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Table of Contents

1. Anticipation and Assumption | Illustration

2. What a Wonderful World! | Comic

3. Rambunctious Muffins - An Exercise in Detail | Illustration

4. Bi-Weekly Recommendations | Closing Thoughts

Anticipation and Assumption

There are a number of different ways I try to approach humor in my artwork. With something like comics, you have a set number of panels to establish and tell your joke. You can play with expectations, timing, contrast, you name it. When it comes to a standalone piece, all of the options are still on the table, but I think the true creativity comes from figuring out how to distill something funny into a single moment, expression, or character interaction. In my opinion, the big two for humor are anticipation (predicting what will happen based on the information you receive, something you can experience with the characters, or unbeknownst to them), and assumption (where an event or interaction has already taken place, and we are left filling in the gaps). The two can exist on their own, or be combined to really bring life to your work.

In most creative work, imagination and pattern recognition from the audience is what sells the attempted illusion. Landscape painters do this all the time. Rather than craft infinite, laborious details, they do just enough for the brain to connect the dots. Next time you are at a museum, get as close as you can to an artwork and slowly step back until everything perfectly comes into view. The same can be said with humor! Take both pieces from the most recent newsletter featuring our favorite rhinos!

Anticipation:

We understand that in a few seconds the meeting of both our characters might not be the most comfortable, but how it happens is left to the viewer.

And then assumption:

The event has already taken place, but seeing the aftermath tells a more fulfilling story, and the humor is implied.

Let’s do a few more! This next scene is a before and after, but the goal is for each piece to stand on it’s own if you didn’t have access to the full story.

Let’s start with anticipation again:

If we only had this photo, it leaves a bit more to the audience. Maybe our character has been working tirelessly to perfect his potion and finally, after days without sleep, he is going to get it right. Maybe he has absolutely no idea what happens if he mixes both vials, or his unfounded confidence will lead to his demise. Who knows, but the anticipation is enough to keep us engaged.

Let’s move to the assumption:

Ah…now we see what became of his experiment. It completes the story, but if we only had this image to go on, we wouldn’t know how it happened, only that something has gone terribly wrong. The two images create a narrative together, but also separately as well!

Let’s throw in one more just for fun, combining BOTH anticipation and assumption!

Here we get to play both sides of the coin. In the background we clearly see something that’s taken place, and we can assume how it happened. In the foreground, we are waiting for the moment our character realizes the same thing as us, and we get to decide what that looks like.

Tactics like these are used in almost every form of creative work, especially in comedy, tragedy, and horror. The mind of the audience is your greatest strength in creating any kind of positive, negative, or neutral tension, so if and when you can, do it!

What a Wonderful World! - 6/10/2026

(Scroll down to see the full comic!)

Do we think cartoons feel the same way about hyper realism as we do about cartoons?

Rambunctious Muffins

An Exercise in Detail

Every once in a while I have an artwork that I return to for months, adding something small every time I visit. Most of the time, the piece starts out unassuming, usually a little empty, and sits on the shelf for a while. Over time, I’ve found that just like reworking on old drawing, consistently adding small details to a once lonely artwork is the best way to create a jam-packed little world. By the time that you step away, you not only know every nook and cranny on the page, but everything seems to have it’s own story. Here is one of my most recent detail-laden projects, which I decided to call Rambunctious Muffins.

This piece began as a simple sketch, and one week at a time, I added more muffins, more decor, more expressions, more knick knacks, more patterns and all of a sudden, here we are! Sometimes keeping things simple is the way to go, but counter to my point about landscape painting from above, leaning into an excess of detail can be such a fun and rewarding process. Take a look at the before and after!

Bi-Weekly Recommendations

• Go stand really close to a painting, then really far away, then somewhere in the middle. Notice how the artwork changes based on your vantage point!

• A few songs to make your drive home a little bit better:

  • “Edge of the Earth” by The Beaches

  • “Happier Times Ahead” by RAYE

  • “High Maintenance” by Paul Russell

Support My Work!

If you enjoy what I do, please consider a donation! Not only does it support the time and effort I put into my work, but it also allows me to create more. Anything is greatly appreciated!

Thank you for being here.

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