A love-sick snake, a friendly shark, a super awesome lizard and an endearing father-son dinosaur pair — wondering where you can find these animals? Liz Climo, author of The Little World of Liz Climo and animator, conjures up a series of cartoons that come with life lessons and heart-rending gestures that make you wish these animals were your friends.
Starting out as an animator and working her way up to a storyboard revisionist on the popular and widely watched The Simpsons TV show, Liz Climo says that watching the show growing up helped her a lot. “I would sit in front of the TV and practise drawing the characters. It was a huge help when I had to work on the show!” Now, Liz Climo’s tumblr blog lizclimo.tumblr.com publishes daily toons, book releases and free wallpapers of her animal toons.
Liz’s other publication The Little World of Liz Climo impresses with whimsical animal characters such as rabbits, anteaters, grizzly bears and lizards with real-life emotions, relationships and problems. In her cartoons, a bear wears a monocle, an armadillo dresses for Halloween, dinosaurs wrap themselves as a present and a snake eats Christmas candy. There’s plenty of humour and cheeky lines.
So, what inspires her and where do her ideas stem from? “I’ve always loved drawing, but have never been great at drawing people,” says Liz. “When I had ideas for comics, I struggled drawing them and was never happy with how they turned out. Eventually, I started drawing animals instead, but in human-like situations. I always get ideas from conversations I have with my friends, co-workers and family.”
When it comes to the book of comics, Liz feels that daily life is a definite inspiration.
“When I wrote Rory the Dinosaur, I didn’t have a child, but now I have a young daughter and I find the story similar to my relationship with her. I must have subconsciously reflected on experiences from my childhood and my relationship with my parents.”
Rory the Dinosaur: Me and My Dad is scheduled to release in May this year and the author is visibly excited about it.
Rory and his dad make frequent appearances on Liz’s blog with his endearing questions that highlight the father-son relationship.
“The picture book features a rambunctious young dinosaur and his dad. Rory decides he wants to be independent and goes on a little adventure, but encounters some obstacles along the way. Luckily, his dad is never far behind.”
When Liz is not illustrating animal comics or storyboarding for The Simpsons, what does she do?
“I am sort of a homebody, and I seem to be happiest relaxing in my living room with my family. But I also love going out with friends, and am a big fan of karaoke. My favourite song is Enter Sandman by Metallica.”
