Dahnaus Dominase Grensbury a.k.a. Jeffrey M. Swanson "The Jellyfish Coddle" www.thejellyfishcoddle.com All images Copyright Jeffrey M. Swanson

Welcome to Omnecient, the online comic bio and how to.
I’m your host Dahnaus Dominase Grensbury, the creative force behind The Jellyfish Coddle.
I’ll try not to repeat anything found in the history page, which was more of an evolution of my comics, where here it’s all me, and Omnecient.

Anyway, the idea behind Omnecient all started with two books I read once a while back.  They where books devoted to children’s book authors and artists, it took you into there world showing how they got started and how they do there work.

Well I loved those books but sadly don’t remember there names, but the inspiration stuck, and years later Omnecient was born, well on paper in a file anyway!  O.k. the file was a box but very efficient if you liked digging for your stuff.  All in all almost a year into the life of the Coddle I remembered the idea Of Omnecient and dug up the papers form my box, then contacted several cartoonist and well your looking at the results.

On to the questions

Here’s where I get to interview myself.

1.) Tell us about yourself and how your personality and such reflects in your comic?
I’m a strange one, If I would ask my friends why they like me they would mostly say it was the crazy Ideas I come up with or the fact that I make sound effects when I talk.  You know to get my point across better. Anyway, my personality is everywhere in my comics, or it is the comics. I’ll let you choose.

2.) What inspires you?
Classic sci fi movies, really well done and written comics, good ideas backed by the drive to accomplish the said Idea. Basically inspiration itself.

3.) What comics do you like, and who influenced you?
Berke Breathed, and Pearls before the swine are the only ones on my shelf.  But pearls came too late to inspire the older work of mine.  In the graphic novel world I like unique comics, I’m not really into the basic superhero comic, though I do like super heroes, just not into reading there comics, lately I’ve been reading inverloch, and flight.  All well worth checking out.  And I always have a soft spot for the Transformers.

4.) How did you come up with your Comic, what sparked its creation?
This was actually explained in the history section of the Coddle, except for the new comic Out Under, which is featured in issue 13.  That one came from me wanting to syndicate, yet the ones I had I didn’t think I could syndicate, so I tried to make a new comic, and failed because of my trying.  It wasn’t until I stopped trying that it all popped into my head one day.  It started with issue 12,  in the When Nature Goes Nuts Strip, I had a new friend for my character bear over for a visit, it was a cute and very likable Koala Bear, well I liked this character so much I decided to make a strip around him, and it all just kind of came together.  I made all the characters and wrote 3 strips in one day and knew that I had a new comic.

5.) How did you come up with your characters, which is your favorite?
a lot of my characters came from just drawing, basically just draw until you have something that looks good. Then the personality comes with time or fine tunes with time.  There are some that are born from strips like the Koala Bear, the Squirrels In When Nature Goes Nuts came from a random strip about two squirrels stealing toilet paper from a grocery store, running into the distance yelling- “To The Trees!!!”  My explanation for toilet papered trees.   As far as who I like best, well you just have to look and see who I use most.

6.) What’s your method for writing a comic or story, and how long does it usually take?
It could take for ever or 1 minute or 5 seconds, but it usually takes a couple minutes.  How I write is simply letting the characters do the writing, just take some characters and have them chat or interact with something in my head until something funny happens.  For me it works. For you I have no Idea.

7.) Most important, and the reason for all this- What’s the step by step process of creating your comic, from writing to coloring or where ever you end?
Well I already explained the writing, except for the graphic novels or children story’s, which I will do promptly.  The story’s I write come from letting go, and letting the story write it self.  You have to have a lot of faith with this process, for it will take you somewhere that may seem stupid and may not make sense but if you stick with it, it will suddenly fit everything together and amaze the hell out of you. that’s one thing that could happen, all in all you just got to write, and don’t worry about where it’s going or if it’s any good. The stuff I use to write back in my youth, was poorly written yet it paved the way to what I do today.  And not only writing will make you better but the things you learn and do in life will also add to your ability’s.  So yeah just write, and don’t say you can’t for you become what you believe.  Anyway when I draw my comics, I start out with a script just plainly written out.  Then I circle these words indicating to me how many panels the comic will have.  Then I draw a crude sketch of the comic and how it will look and work out.  Then I ruler down the lines for the comic boxes, and finally start drawing.
And if something repeats itself, which it often does in my comics, I simple use a light table that I made myself and will explain later for those that haven’t already figured it out.  Then I use the light table again and ink the comic onto a blank sheet of paper, all in all using a light table leaves me with a clean ink job.  Then I scan the comics and darken the lines and color the comic on the computer.  And finally give it a title and size it up accordingly and send it off to my web master when I have an entire issue ready that is.

8.) Plans for the future?
To keep doing the Coddle ever evolving it, and such, and I’m getting into stop motion animation and possible see what I can do if I mingle the comics with the stop motion or something. The sky’s not the limit!

All in all what I would like to convey to any hopeful comic strip artists is that anything goes, and any tools go. Don’t limit the way you do your comic, or the way you write them, and don’t give up to easy.  Everything evolves, even a comic strip, especially a comic strip!  And don’t be afraid of showing off your work!!!! Fear of someone stealing your baby is one of the biggest fears in this line of work.  So know your rights, or know your copyrights!  Here’s a section taken from the copyright Office Official web site http://www.copyright.gov/

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all the following three elements:

1. The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word “Copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.”; and
2. The year of first publication of the work. In the case of compilations or derivative works incorporating previously published material, the year date of first publication of the compilation or derivative work is sufficient. The year date may be omitted where a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with accompanying textual matter, if any, is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful article; and
3. The name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner.

Example: © 2006 John Doe

All in all have fun with your comic, and don’t loose touch with you fun,
for that’s when you loose touch with your comic!

How to make a light table.
This is really simple and I only put it here for there are those people in the world that have a hard time thinking out side the box.  So yeah this is for you folk to busy to think about the alternative.

1. find your self a desk.
2. cut a hole in center of desk using a drill and a jig saw.  Basically just drill holes so as you can get the jig saw a place to start cutting.  Make the hole as big as you want, or need.
3. get yourself a piece of tracing paper big enough to cover the hole.  This is to tone down on the light coming from the light table, so your eyes don’t get all messed up.
4. tape the tracing paper or what ever you find that is like tracing paper over the hole.
5. buy a piece of plexi glass, big enough to cover the entire desk, and the thickness depends on how big your hole in the desk is.  The hole in my desk is only 12x8 and I use 1/8th thick plexi glass.
6. fasten the plexi glass to desk, tape it or screw it down.  Be sure to drill hole in the plexi glass before using screws or it will crack and make a mess out of your desk top.
7. get your self a small fluorescent light box. They cost about $600.  And fasten it under the hole in your desk.
   This is the tricky part, for I can not help you with this part for every desk is different.  Just use your mind, how can I fasten this under the hole in my desk?  Keep asking and you will find a way, or ask a friend that’s good with things like that.  As far as my desk, I have nothing under my desk top to latch on too, so I used two L shaped brackets screwed into the Light box and then onto the desk tops bottom under the light table.  Just make sure you don’t screw threw to the top of your desk!
8. plug in your light box and you have a light table.  You can also tweak your new light table by installing an on off switch, I use a regular light switch the same you find on your bedroom wall, but be careful when messing with electricity, and make sure nothing is plugged in before messing with the wires and such, and remember I’m not responsible if you get electrocuted, that’s your own stupid fault!  Just don’t do anything your unsure is all.

Now go make some comics

All images Copyright Jeffrey M. Swanson.
No reproduction of any material is allowed in any format without written permission.

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