communicating an idea. It's actually BETTER if the art sucks. It's easier to follow what's happening the simpler the art is. I have to figure out how to distill it down into four panels. There's the set up shot. The first panel is supposed to show where the person is, what's going on, the establishing shot. Then someone says something. The joke is given. The third panel is usually the reaction. The eyes get small, the mouth drops open, the head cocks to one side as the character tries to comprehend what was just said. Fourth panel is the punchline. "Mommy, what's a vulva?"

And sometimes leaving it cryptic is even better. Mause and Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud both tell us that the human imagination can create thing much more bizarre or gruesome than anything we could draw in a panel. It's what you DON'T draw that leave the most impact.

Sorry, got lost in a tangent there. Writing the comics, yes, okay. So something funny will happen and I'll grab my tape recorder and mutter some words into it. Other than that, because it is life, I try and see what happens before I start drawing it. I was going out with my boyfriend for over a month before he showed up in the comic strip. My car was stolen and I waited until it was found and evaluated before I started that drama. I try to give a definite beginning, middle, and conclusion to a story arch but sometimes life doesn't provide that.

How long have comics interested you and how did you get started in the business?

I have two older brothers so comics were around the house long before I showed up. I learned to read using Elf Quest and Conan. I learned the birds and the bees from sneaking into my brothers Heavy Mettle collection. When most girls were playing with My Little Ponies I was playing with wooden swords and making up mutant powers for me and my friends. So when my mom told me that I had to go to college I figured that I liked to tell stories and I liked to draw. Luckily there was a college booklet came in the mail that had a section in it about a major where you drew pictures on a page that told stories. Sequential Art. The communication of a thought or idea through pictures and images. Comic books.

Before I left for college I found a book that my mom had put together chronicling the life of my father. Both my parents are artists and I had grown up around sculpture and stained glass. My father had always carved soap stone and we had helped him at sidewalk art shows. The book told of a man who worked in his father’s furniture factory. He had carved wood, worked mettle, and taken pictures in Africa. Only recently had he carved stone. I realized that it would take years, maybe decades, before I would get to where I wanted to be with my art. So I knew, going into college, that it would take years after college before I'd "break into" the industry. I'd just have to make sure that I kept plodding along even though it might seem like I'm not getting anywhere.

What formal training have you had, and how have you found it useful towards your comics? What would you say are the educational requirements for doing comics? What would you suggest one study to hone their skills? Would you suggest getting a Masters, or is a Bachelors okay?

Art is different for everyone. Some people are born with it. Sometimes that's not enough though. My best friend since first grade kicks my ass at drawing but she can't do it for more than an hour, if that. I'll go mad if I don't draw at some point during the day. I didn't have the born talent but I had the drive. I needed college to give me some direction and focus. I needed to be pushed and limited to have freedom.

I know that doesn't make sense but college gave me some options with my work. Life drawing classes gave me an idea of the human form. Anatomy helped me understand the structure. Drawing for Comics class tried to beet perspective into me but that didn't take too well. The classes drilled it into me and homework gave me some stamina and discipline.

The other students showed that I was better then some while I sucked in comparison to others. Some people were drawing super heroes while others had these brooding dark sketches of life and the grime of the streets. The critiques helped a lot. Putting your work up for the class and having them point out what was good and then what was bad. Just because it's clear in your head doesn't mean others can understand it on paper.

But this is all what *I* learned. Some people don't need college. Most comic artists didn't go to college. They had their own drive and discipline. The hard part and most important is to just do it every day, all day. Sometimes that means going to class and sometimes that means flipping burgers and drawing in your mom’s basement. I know two brothers who I went to class with and now they're drawing one of the top comic books in the industry in their mom’s basement. But the requirements for doing a comic? Study life and work your ass off.

What skills are most useful in the creation process; what do you think was the most important contributing factors (skills or otherwise) to you becoming a comic artist.

Communication.

Doesn't matter if you can draw like Michelangelo, doesn't mean shit if you can't communicate that the guy is walking down the street. That's what drives me nuts about the early super hero comics. Someone would push Spider-Man out a window and he would talk about how they pushed him out the window as he fell.

In comics, especially comic strips, you have to communicate something clearly and with as few lines as possible. In one shot, how do you show that the character is both nervous and excited to meet their favorite artist? Then show the pent up excitement and outpouring of adoration as he tries to express his appreciation for their art and in doing so he sticks his foot in his mouth. Now he's horrified and embarrassed at what he's done.

But the most important contributing factor to me becoming a comic artist? ... It's the perfect story telling device. What the words can't describe then the art does, what the art can't communicate, the words do. Balanced right and you can create an entire world that people become lost in. If anything, you can give them a laugh.

Are there any texts you would say are a must-read for inspiring creators going into the industry? Do you have any advice for people just entering the industry?

As far as required reading it's the basic three books that revolutionized the industry; Mause, Watchmen, and Dark Knight Returns. I'm not too keen on any of them. Mause might be my favorite, but each one broke – shattered – the mold of comics. Mause was a biography of the holocaust. Watchmen was a murder mystery of super heroes and the cosmos. Dark Knight brought Batman back into the shadows and pushed spandex over the edge.

Advice for people entering the industry? Comics aren't for kids anymore. They never really were for kids. But now more than ever their about each individual person. They're about super heroes and perverts and angry women. You just have to have the dedication to keep working at it, even when people say it's not main stream or conforms to their "style". Especially when it doesn't conform to a style.

I know you self publish; but, do you have to answer to an editor? Do you have anyone objective that looks over your scripts before you start to draw, or your pages before they go to print?

It’s the internet, there are no sensors (yet). I wear my spelling errors with pride, half because I know that there are other functioning adults out there who also have learning disabilities and that shouldn't stop any of us, and half because I finish the cartoons at 3am and I just want to sleep.

But as far as editing content goes, the only editor is the knowledge that this is going to go out there for thousands of people to see. ...Okay, that doesn't usually stop me. Lately it's my boyfriend’s knowledge that his sister will read these cartoons. My mom reads them but she loves the jesus cartoons and thought that the "how to" manual of the female "parts" thinly veiled as a mouse usage tutorial was fantastic.

I've had too many people tell me that they've done the same stupid thing for me to be embarrassed at my own stupidity. There's always someone out there who's done it too. That just encourages me to talk about more of the things that the general public doesn't want us admitting to. Like dancing in your bunny slippers, burping in the middle of a kiss, and the fact that grownups don't want to clean their room either. So no, there's no editors really. More like cheerleaders.

Being that you self-publish, how do you get paid? Do you give yourself a certain percentage of each sale? Do you find that you can live comfortably doing comics?

HA HA HA HA HA HA
Cough cough. Heh ... sorry.

I have a day job. That pays the bills. Sale of self published books and posters just go to the printing of more books and gas money for conventions. The books sold at conventions go to the cost of the table, food, time off work, etc. I've met self published comic artists and web cartoonist and I've asked the same question; "How do you make a living at this?!?" Most of the time they're supplementing their income with freelance and they live with someone who's splitting expenses with them. No one is making a very good living at this aside from the really big boys. Which makes comic book artists are some of the most dedicated artists you're going to ever meet.

There is money to be made through selling add space, membership fees, raffles, promotional contests, merchandising, marketing, special offers but that takes a lot of time away from actual drawing. I'd rather be a cartoonist than a businessman. So I signed on with a publishing company. Hopefully they'll take care of the distribution and sales and I can work on more cartoons.

Do you find writing your own comics difficult? How does it compare to illustrating other's work or doing freelance art? Which do you prefer?

I tried freelance once. The customer kept changing their mind and saying "I like it but could you move this over more." By the end of it I wanted to kill the customer and considering it was my mom I decided that wasn't the job for me.

I'm working with my pirate friends on a book about their adventures and I've just about smacked him too. Once the work is done I move onto the next cartoon and unfortunately when you work with someone else then you have to compromise on how much of each person’s vision goes into it. I prefer working on my own stuff. I can be as lazy or nitpicky as the sleep deprivation will allow.

Do you find publishing your own work difficult? I know you're distributing through Diamond and have to work far in advance -- how does that effect the way you work? How far ahead were you in issues before you went to Diamond? How far in advance do you have to have your pre-orders in? What is the minimum pre-order to work with Diamond? I was under the impression that they take a large cut of sale profits. Is that true? Have you found it worth it to distribute with Diamond?

With the technology of today it's a lot easier to self publish. There's printers who will print up 30 books or 300 when before they wouldn't print under 3000. The internet allows you to build a fan base before you even start printing any books and send them off much farther away and reach many more people. The smaller printers also means you put your own money into it. A few hundred books means a few hundred dollars so you can only go so far.

I have a publisher now so they take care of the printing costs. Though now I understand percentages. From the cover price is gleaned cost for printing, distribution, advertising, shipping, and paying the shop to sell your book. Someone has to be paid to print the book, ship the book, put the book in an order book so that shop keepers can find it and order it. Someone has to be paid to work the register in the shop, pay rent for the shop, heating bills ect. So it's not unreasonable for Diamond to take 60% of the cover price because the shop is taking a percentage of that too.

Ideally 10% of cover price is the cost for printing. The leftover 30% is divided between the publisher who did all the leg work dealing with diamond and promoting and advertising the book and the artist. Sometimes that means the writer, penciler, inker, colorist, and cover artist. Maybe even a letterist too. So right now all I care about is seeing that book on comic shop shelves. If I get paid, that would be cool too. But I'm just giddy that I didn't have to pay for all that. I just had to draw 132 cartoons in a month... sleep? What's sleep?

Diamond has to put together the previews catalogue so that shops will be able to order the comics. It takes them a month to put the book together which is hundreds and hundreds of pages. And the catalogue is released three months before the books hit shelves to give everyone time to order them. Diamond asks for a cover and a synopsis of the comic about five months before it's scheduled to be released. A recent clause is that it also has to have about 2400$ worth ... or was that 3000 of pre-orders (comic shops ordering the book before it's released) before they will distribute it.

My book is going to be 48 pages at a cost of 4.95$ per book so that means I need to have about 600 orders for my book. This is where the web cartoons come in. I've already got a fan base and people have already read my work and want to buy it. I can't imagine trying to do this without the backing and support of fans.

Jennie, you've printed previously with Lulu; did you find their products to be satisfactory? Were they your first choice?

Lulu (not to be confused with "Friends of Lulu") the online print on demand company is fantastic for the independent artist. You don't have to buy 30 or 300 or 3000 books. you don't have to buy any books. You just upload your pages and people buy the book from lulu. Lulu prints, mails, and takes the order and then just gives you the profit.

Though I've found that if you do want 30 or 300 books to sell at conventions then you should go with a bulk publishing company but if you just want a product in your hand so you can show it to people or have people order it then lulu.com is perfect for getting your feet wet with the publishing aspect of art.

What did you do before you started doing your comics? I know you still have a day-job as well as your art; does have that day-job drive you crazy? What is keeping you from doing your art full-time? What steps could you take to do comics for a living?

I work at one of the best comic shops in the country. It keeps me up to date on how the comic industry is moving. Comic books are dying but graphic novels are thriving. Printed comics are going to the web and web comics are going to graphic novels. I wish I had more time to draw but I'm also not organized or patient enough to do commissioned art. I don't know enough about programming to do my own hosting and sell add space. And I don't have the marketing skills enough to sell my own products. So I have a day job.

I do love conventions though. Hopefully I'll become efficient enough with travel cost and merchandise sales that I'll just do two conventions a month (still a massive amount) and be able to live off that along with comic sales and online sales. I have a bunch of people at Silent Devil Publishing who want to help me out with making the leap to full time cartoonist. I don't feel like I'm just plodding along anymore. Four years after college and I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere. I've been cutting back on my day job so maybe someday soon I'll be able to say "screw you guys. I'm going home".

What types of pens/ink/paper/art supplies to you use to create your work? When and if you use digital colouring, what program do you use? How did you learn your techniques in that program?

I just use Photoshop. I've been told that I should use illustrator to do the lettering and work balloons but I'm too much of a technophobe to learn new things.

Do you have any words of warning or encouragement based on your own experiences?

For the love of GOD archive your work at 600dpi! For the first year of the webcomic I was saving everything at 72dpi. There's a reason nothing's printed from the first year.

Printers will say that they can print at 300dpi grayscale and that's bullshit. Just send them 600dpi. Pay attention to bleed space. The edges get cut off.

Sell originals. Sell prints. Just make sure to archive at 600dpi before you sell it.

Sure they're your best friend and who WOULDN'T want to be made famous but for the love of all things good and holly have them SIGN a release form! This is life. It's long and things change.

Don't piss anybody off. It's a REALLY small industry and a smaller world.
Don't be annoying. You might have to work with them later.
Everyone makes mistakes, move on. Don't look back, just post it and plow forward.

Just post it already!

I'm going to sleep now.