Molly and the Bear cartoonist Bob Scott is a graduate of California Institute of the Arts and has a successful career in animation. With experience as a storyboard artist and animator for Pixar and Dreamworks, Bob has contributed to popular animated movies including "The Incredibles" and "Monsters, Inc." Today he shares how he got his roots in cartooning.   

I've loved cartoons, animation and comic strips since I was very small. As a young child, I tried to draw what I saw on TV, like Fred Flintstone, Donald Duck and Goofy. I also loved reading the Sunday comics and copying those. The first comic strip I ever drew featured a dog who looked a lot like Snoopy.

In high school, I became more serious about cartooning. I drew for the school newspaper and became interested in syndication. I grew up in Detroit, during which time Larry Wright (Kit 'N' Carlyle cartoonist) was an editorial cartoonist for The Detroit News. I liked his work and gave him a call, which ended with him inviting me to come to his office to visit and watch him work. I brought my own work with me. Larry critiqued it, giving me pointers about inking, humor and writing. At the time, my comic strip centered around an alcoholic character, which I knew nothing about. His biggest piece of advice that stuck with me all these years was to draw from my own experiences and what I know. He also let me choose one of his comic strips to take home. I still have it framed in my house. He was a huge influence on me.

After graduating from CalArts, I had the amazing opportunity to work with Jim Davis (creator of Garfield), penciling the U.S. Acres comic strip, along with Brett Koth (creator of Diamond Lil). It was a great experience to get a chance right out of college to draw a nationally syndicated strip, and I learned a lot there. Now, as a storyboard artist for Dreamworks Animation, I'm fortunate to be surrounded by amazing artists every day. I'm constantly inspired by the people I work with.

As far as finding inspiration for the artwork behind Molly and The Bear goes, I really like reading older comic strips, like Li'l Abner, Dennis the Menace and Pogo. For the humor aspect, I like watching funny movies and stand-up comedians. Oftentimes, though, the best inspiration for humor comes from watching my family, pets and other people in my life.

I feel very lucky to be on GoComics. The web has opened up the chance to be a part of syndication and have my work seen and read. I draw Molly and the Bear at an old-fashioned drawing table. I still draw with bristle board and blue pencil, and I do the inking with a brush. It takes a little longer than if I were using modern tools, but I like the tactile feeling of real pencil and paper.

Next up, I'd like to publish a Molly and the Bear book.

Read Molly and the Bear here, or learn more about Bob on his website.