About me

Ernie Anderson is an award-winning cartoonist from Mechanic Falls, Maine. His cartoon, Anvil Falls, has appeared regularly in print in The Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine) since February 2023, and his editorial cartoons and illustrations have won multiple Maine Press Association awards. He is also the creator of the webcomic Mars Grill.

He was born in Puerto Rico, where his family is from, and grew up in Orlando, Florida.

Where will Ernstar Comics be in 2025?

The art process

Art process: It’s Been A Year of Ups and Downs

The first step in this project was the poem. When I write poetry for comics, I’m thinking not just about the words, but also the images that will stand with them. I knew I wanted the poem to reflect the passing of the seasons. This was a piece marking one year from the mass shooting near my home, in Lewiston, in October 2023. I wanted to emphasize looking at each season through the emotional eyes of the community, as tied to three landmarks, one for each stanza of the poem. With this particular piece, the colors were also important, so I started developing the poem with an idea toward the color for each panel. For example, the shooting happened in October, and I knew that I wanted to use the red and blue of emergency response lights (Panels 1, 2). Being able to juxtapose words with images and color is such a beautiful way to express ideas. Without images the words alone have a very different, incomplete meaning. e.g., Autumn’s rounds, winter’s hush, the fading away of the last line of each verse.

I like to work digitally because I like to play with light and layers. Digital media has its own color layering process that I find fun and relaxing. You can see from Panel 3 that this particular project goes up to around 60 layers.

To get a better appreciation of this piece’s development, check out the time-lapse replay of this strip’s creation.

Art process: Mars Grill’s Dungeons and Dunces

I work digitally from start to finish on my comics, including sketchwork, thumbnails and script, all in one document (Panel 1). I used to work with pencils on paper and would then scan and work digitally on inks and color in Photoshop. But with the change in Adobe’s business model, I needed something that wouldn’t break the bank. Fortunately, I already had an iPad, and Procreate’s price point (currently $12.99) made for an easy transition to digital. I really enjoy working digitally. I can set up my studio anywhere, even at the beach! Another benefit of working digitally is that I can layer my thumbnails and script onto the same canvas. That way, everything I need is always right in front of me. I can also draw with the printer’s template as a backdrop, so that I’m always sure to get bleeds and safe areas just right. Panel 2 shows most of my pencils. They’re still very rough at this stage. I then go to inks and color (Panel 3), but not in a linear manner. Having a digital setup lets me work on an almost infinite number of layers to experiment on, and none of the aspects of the page are complete until the very end. I constantly revise the script, pencils, inks and color as I go through the process of finishing the page. You can see this process at work by checking out the QR code below for a time-lapse replay of this spread from conception to completion!