Bill Nichols’ Prescription:
Comics 10ccs of the Process with
Emily Pearson

What inspires you to create and keeps you going? 

Everything, other artists, especially ones that are my friends. I think of artists as a big community that constantly shares their ideas and inspiration out into the world and it allows us to all bounce off one another. 

Do you have a set routine? 

I do! I have a very strict routine that I set in google calendar for myself. It keeps me accountable because if I don’t follow it, it’s very easy for me to get distracted. 

What kind of output do you try to achieve? 

I’m currently trying to re-figure this out. When I was in comics it was very clear that I just had to do 22 pages a month. Working in games, the workload is much more lax so I’m trying to find a balance of making enough work while making sure the quality doesn’t suffer. 

What inspires you WHEN you create? 

Music? Noise? Silence? I like music a lot! Sometimes talking to friends, listening to audio books, or mythology podcasts are really nice, but I sometimes have to avoid things with people talking when I need to focus a lot, like if I’m sketching. 

Who was the first comic book creator that influenced you to pursue this? 

Fiona Staples. She was one of the first books I saw with a female name on the cover. That wasn’t as common during that time, and also seeing how amazing of an artist and how different her style and approach was to comics was very inspiring. 

When did you realize you could follow this path yourself? 

I think it honestly took my first book being out. Art is difficult, and I’ve always had a lot of self doubt around my skills, so having that safety net of knowing I did it once helped pushed me to keep going. 

What do you find to be a challenge in creating? 

Everything! I think the challenges get easier as you get better, but I still just find drawing challenging at times. There’s so many avenues to learn with art, and fundamentals as simple as perspective, anatomy, or color/light take forever to master. 

What else do you have to learn? 

I think right now I’m focused on trying to get a little faster, and expanding my visual library. What keeps you motivated to get better? I think I’m just really interested in learning. There’s so many things I want to be able to do, and I love using art as a means to share my life with people. 

Can you turn your brain (creativity) off (and on)? 

Kind of. I think I make settings for myself or when it’s “work time” or “drawing for fun” time, or just simply, lets move the tablet and read or play video games. As cool as creating and art is, I think it’s important to have times where we’re not always doing it. 

Booster Shots 

What advice do you have for aspiring creators? 

It’s really important to not lose sight of why you’re creating. I think a lot of us do it to have fun, or to tell stories, but then forget that and overwork ourselves. If you’re creating to improve your quality of life, then overworking yourself counteracts that. 

Do you ever worry about running out of ideas? 

I think especially since I started doing concept art, I worry about that a lot more. I’m starting to realize it’s more of something that just needs to be recharged though. 

How do you handle the slow times? 

With freelance, I would generally find other ways to occupy my time. Usually working on personal projects or portfolio. 

Do you have a website or link to promote your work?

Here!