Hey there fellow comic book nerds and nerdettes! Welcome to We Love Your Work, where we spotlight creators, writers, and artist we admire. We will discuss their work, careers, and share personal stories.

This is We Love Your Work #20: Vince Dorse. Vince is a wonderfully talented animator who is responsible for creating “Untold Tales of Bigfoot“. Vince has been publishing “Untold Tales of Bigfoot” since 2012 and is currently promoting a Kickstarter campaign to fund publishing a full length graphic novel. We strongly urge you to support if you are a fan of funny and heart-warming tales of friendship for the whole family. Check out our conversation is below…What is the story behind your introduction to the “arts”? Were you encouraged at a young age by family? Is there something that stands out in your mind as an early inspiration?

I guess I never really thought about it growing up, but yeah, both my parents played musical instruments and sang, and my dad was always sketching and doodling cartoons. So I can’t put my finger on any specific source of inspiration but I’ve been doing the art thing for as long as I can remember. And my parents both encouraged me in their own ways. My Dad was effusive with his praise, and my Mom was pretty incisive with her critiques. It was actually a good balance. Without one or the other, things would’ve gone off the rails pretty quickly.

Who are your greatest influences when it comes to your writing/artistic style?

With my Bigfoot comic, I don’t know if it’s as evident to others as it is to me, but it feels like I take a lot of inspiration from the Golden Age of Cartoons – Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, Disney…I had a pretty steady diet of that stuff growing up. And it feels like Henson’s Muppets are somewhere in there too. So, lots of kids television, but also stacks and stacks of comics – Gold Key, Harvey, retro stuff with bold, expressive linework and bright colors. Bouncy story arcs. That stuff sticks with you, even from childhood.

Is there anything in particular that you find inspires or informs your work? (e.g. authors, books, music, films, architecture)

Huh. I never really considered what other media informs my stuff. I have fairly eclectic tastes. Nothing too wacky, but it swings from pretty upbeat stuff to darker stuff. I like having fun while I’m working. Sometimes that means throwing on some cartoons in the background or listening to pop tunes. But sometimes it feels good to feel bad, you know? So maybe I’ll dial up a horror movie or flip through a murder mystery. Whatever energizes me at the moment. If I’m not having fun, if I don’t feel that energy, it shows on the page.

Is there something you can tell us about your process that is unique to you? (e.g. materials, tools, software)

I think I have a pretty run-of-the-mill process as far as this comic goes. Sketch on paper, scan, ink and color in the computer. Pretty standard process. I have a cat that pesters me the entire time I’m working on my art, and from what I hear, that’s also pretty standard. In general, I learn a lot by looking into other people’s process. Proven methods that work across the board can streamline the process. And time is at a premium, so why reinvent the wheel?

What are some themes you hope to explore in The Untold Tales of Bigfoot?

Overall, it’s about friendship– how vital that is to survival, the sacrifices your make in the name of it – and all the things that surround and effect friendship – loss, loneliness, trust, loyalty. They’re the kind of things both kids and adults instinctively understand on a visceral level.

How did the concept for The Untold Tales of Bigfoot come about?

Like any idea, it developed from a lot of disconnected things that coalesced into the final concept. Bottom to top it went like this: I’d sketched out a cartoony Bigfoot for a friend and immediately saw storytelling potential..but he didn’t have a story. Some things I’d been going through personally – isolation, loneliness, and the loss of a pet who was really a great friend to me – started to work themselves out in the story outlines forming in my head. When I started sketching it out on paper, it all fell into place.

If you could see any artist, living or dead, create art based on any comic character of your choice, who would that artist be and what character would you choose?

Feels like I should mention someone who’s no longer with us just so we get something – anything, one more illustration – from a passed master. As for the subject matter, I’m gonna be selfish and pick my Bigfoot and Scout characters because if I’m bringing someone back from the great beyond to draw pictures, you bet they’re gonna draw my characters. But who? Someone like Will Eisner…with his fluid ink lines and cartoon sensibility? That would be amazing. Or John Stanley’s retro wackiness! He’s got a way with funny monsters. That might be perfect. Or wait…a color concept illustration by Haunted Mansion imagineer Marc Davis. The perfect mix of humour and horror. Kinda’ like Charles Addams. Who’d also be perfect. This is really impossible to choose. If this were a real thing I’d have blown it already. Maybe something simple and clean like a Charles Schulz line drawing. Black and white, no color. He knew something about isolation. And puppies. Yeah. Any of those guys would be perfect.

Is there a project that sits on your back burner that you wish you had more time for or perhaps an idea for a project whose full scope you’ve yet to be able to map out?

There are so many comic ideas and children’s book pitches that are just scribbles in a sketchbook right now. I’d love to have the freedom to pursue some of those, but the paying illustration gigs take precedence. So, no, not one, single dream project…just the dream of completing the twenty projects I wish I had time for.

If you could choose 5 people, living or dead, fictional or nonfictional, to be on your side in a bar fight, who would they be?

This is easy. I don’t even have to think about it: Batman, Bugs Bunny, Bruce Lee, Brock Samson, and Bigfoot. Is it okay they all start with “B”? And I know you’re thinking Bigfoot’s the weak link there because he’s gentle and kind (mine is, anyway), but besides being crazy strong, he’s a good buddy of mine. So I know he’d have my back if things went south. The other four are just unbeatable in combat and enjoy a good brawl now and again. ***

For More from Vince Morse check out the links below…