Chris, who often goes by Chris (Simpsons artists) - more on that later - is a rather unique case in the world of content creation and online illustration, as he’s been at this for a while. He first started sharing his quirky drawings in 2011 on Facebook, aka when Facebook was in its prime, with his FB page now sitting at 1.4 million Likes. Of course, he didn’t stay on Facebook, he’s now also found a large audience on Instagram, with 1 million followers, as well as Twitter, where he has over 250,000.
Chris first created his name with his love for The Simpsons’ characters in mind, and has clearly refused to let the affix go. He exemplifies the idea of an “internet artist” in the sense that no one actually knows his real name, or where he lives (beyond the fact that it’s in Scotland), with artwork that is at once low-brow, sarcastic, and hilarious. The captions that accompany his art are equally internet-y, with lowercase stream of conscious musings that are often just as funny as the drawings themselves, while adding even more to the picture.
We’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with Chris on three different Plushie designs for some of his oddly appealing characters, all of which have been extremely successful at over 1000% funded.
When we spoke with Chris for our Creator Catch-Up interview, he, perhaps expectedly, answered all our questions in his typical style, as he elaborated on starting his account over a decade ago, specific posts that helped him grow his reach and much more.
Hi Chris! Tell us when you first started your account, and which platform did you start on exactly?
i first started putting my pictures on the internet for people to have a look at when it was 2011 on my facebook page that is called simpsons pictures that i gone and done and my facebook page is 12 years old now so he is nearly a teenager and his body has started to change and he feels quite awkward about it but i will always be there to guide him through the changes that life will bring him because that is what being a good dad is all about.
How long did it take you to really find your unique ‘style’ or niche when it comes to illustration?
i have always had a draw of pictures and wrote stories about the people or the creatures that are in my pictures since i was a little boy so i think that it took me about 3 years to find my unique style since the day that i was born.
How were you able to grow your account? Was it a slow progression or overnight success?
i just showed people my pictures and my stories when i feeled like it and loads of people liked to have a look and a read of them and have a share of them with their friends and their family or their wife and i cant really remember for myself because it was such a long time ago but i think that my facebook page got a half of a million followers in the first few months of me starting it so that was quite nice for me to have so many new friends in my life so quickly.
“i think that my facebook page got a half of a million followers in the first few months of me starting it so that was quite nice for me to have so many new friends in my life so quickly”
If there was one post in particular that really led to your growth, can you share what that post was/speak on it?
there has been a lot of my pictures and stories that people have really liked for themselfs but i think that one of my best ones is my picture and story of winnie the poo and his cousin piglet and here is the story for you to have a read of for yourself if you feel like it:
it is everyones favourite film about a syrup addicted bear that is right it is winnie the poo and his cousin piglet from the hit family film that is called winnie the poo and the chamber of syrup. if you havent seen winnie the poo and the chamber of syrup before then you might as well just be blind or deaf or both because you are missing out on a action packed adventure that will haunt you for the rest of your life and my best bit in the whole of the film is when winnie the poo is standing outside of his college in his red coloured crop top with his traditional no trousers on and he is making loads of people laugh by sucking syrup off the top of a teachers car and then gargling with it to the theme tune of mtvs sweet sixteen and all of his friends was saying that it was so funny and his friend ross even said that it was probably one of the best things that he has seen in about half a year and then tigger who is the main idiot at the college was going around telling everyone that he is going to punch winnie the poo in the back of his head after college when he is not looking because he hates him so much but it was so obvious that he is just jealous of winnie the poo for getting all of the attention from everyone and then after college tigger goes to punch him but winnie the poo senses his presence and he instantly turns around and slices tiggers spine with a bit of plastic that he found next to a fence and then winnie the poo goes on top of tigger on the ground and he does a massive screaming laugh right in tiggers face that sounded like a train full of bees smashing into a school and then before tigger could even say why cant i move my legs winnie the poo had completely vanished and then when it was at night time winnie the poo goes over to piglets house and he says for piglet to give him all of the syrup that he has got and piglet says you cant have it because my wife is pregnant and it is all that she can eat right now and winnie the poo says pregnant shmegnant i dont give a flying hell if she is pregnant or if she is just fat i just want to have all of your delicious golden bee juice inside of myself and then he slowly walks over to piglet and he kisses him on his forehead and he says my sweet cousin in a really light voice and then he looks at him for about 5 seconds and he does a half smile and then he slaps him right across his face and he bends forward and he licks piglets face where he was just slapped and he says give me your bee syrup now you salmon coloured dwarf and piglet says you need help mate you have got a serious syrup problem and winnie the poo says shut up no i do not and piglet says eh you do realise the reason everyone calls you winnie the poo is because you actually stink of poo because you never wash because all that you do is drink bee syrup all day and tigger said he actually saw you eating your own poo out of a napkin in the college car park as well and then winnie the poo just grabs the jar of syrup out of piglets pale pink palms and he runs out of the house and as he is running away he screams jumanji and then right at the end of the film there is a shot of winnie the poo sitting in the woods looking at a photograph of him and christopher robin in italy next to the eiffel tower and the camera goes really close up on winnie the poos face and he starts laughing and loads of bees fly out of his mouth and it lasts for about 5 minutes and then the screen just goes completely black and writing comes up that says winnie the poo hasnt been seen for nearly 2 and a half years and then a lightning bolt goes across the screen and it smashes the writing up into loads of little pieces and then the film just ends really suddenly and it really is one of the most action packed films that has ever been made about syrup and if you have children of your very own or if you can find a child just for a day then you should definitely have a watch of it with them when it is the summer holidays because trust me you will not regret it not even a slice.
Do you have a strategy when it comes to your social channels and what you post? For example, is there a specific schedule you like to follow?
i dont think that art should be a thing that is rushed or forced just to please a algorithm on facebook or instagram or twitter and art is something that should be given time to grow and develop into something beautiful and meaningful and fun and not something that is just quickly birthed on to a page just to keep mack zuckemberg or elom muffk happy because i dont care about them types of people because all that they want is to be richer and richer and they dont care about artists unless the artists can make them more and more money but i dont care about making them money and i only care about creating things that make me happy and if the people i truly care about like my friends on my instagram and my facebook and the people who read my books are also made happy by my pictures and my stories then that is all that truly matters to me
What’s been your favorite part about working with Makeship to create the cutest lamb in the world?
the cutest lamb in the world is my third plushie that i have made with makeship and i think that my best part is always seeing my picture that i have had a draw of come to real life and it always makes me feel like i am geppetto from the film that is called pinocho but instead of a little wooden boy loudly waking me up in the morning time by tap dancing into my bedroom with his little wooden clogs i am quietly awoken by the cutest lamb in the world gently stroking my face with his tiny flesh hoofs i love him so much i actually just burst out crying writing this oh my god i love him so much.
“the cutest lamb in the world is my third plushie that i have made with makeship and i think that my best part is always seeing my picture that i have had a draw of come to real life and it always makes me feel like i am geppetto from the film that is called pinocho”
We’d love it if you could share one final piece of advice for a creator in a similar lane to you that’s just starting out!
be who you want to be and all that is good will happen
love from your friend Chris (Simpsons artist) xox
