Interview by Wesley Edwards - https://www.wesleyedwardsart.com 1) Hey Sam, thanks for taking the time to do this interview, can we start with giving us a brief introduction to who you are and what is boundless bard? Hey! Thank you for inviting me to participate! I’m Samby Sayward, an indie comic creator distributing comics under my own publishing brand, Boundless Bard. I make comics about BADASS WOMEN, and am best known for my new generation fairytale series Daughters of Grimm. 2) what was the inspiration behind your boundless bard comic, we’re there specific movies, comics or shows that inspired you and made you think “hey I could do that? I started making comics under Boundless Bard during a time when mainstream media was still struggling to grasp the idea of “female empowerment”, or at least in the way I was looking for. Even the most badass of women always seemed to become a damsel in the end or eye candy for the audience or the male protagonist. The final push for me was watching Kingsman--a marvelously fun movie, but disappointing when it came to a lot of the female characters. My mini comic The Damsel, was an experiment with capturing that same super spy fun, while turning the idea of heroes and damsels on its head. Finishing that comic was the boost that told me, “Hey, I could totally do more of this.” 3) when you were first laying out your comic, how much of story structure did you learn ahead of time? Are you someone who likes to plan everything out at the beginning or do you just like to follow the story and see where it goes? In other words are you a “gardener” or an “architect”? I think I’m mostly an “architect”. I’ve done a lot of research on story structure, from college classes to personal study. Tools like archetypes, theme, character arcs and the hero’s journey help craft a succinct story that people can connect to. Though I can’t say I don’t “garden” too. Part of this is because if I let myself plan out absolutely everything before starting, I’d never make anything. But also, sometimes a character or experience just speaks to me and says, “Your blueprint’s all wrong!” And then I just have to see where this new garden vine is going as it winds up and off the structure I built. 4) growing up who inspired you the most in art? What were the things that you geekied out on growing up and are they the same now, or have your tastes evolved? Oh, I think growing up, my biggest inspiration was Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece. I still love how fun, expressive, and creative all his characters and story lines are. But his work was the start of my manga nerdom. I actually studied comic creation in college so I could try to work at Shonen Jump, the best-selling manga magazine in Japan. I dropped that plan pretty quick when I found out how much life force goes into writing and drawing 20 comic pages a week, but my college years introduced me to the expanded world of art and entertainment. I think nowadays, I geek out most about indie comics (mostly webcomics) and animation, though I still have a substantial number of manga volumes I look back to from time to time. 5) the last time we chatted you were streaming your comic creation process online, are you still streaming on twitch? How has opening up your process for others to watch changed the way you make comics? I actually had to stop streaming about 6 months ago. But I did learn a lot about my process through it--particularly the value trusting my instincts. I’m not a great multitasker. And I LOVE hanging out with everyone online. So, while streaming, a lot of attention and thought I usually put into my work was given to my twitch community instead. This made it hard to do foundational work, but my inks and color detailing went a lot better while on stream because I couldn’t overthink it. Though I’m not streaming anymore, I try to get into that flow state when I find myself stuck. Just reminding myself, if I don’t like it, I can erase it. It’s not a big deal. 6) you just recently got accepted at webtoons! Congrats! What has your experience been so far? Do they expect you to post on schedule? It would be really cool to see you show up as a regular. Thank you so much! I’ve been a Webtoon Canvas creator for a while, but being featured as a Canvas Staff Pick was such an honor, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive support from new readers! The growing community has given me the opportunity to join the ad revenue sharing program, and I’m so excited for what that could mean for the future of Daughters of Grimm. I’ve always wanted my work to be freely accessible to people, and this new support from Webtoon Canvas and the Canvas community gives me hope of doing so sustainably. Though I don’t have to keep a schedule besides uploading once a month, I’m dedicated to posting updates every 1st and 3rd Thursday. 7) what comics are you reading now, and can you recommend some fellow web toon or webcomic artists that are worth checking out? Oh man, I’m reading so many… My top favorite comic right now is definitely Spirit Fingers on Webtoon. It’s about a girl who learns to gain confidence in herself after stumbling into and joining a drawing club. It’s so inspiring and heartwarming! I’m also getting a kick out of Erika and the Princes in Distress (also on Webtoon). It totally flips the gender roles of fantasy adventure stories, and the art style is just so fun. Some other great webcomics with badass women include Carciphona and its AU Amongst Us, Ava’s Demon, Muted, and Shiloh. And you HAVE to read Shiloh’s author’s notes at the end of each episode. They seriously tickle me. 8) for those that are looking to improve their craft at storytelling or creating illustrations what kind of advice would you give them? I think the biggest advice I can give is don’t worry about your work being perfect, but make it your best. In my college years, and even a bit after, I spent a lot of time worrying about perfection, or what my art was in comparison to others, and during that time, I hardly finished anything. In recent years, I’ve approached comics with the thought, “This isn’t going to be perfect, but I’ll FINISH it, and it’ll be better than my last one.” I’ve learned so much more, and improved so much more in a couple years with this mindset than in 4-6 years of strategizing toward perfection. Not to mention, I actually have finished comics to show for it. 9) do you have a long term overarching plan of what you want your career and life look like in a few years? Or do you just shoot from the hip? I definitely have an “ideal image” of my future, but I’ve become somewhat fluid in my plans of getting there. Last year, I had very specific ideas of what I was going to do, and when--perhaps overzealous ideas at that--and ended up doing a serious number on myself, stretching too thin. So now, I try to plan for the short term, while keeping my future goals in mind. Basically analysing what resources, opportunities, and tasks are presently available to me, and choosing what to focus on based on my long term goals. My current focus is making Daughters of Grimm the best it can be, but I’m excited to see what else I can do in the future. 10) how are you holding up in quarantine? I imagine you’re getting a lot of work done! It’s definitely been productive! I’m working hard on the next arcs of Daughters of Grimm, and using some of the extra time to analyze and improve my processes. It’s been awesome getting to step away from the usual hustle to see what’s working and what isn’t. And hopefully, this analysis will lead to an increase in quality for future content! 11) Any shoutouts? Where can people follow you online? I want to give a shout out to my family and friends, who have been so supportive of my work from the very beginning; to my creative peers, who keep me inspired; and to my online community, who have given so much encouragement and validation to my stories and characters. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at the handle @boundlessbard, and follow the story of Daughters of Grimm for free on Webtoon. You can also sign up for my newsletter on boundlessbard.com. https://www.boundlessbard.com https://www.facebook.com/boundlessbard/ https://twitter.com/boundlessbard https://www.instagram.com/boundlessbard |
AuthorNorth Texas Nerd is a site for news, reviews, interviews, and opinions about all pop culture and geeky things happening and being made in North Texas. Archives
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