In addition to creating Breaking the Ice, John Keating is also a professional stand up comedian and actor.   A lifelong fan of the art form of comic strips, Keating decided to put pencil to paper after being inspired by a web comic panel at the San Diego Comic Con in 2006.

Keating cites influences such as Bloom County and E.C. Segar’s Popeye.  “Not the cartoons where Popeye and Bluto just beat the crap out of each other over Olive Oyl,” clarifies Keating.  “I’m talking about the classic Thimble Theatre newspaper strips from the 1930’s.”

For those interested in this sort of thing, Breaking the Ice is completely hand drawn and inked on Bristol Board with a 3H pencil and Faber Castell pens. (old school, yo!) It is then scanned into the PC and colored in Photoshop.  (new school, yo!)

John is originally from Boston and now lives in the Los Angeles area.  You can learn more about John Keating at www.johnkeating.biz.