After adventures on campus and at the local comic con, Brandi Bare and her friends are hitting the road.



With “Brandi Bare: Field Trip,” Joe Pekar and Jeff Outlaw deliver the next chapter in the lives of their comic coeds. Currently running on Kickstarter, this latest book follows a string of successful campaigns from the collaborators.











The Swerve Magazine: What can readers expect from “Brandi Bare: Field Trip?”



Joe Pekar: The one thing I want readers to expect is a fun read! And cute drawings! OK, that's two things :). In the new book, I wanted to take the characters out of the college location of the earlier issues and put them into a different environment, which is where the camping theme came from.

The Swerve Magazine had the chance to discuss this latest installment with Pekar, the series' co-creator and artist.The Swerve Magazine: What can readers expect from “Brandi Bare: Field Trip?”Joe Pekar: The one thing I want readers to expect is a fun read! And cute drawings! OK, that's two things :). In the new book, I wanted to take the characters out of the college location of the earlier issues and put them into a different environment, which is where the camping theme came from.





The interactions and humor between the characters is what I enjoy drawing the most (and I hope the readers like it too :)). While some may see it only as a sexy girl type book, Jeff and I do put a lot of thought and effort into the characters and situations they're getting in...whether they're fully clothed or not is completely irrelevant! ;)





SM: How did you and Jeff develop the characters that make up the cast of the Brandi Bare series?



JP: It usually started with a character design and if it's something I found I wanted to draw over and over in a comic story :). Then we'd bounce ideas back and forth about what purpose the character needed to serve in the story. And then I would go back to changing the character design around a bit to fit the character more specifically for their tasks.





SM: You offer a lot of art rewards with each of your Kickstarter campaigns, how many pieces do you typically end up doing for a campaign?



JP: For the past couple Kickstarters, I've had over a hundred art rewards to complete for each campaign. Which is great because I really enjoy getting to do a variety of drawings, paintings, etc. Sometimes someone will ask for one of my characters to be drawn, other times it's a more established character in the comic world.



SM: How do you like the creative atmosphere in your studio? Do you like it quiet, music playing...



JP: I don't like it particularly quiet when I'm drawing. I usually have YouTube or Twitch going on in the background, listening to people playing games I don't have as much time for anymore :). Either that or random documentaries on Netflix. But yeah, I can't have quiet, I need some noise, but not something like a new movie or show that I'd have to pay attention to.







JP: Really, it's because I like the challenge of drawing freckles :). Red hair usually looks good with the colors I like to work with, but adding freckles on a female's face isn't as easy as it might seem. It's quite easy to just make her look like she's got the measles or chicken pox :). Adding more lines to a woman's face usually makes her look older, so I like the challenge of adding more lines (well dots really) to a face and trying to keep her cute. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's fun to try. :)



SM: When you did your first Kickstarter campaign for Brandi Bare #3, did you expect that you would be able to make your comics a couple of times a year, with steady growth in backers?



JP: I was terribly nervous when I was launching my first Kickstarter (though even with the latest, I was pretty nervous too). You never know if it's something that's going to connect with people or even find an audience on Kickstarter. You hope it will, but until it's out there, you really can't be sure. I'm thankful people seem to enjoy the books and Kickstarter campaigns. I had no idea if people were going to be interested in it, but sometimes you just have to take the leap into the pool without sticking your toe in first. Sometimes it's a belly flop, but every once in a while it works out. :)



SM: What types of art assignments do you take on when not doing your own comics?



JP: It's usually more random stuff, like sketch cards, private commissions, odd covers here and there, or traveling to artist alleys at comic conventions. I love that Kickstarter has allowed me to focus on making the kinds of comics I want to make and I'm thankful there's an avenue like that for independent creators and fans to get together on a project.

SM: You offer a lot of art rewards with each of your Kickstarter campaigns, how many pieces do you typically end up doing for a campaign?JP: For the past couple Kickstarters, I've had over a hundred art rewards to complete for each campaign. Which is great because I really enjoy getting to do a variety of drawings, paintings, etc. Sometimes someone will ask for one of my characters to be drawn, other times it's a more established character in the comic world.SM: How do you like the creative atmosphere in your studio? Do you like it quiet, music playing...JP: I don't like it particularly quiet when I'm drawing. I usually have YouTube or Twitch going on in the background, listening to people playing games I don't have as much time for anymore :). Either that or random documentaries on Netflix. But yeah, I can't have quiet, I need some noise, but not something like a new movie or show that I'd have to pay attention to.SM: You recently created a Patreon centered around art of redheads. Why are redheads the most fun for you to draw?JP: Really, it's because I like the challenge of drawing freckles :). Red hair usually looks good with the colors I like to work with, but adding freckles on a female's face isn't as easy as it might seem. It's quite easy to just make her look like she's got the measles or chicken pox :). Adding more lines to a woman's face usually makes her look older, so I like the challenge of adding more lines (well dots really) to a face and trying to keep her cute. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's fun to try. :)SM: When you did your first Kickstarter campaign for Brandi Bare #3, did you expect that you would be able to make your comics a couple of times a year, with steady growth in backers?JP: I was terribly nervous when I was launching my first Kickstarter (though even with the latest, I was pretty nervous too). You never know if it's something that's going to connect with people or even find an audience on Kickstarter. You hope it will, but until it's out there, you really can't be sure. I'm thankful people seem to enjoy the books and Kickstarter campaigns. I had no idea if people were going to be interested in it, but sometimes you just have to take the leap into the pool without sticking your toe in first. Sometimes it's a belly flop, but every once in a while it works out. :)SM: What types of art assignments do you take on when not doing your own comics?JP: It's usually more random stuff, like sketch cards, private commissions, odd covers here and there, or traveling to artist alleys at comic conventions. I love that Kickstarter has allowed me to focus on making the kinds of comics I want to make and I'm thankful there's an avenue like that for independent creators and fans to get together on a project.





Details and updates on the Kickstarter can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/595152427/brandi-bare-field-trip

