Are you Skinny Panda?
No, I am not Skinny Panda. His head is just a tad larger.
How do you create the strip?
In terms of materials, I use a steel tip nib pen, Hunt #102 nib for drawing, Hunt #512 nib for lettering, Speedball Super Black India ink and Canson two-ply vellum bristol board. When the drawing’s ready, I scan it at 600dpi in black & white mode into Photoshop and use the paintbrush tool for touch-ups. Then I save this file as a BMP file for possible use in printed material (black & white bitmap images print nice and clean). Then, to create the online image, I switch to grayscale mode, reduce the comic to 750 pixels wide, use the “levels” feature to lighten-up the lines and then export it to GIF format.
Why was the strip gone for most of 2001?
Initially, it was only supposed to be a short vacation while I was living in temporary housing and all of my computer equipment and art supplies were in storage.
But then after I found a new apartment and settled in, I decided that I had a responsibility to come back with some sort of “improved” version of Skinny Panda. Well, the accumulating pressure slowly paralyzed me. Soon days begat weeks, and weeks begat months.
Finally, I just bit the bullet and decided to just go ahead and continue what I was doing before. I’m hoping any sort of evolution and “improvement” come during the actual process. We shall see.
I can’t thank enough all the people who emailed me during those dubious 12 months. Skinny Panda probably wouldn’t have returned without you.
And 2004?
Confidence issue. Still working on it. *ahem* Next question...
And 2007?
*cough* *ack* *cough* Water, please...
Are you trying to get Skinny Panda published in newspapers?
Not actively. I go back and forth on it all the time. While it’s nice to have the freedom the publish pretty much anything I want, it’s difficult to make a living without the sales and marketing support a syndicate provides. I don’t know. It hurts my head thinking about it. Next question, please...
Can I post one of your strips on my site?
If it’s for your personal site, then sure, go ahead and take it. Just please make sure to the URL so I can fuel my ego by seeing it. If it’s for a commercial site, or other commercial use, then please first.
Where are the Skinny Panda t-shirts?!?
Gah! I’ve been meaning to get down to making some for, oh, several years now. Maybe this year, I hope. I’ve been deterred by the fact that whenever I’ve designed a t-shirt for anyone in the past (6 or 7 occurences, I believe), at least one thing has gone terribly wrong. This time, I’ll try to get it right. Any suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
For even more info...
Wanna know how the Skinny Panda character was birthed? Or why the strip’s in black and white? Check out my interview on Comixpedia. Want more? Ask me a question in the Ask The Phil forum, or feel free to send me an e-mail using the form below.
 
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May 19, 2008

Hi, kids.

Sorry for the inconsistency with the posts. I am trying to stick to a M-W-F schedule. However, getting to sleep at a reasonable hour is a high priority these days.

When Skinny Panda first started nine years ago (PUNG!), I had no problem getting through the workday on 3 hours of sleep. But now that I'm old and crusty, I need at least seven or else my gizzards fall out.

So why did I decide to "go color" these past few weeks even though it adds hours to the process? Ho ho ho... stop asking silly questions, you silly munchkin...

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