David Gilbert, creator of Buckles
"What
did you do to get syndicated?" To get syndicated I simply drew
up 24 daily comic strips of Buckles and sent them to the major syndicates.
"How long did it take you to get syndicated?" It took me a few years. I sent my first comic strip idea to the syndicates during my first year of college and continued doing so until Buckles came together. Three syndicates found an interest in him and I decided to go with King Features. From there, Buckles was on a development period where I'd submit work to King and we'd iron out the workings of the entire strip. Nothing changed from my original design, thankfully.
"What's the one piece of advice you'd give to someone trying to get a foot in the door?" The one piece of advice I'd give someone trying to get a foot in the door is draw about yourself. Buckles is almost entirely me...but on paper. He is everything that I looked at and found in myself whether I liked it or not (example: he's insecure). The funny thing about these things I found is that they ARE funny! It's easy to make fun of your self and besides that, I know exactly how Buckles will react in any situation and it's GENUINE. A lot of people who have contacted me about Buckles treat him as if he were real. It's mainly because he IS. He's me!
Another thing I get a lot e-mail about is what I
draw on and what I draw with. I start by writing down the ideas in a
regular everyday blank pad of
paper. I then move to the drawing stage. I sketch
everything in a #2 hard pencil on Bienfang smooth surface drawing bristol board then ink
them with a #1 round Princeton Art brush and Speedball super black waterproof India Ink.
The lettering and comic strip borders are drawn with a Sharpie ultra fine point permanent
marker. At this point the daily strips are ready to be e-mailed to King Features.
The Sunday strips are scanned into my computer and colored in Photoshop. The colored copies are e-mailed to American Color and a black copy is sent to King Features for proof reading. The hardest part of this entire process for me is coming up with the ideas. Some days I can spend the whole day and not come up with a single descent idea, while other days I can whip out six or so in no time!
Influences include:
Thanks David!
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