This week I chat with Tardee, the creator of Tardaasa Comics – the comic about small things in life (but preferably big). Well, I’m a BIG fan of her art, and this was a heckin’ fun interview to do. Read on for some internet comic history, comics worthy of that pesky Instagram shadowban, and some excellent advice from Tardee!

Let’s start at the bottom. What were you like as a kid?

Fearless and reckless. I looked and behaved like a little troll. I grew up in the country and didn’t have many neighbouring kids so it was mostly just me and my brother. But I was kind of introverted and preferred hiding away somewhere, playing alone, so I could decide all the rules!

How did you become interested in art?

When I was 10 I started getting obsessed with horses and competing with my best friend over who could draw the best one! (She did) Eventually, I moved on to manga.

The people need to know…were you a “horse girl”?

If having your tapestry, curtains, bed covers and pillows covered in horses as well as subscribing to 2 horse books monthly and always putting up sticks to jump over, pretending that you’re a horse makes you a “horse girl” then I suppose…

What motivated you to start your comic?

One small moment. My bonus brother commented on one of my drawings when I was around 20 and just said, “ You should make comics.” And I was like “…Yeah, that sounds fun!” And the same year I got into a comic drawing school in Sweden.

(Side note: I’d never heard the phrase “bonus brother” before, and it’s great.)

Comic drawing school sounds oddly specific. Tell me more about that.

This one was for vocational studies. Basically, we learned how to draw comics. About illustrator and InDesign and what to think about. The course was in the middle of nowhere, in an attempt to get some youth out there. There’s a much bigger and more famous comic school in Malmö in Sweden. (I didn’t get into that one.) I’d like to apply now if I wasn’t already up to my ears in student loans.

What was the process for getting accepted to comic drawing school?

The one I got into, I honestly don’t think you needed to do much more than apply. The one in Malmö requires that you’re actually good. Or that you have your own special style. You get in by sending like 15 work samples or something like that.

What went into developing your art style?

I remember seeing an illustration on Deviantart where the characters had big eyes and no mouths and I thought it was cute. The lack of hands and feet, in the beginning, was chibi inspired (style of manga) and I wanted it to be simple to draw.

They still don’t have much feet to speak of, but I added fingers ‘cus they’re often needed in the storytelling. The comic has always been very colorful and saturated, but my eye for which colors actually go together has definitely improved!

Do you follow any rules for picking colors, or is it more of a gut feeling?

Through all my studying I’ve probably seen the color theories show up quite a few times. But it just doesn’t stick for me, so – it’s all about gut feeling. But I often do spend a lot of time last-minute changing colors – my plan is to take my favorite colored comics and make swatches out of them (color palettes.)

Do you keep any routines for your art practice?

It goes in waves. But I try to write up all my ideas. Then I sketch them out and have a few to choose from, so I get some time to improve the ideas. Sometimes I can have one which actually won’t be understandable to someone who didn’t. And it’s easier to spot that when I let it sit for a while and pick it up again. I try to have this practice, but usually, I just wanna draw my latest idea immediately because it always seems more fresh and funny and obviously fit the mood I’m in right then.

How have you grown your audience? What’s worked?

I started growing around 2013 when I posted to FunnyJunk. From there I was picked up by a site called Memecenter. When that site started losing activity I eventually moved on to Instagram in 2017, I didn’t post until 2018 though, and from there I quickly gained followers. It’s definitely the sexual jokes that draw the most eyes! I’́ve grown the most from bigger sites/users sharing my work.

What’s something that didn’t work?

I used to make more random, semi-political jokes. They usually do good on their own but they don’t draw people to actually follow the comic.

Can you think of anything that was particularly helpful to your art practice?

Changing my drawing program from Photoshop to Clip Studio Paint for my line art helped a lot! Otherwise, it’s just that – practice.

What makes Clip Studio Paint so much better?

Better pen stabilization and a more intuitive interface. Though I think the newer Photoshop has pen stabilization now, and you can also buy the lazy Nezumi addon to the same effect. (Pen stabilization helps smoothen and straighten your lines.) You can also draw like normal but the lines turn into vectors, and then you can change the line’s width or shape after you’ve finished them. It’s super useful!

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How do you balance art, work and life?

That’s a tricky one! Especially for me. Since I started drawing Tardaasa sporadically in 2010, I’ve moved to the country in Sweden for comic drawing school and then to London where I studied computer game design 3 years. I’ve travelled around Spain and I moved to Barcelona twice to study Spanish. And I’ve had like 7 different relationships and jobs during this time. So I’ve had a hard time keeping my focus and getting a particular work process. But it’s also been a comfort to always have something semi-consistent like the comic to do.

Are you back in Sweden now? Is that where you’re originally from?

Yes, I am back to my home country – Sweden, the ol’ blue and yellow. My Spanish boyfriend and I came here on vacation and then I realized that my economic situation just wasn’t cutting it. So I decided to stay since it’s a lot easier for me to get a job here. He didn’t love taking that vacation plane back to Spain alone – but he’s living here with me this month at least…!

Are there any artists that you’re keeping an eye on?

I love Sarah’s Scribbles.

On Instagram…

I enjoy The Danemen

The Reddot

and The Dailydunc.

Also a big fan of Loading Artist

The Oatmeal

and Norwegian Nemi!

What makes a comic memorable? How do you pick favourites?

Good question. I mean, if it’s good, original or relatable. I like when people can stick to their idea, which is probably harder than it used to be. I feel like I see it in both TV-shows as well as comics, people changing their productions to please the vocal majority of viewers. I don’t think that ever leads to a good result. And it can be hard not to – I’ve been wanting to do a religious joke recently but put it off because I know there ́ll be social media backlash from it.. and then it’s just easier to take the milder ideas first. But trying not to ruffle any feathers is definitely not the key to making anything memorable! (Reminder to myself.)

As to how I pick my favorites, I have no idea. But I love stories that aren’t afraid to be dark or real as well as funny.

You’ve posted on all sorts of sites in the past. Today, are you posting anywhere other than Instagram?

I sometimes post to Webtoons, FunnyJunk, Facebook, Reddit and 9Gag and always to Patreon of course. I also have my own website – Tardaasa.com though it’s still under construction. I might focus more on Webtoons than Instagram in the future because the reporting and censoring is getting old real quick.

Have you ever collaborated with another artist? Tell me about it.

Back in the Memecenter days we did a lot of collaborations. Like with Gearboy, but I think most of them stopped making comics by now.

I’ve been part of a “follow the rainbow” hashtag with the comic community on Instagram and I’m sure there´ll be more collaborations with them!

What’s next for your art? Future goals?

I wanna be more professional with my posting process. Find a way to simplify my artstyle a bit without losing quality, cause frankly it takes me too long to make one now, and it started taking some of the fun out of it due to the pressure to be active on social media and not get buried by its algorithms.

The dream is to grow my Patreon to the point where I can live on just the comic! That’s always been the dream. I’d love to fly around the world to different comic cons! I ́ve never been to America, and I have some family there.

Do you have any advice for artists starting out?

For making comics – Write up all your ideas! Sketch out your favorite ones.

I recommend making the frames in squares or another format that will be easy to move between platforms. I used to make some comics in A4 manga format, with all the frames in different shapes and sizes, which makes it difficult to adjust it to, for example, Instagram.

Try and be consistent in the style you settled on, and if you’re making funny comics – unless you’re actually a great artist who love putting in the details – keep it simple.

Again – clip studio paint is a great program to work in. Illustrator too, but harder to learn.

Work in at least 300 DPI/PPI resolution, if you work in too small files you won’t be able to print it later.

Also – do you. It might take some time for the right audience to find you – you will never please everyone. In fact, I think the more people who actively dislike what you do – the more likely it is there’s a special niche of people that will love it!

Great advice.

Where should people find you?

I think Instagram is currently the best place – instagram.com/tardaasa_comics

(Press to get notifications when I post.) I also have my own page under construction – Tardaasa.com

Any closing comments?

Penis.

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And that’s a wrap! Have any feedback, or maybe a suggestion for who to interview next? Shoot an email on over to matthew[at]paneljam.com – or start a thread over on the PanelJam forum.

Happy Jamming!