Stephan Pastis
Stephan Pastis
Stephan Thomas Pastisis an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. He has since begun writing children's chapter books, commencing the release of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made and the second and third Timmy Failure, which debuted at #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Middle Grade Books...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth16 January 1968
CitySan Marino, CA
CountryUnited States of America
When you do anything creative, you really have to live entirely in that world. I think my ability to do that is what makes me such a bad dinner guest. I'm always looking over someone's shoulder, taking in stuff around the room, immersed in the world of whatever I'm writing about, and keeping the characters completely in my head.
Thomas, my 15-year-old, is effectively my editor, I've always trusted his voice, more than anybody, on the strip for years. He has one of those ears that's just tuned to the rhythm of humor, so if he says something's not funny, my stomach just hurts because I know he's right, and it's already been drawn.
Whenever I see people with their collars up, I'm tempted to point it out to them like you would for someone who has a food stain on their shirt or food in their teeth, as if to say, 'Your fashion sense is so offensive I'm assuming it's some sort of accident you'll want to fix.
It's best to love your family as you would a Siberian tiger-from a distance, preferably separated by bars.
I was a lawyer for 10 years, and when youre in law, things really have to get done, or somebody sues you. Its a great trick.
The writing is done on the computer, and the drawing is done by hand. I write, write, write, then I hit the illustration.
Sticking to my schedule, Ive gotten over seven months ahead, which allowed me to write a Pearls Before Swine movie script for the big screen.
A stand-up comedian faces the audiences and gets their immediate feedback. I hide behind the comic strip, and unless people write to me, I dont know what they think.
You can write a little and can draw a little, but there's necessarily a limitation on both in a comic strip, since it appears in such a tiny space.
Basically, I learned to read by reading 'Peanuts,' just wanting to know what they were saying.
Brits have a better sense of humor in most ways. It's darker, more cutting.
If you're from a certain generation, you basically learn to read with 'Peanuts.' It's sort of the template for the modern strip. Its influence ceased to be noticed because it's in everything.
Repeats are the absolute soul-crushing killers of the comics page.
The phrase 'I just turn on my monkey and it makes me feel good' sounds very dirty, but I can't explain why. It's great to try to use expressions like that on the comics page. People want to complain but they can't, because they can't figure out quite what they should be complaining about.