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Hello Cresnov! Recently I asked you all about your familiarity with WEBTOON comics, and it seems as though the majority here has at least some experience reading comics on that platform.
My personal favorite comic on their site/app is Cursed Princess Club, a WEBTOON Original that was recently ranked #6 in popularity out of the almost 200 actively-updating comics in WEBTOON's Originals lineup.
The story revolves around 16-year-old Gwendolyn -- a princess of the Pastel Kingdom who is lovingly described by one of her sisters as "the crafty one" -- a testament to Gwen's proficiency in baking and affinity for creating custom clothing for herself and others. However, Gwen's life suddenly takes a dramatic turn when she meets the prince who is arranged to be her fiancé; while speaking to his brother, he makes his displeasure about the engagement known by emphatically calling Gwen "REALLY UGLY," and Gwen overhears him by chance. This rejection shatters her self-image, and in her distress she runs away from her castle... and into the neighboring forest which is home to the "Cursed Princess Club."
The comic's creator is LambCat, a mysterious cat in a lamb suit who has generously agreed to be interviewed!
LambCat, thank you so much for your time! I want to start by asking you to finish my introduction to your comic: How would you describe the Cursed Princess Club? Would I be right in calling it a terrifying support group for royal outcasts?
LAMBCAT: I don’t think I could have summarized it better myself! Yeah, the idea of the Cursed Princess Club came when I was thinking about Disney-esque fairy tales. In these worlds, there’s almost always a cure for every curse which completely heals the princess or prince, and then they have a perfect happy ending. But what if there wasn’t always a cure, and it was more messy and unsure like lots of things in real life? What would their stories be like then?
While the CPC is a major focus of the comic, the story also highlights Gwen's three siblings, her father, and the family of the princes to which the princesses are engaged. Not to mention a suave "lord" who is a painting prodigy, a lovestruck castle guard, and an arrogant fencing champion! Your cast is substantial, and what I find most unique about them is that they are (for the most part) extremely likeable characters, and yet they all feel very real and flawed. In your opinion, what makes a good character?
LAMBCAT: That’s very kind and incredibly relieving to hear! I’m not much of a seasoned writer, and honestly can’t even pretend to define what makes a good character. I have to imagine the only thing I’ve used to guide me is the inordinate amount of past time I’ve spent getting to know many different kinds of people in real life. (I used to feel guilty about it because it seemed like a big waste of time. Now of course they’re fond memories because hanging out IRL is something we’ve all had to sacrifice for a while in these current circumstances).
But I always love listening to people naturally divulge what it is they want (whether big or small), and how they feel if they don’t have it. --Or, how they feel once they do have it, because that answer is often not what they / you expect. I always feel like a lot of beautiful, painful, and also hilarious insights about life come from those moments.
What about your backstory? From my research, Cursed Princess Club is your first WEBTOON comic, and you began work on it in 2018. What other experience do you have making comics?
LAMBCAT: I don’t have much of any comic experience, unfortunately, other than a very brief attempt at making a comic diary a long time ago which a few friends and their moms read out of pure kindness haha. I always had a pipe dream of wanting to make a fictional comic, but I had zero clue how to formulate a story (or draw, really...). It was a contest on WEBTOON in 2018 that led me to give it a real effort and try to make one. ...And I still can’t really believe what came from it…!
Aside from being a comics artist and writer, you're also a talented composer who creates background music for each episode of your comic. Every episode of CPC contains music, which is noteworthy among WEBTOON Originals and makes the comic stand out in an amazing way, as the reading experience is always heightened with the additional atmosphere. To date, you've released 7 OST albums consisting of a whopping 134 tracks, all available to download via your Patreon. My question is: DO you sleep?
LAMBCAT: 134 tracks?!! I thought I made like 50! That’s disconcerting... lol. Anyway, I will say the only reason I have been able to go to sleep every night at the same time is thanks to my incredible art assistants helping me immensely!!
Haha my actual question is: what is the ratio of time you spend writing your comic VS drawing your comic VS composing music for your comic? And which programs do you use for each job?
LAMBCAT: That’s a really interesting question. I always think I’ll spend the most time drawing, but again, thanks to my amazing assistants helping with the art, I get to do a lot more editing / iterating on the writing by the time each episode goes up. Making the music is always my little rejuvenating treat I get with any leftover time from the week.
So I think I’d have to go with: 50% writing / editing, 40% drawing, 10% music.
As for programs, I use:
Do you always write, then draw, then compose--in that order? Or have you ever created music for an episode before the episode itself was created? I'm curious to know how each creative process interacts with and fuels the others.
LAMBCAT: I do feel best when I have the finished comic on one monitor and Logic in the other. It sounds silly, but the words and the colors do really help me feel out what the best musical choice could be, given the limits of the WEBTOON platform (which is so amazing that it allows for music to be timed with the reading of the comic at all…!)
I have attempted to make music before the episode is created, or create a playlist of a mood I think the episode will have. But it almost always doesn’t feel right after I finish writing / drawing the episode. Usually it has something to do with the comedy I shoe-horn in at the most inopportune moments that can really muddy up a mood ^^;
I personally hold an immense respect and awe for your work--a triple crown of comics writing, art, and music, and all thoroughly enjoyable! It's obvious that so many other people feel the same way as I do; Cursed Princess Club has over 14 MILLION total likes, 1.9 MILLION subscribers, 450+ paying supporters on Patreon, and a 9.8 rating on WEBTOON. The most recent episode, the season 3 finale, has 83,697 likes as I write this, and that would be enough people to put the largest NFL stadium--MetLife--over capacity! There is some major love surrounding this story! Why do you think so many people connect with it?
LAMBCAT: I really can’t comprehend any of it without just believing it’s not actually true haha. I’ve never made anything that’s resonated with people before….! But if I had to take a stab at why people connect with it, I’d say that maybe it’s because the struggle with self-love Gwen is going through reflects some painful feelings a lot of us have experienced in some way in life, even if it’s not about beauty per se.
And maybe there are others like me who kinda prefer some light, silly comedy padded everywhere to be able to continue exploring some of these uncomfortable things (or maybe I’m wrong and they actually hate the comedy and would resonate more with it if that part was gone haha, I have no idea).
But mostly, I just have to give all the thanks to WEBTOON. None of this would have ever come close to happening without the incredible platform and audience they’ve built and grown, and the opportunity they’ve given Cursed Princess Club. I’ll never stop feeling indebted to them.
I browsed through the fanart you've received and retweeted, and it seems like Gwen is a favorite subject--which isn't surprising since she's the comic's main character. I personally have been trying to make some 3D models of Frederick (oh my gosh his hair is a challenge in 3D haha!)... And Calpernia/the president of the CPC herself strikes me as the most fun character to draw with her striking polygon crown and legendary pantsuit, so I may indulge myself in depicting her sometime. Is there another character you'd enjoy seeing more fanart of?
LAMBCAT: Whoaaaaa, 3D Frederick!! That’s incredible!!! :D Hmm, another character I’d enjoy seeing more fanart of? Maybe Thermidora with her lobster claws! There probably isn’t much because I haven’t gotten to spend much time shining a light on her character, which I hope I’ll get to remedy with this final season.
Besides fan artists, Cursed Princess Club currently has a team of official artists working to help bring this series to life at the insane output y'all are doing! Starting in episode 20, sheidraws began providing flat colors, and as of episode 106, CPC also has catburgerhelper, i.aint.shihwi, kyorin24, and spudinacup working as art assistants. What was it like growing from a team of just you and your editor (Eunice Baik) to a team of 7 people?
LAMBCAT: They’re like a ray of shining light. Every week, I don’t know why they continue to help me with their talents when I’m always a frazzled, desperate mess. They’re each so nice and patient, on top of being such fantastic artists, and I feel so lucky to work with them.
Cursed Princess Club started out as a 30-panel weekly comic where I could barely slap things together. But thanks to them, now it’s usually around 60 panels, and I can afford to say more in each episode and make them more impactful. A wiser person probably would have kept the panel count at 30 and just slept more, but oh well…
Exvulnerum, my own webcomic, is still a solo show, but I'm paying for that in output inefficiency and burnout! In an effort to save time, recently I've been heavily incorporating 3D assets into my workflow, and I'm spending time studying how other comics artists use theirs. I noticed that in CPC Episode 1, the pastel palace is drawn in 2D, but by episode 18 it appears as though it has been converted into a 3D model. What has been your experience mixing 3D models with 2D art?
LAMBCAT: That’s a great observation! (and much respect to your solo accomplishments!) Yeah, early on, I realized using Sketchup would save me a lot of time with backgrounds, but I felt like they looked way too fancy / bold for my shabby pastel art and shied away from utilizing it, which was not smart! But each season I get a little more comfortable with it. I eventually started tracing the 3D background with my own inking style and coloring that, then transitioned to just exporting the outlines of the models and having assistants color and shade them. And now in this final season, I’m going full out and just relying on Sketchup for all the coloring / shading. It’s been its own fun little journey of how I learned to stop worrying and love 3D models. Any way to save time is good in our world!
Some of the people reading this interview are also comics artists or aspiring ones. It seems like you've spent the past 2+ years neck-deep in comics work, and I'm sure this accelerated pace has accelerated your understanding of sequential art. What advice do you have for people who want to achieve success in the world of online comics?
LAMBCAT: I hope that, if anything, Cursed Princess Club can help inspire people who are afraid their art isn’t good enough to make a comic. I definitely don’t think mine is lol, but it somehow seems to not matter as much as you’d think. I think creating a story that can resonate with people in some slightly unique and authentic way can be enough to carry things -- and after that, it’s inevitable that your art will continue to improve each day as you tell your story.
I do also believe that luck and timing play a part in success, and this is a really great time for online comic creators. There are several platforms always seeking out potential new stories, along with people hungry for them. And it might seem oversaturated, but I think the stories with that certain compelling, human it-factor will almost always eventually get noticed. So get out there and say what you wanna say!! :D
Which comics artists do you look up to and learn from? Was there a particular comic that inspired you to pursue this career path?
LAMBCAT: “Girls of the Wild’s” was the first webtoon I stumbled upon, and was blown away that it was like watching the coolest looking anime on a giant vertical scrolling format. That will forever be a comic I look up to! I also really love the author ONE, who writes “One Punch Man” but especially “Mob Psycho” and how it’s a brilliant mix of comedy, action, and psychological insight. I also really like comedy TV shows like “Kimmy Schmidt,” “Atlanta,” and “Barry” that can be really dark and really silly at the same time.
My biggest curse as a comic creator, though, is that I really, really, REALLY want to read so many other stories, but I just can’t while I make Cursed Princess Club. I have no idea if I’m the only one who’s like this, but it’s awful and horrifying to admit. My brain can barely handle developing my own world, and it just breaks if I add another one.
Like, I knew this, but I had a very brief window of free time over this current hiatus, so I read the rest of Attack on Titan, and for a few days, I felt like I didn’t know who I was or what comic I was making anymore lol, and I’m still shaking off the feeling. So I just have a ginormous wish list of every webtoon / manga / book / show I want to consume and it will be the BEST reward after I focus on creating the rest of Cursed Princess Club.
Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you! Is there anything else you would like people to know about you or Cursed Princess Club?
LAMBCAT: I don’t have anything else to say other than thank you so much, Zules! Exvulnerum and its community here is awesome, and I’m so happy to get to talk with you! Just wanna wish you and everyone here the best of luck with everything!
Read Cursed Princess Club here on WEBTOON!
Or--download the app!
(If you are able to listen to music, be sure to turn your sound on!)
Follow LambCat!
on Twitter
on Instagram
on Patreon
All embedded art in this interview was provided by LambCat.
My personal favorite comic on their site/app is Cursed Princess Club, a WEBTOON Original that was recently ranked #6 in popularity out of the almost 200 actively-updating comics in WEBTOON's Originals lineup.
The story revolves around 16-year-old Gwendolyn -- a princess of the Pastel Kingdom who is lovingly described by one of her sisters as "the crafty one" -- a testament to Gwen's proficiency in baking and affinity for creating custom clothing for herself and others. However, Gwen's life suddenly takes a dramatic turn when she meets the prince who is arranged to be her fiancé; while speaking to his brother, he makes his displeasure about the engagement known by emphatically calling Gwen "REALLY UGLY," and Gwen overhears him by chance. This rejection shatters her self-image, and in her distress she runs away from her castle... and into the neighboring forest which is home to the "Cursed Princess Club."
The comic's creator is LambCat, a mysterious cat in a lamb suit who has generously agreed to be interviewed!
LambCat, thank you so much for your time! I want to start by asking you to finish my introduction to your comic: How would you describe the Cursed Princess Club? Would I be right in calling it a terrifying support group for royal outcasts?
LAMBCAT: I don’t think I could have summarized it better myself! Yeah, the idea of the Cursed Princess Club came when I was thinking about Disney-esque fairy tales. In these worlds, there’s almost always a cure for every curse which completely heals the princess or prince, and then they have a perfect happy ending. But what if there wasn’t always a cure, and it was more messy and unsure like lots of things in real life? What would their stories be like then?
While the CPC is a major focus of the comic, the story also highlights Gwen's three siblings, her father, and the family of the princes to which the princesses are engaged. Not to mention a suave "lord" who is a painting prodigy, a lovestruck castle guard, and an arrogant fencing champion! Your cast is substantial, and what I find most unique about them is that they are (for the most part) extremely likeable characters, and yet they all feel very real and flawed. In your opinion, what makes a good character?
LAMBCAT: That’s very kind and incredibly relieving to hear! I’m not much of a seasoned writer, and honestly can’t even pretend to define what makes a good character. I have to imagine the only thing I’ve used to guide me is the inordinate amount of past time I’ve spent getting to know many different kinds of people in real life. (I used to feel guilty about it because it seemed like a big waste of time. Now of course they’re fond memories because hanging out IRL is something we’ve all had to sacrifice for a while in these current circumstances).
But I always love listening to people naturally divulge what it is they want (whether big or small), and how they feel if they don’t have it. --Or, how they feel once they do have it, because that answer is often not what they / you expect. I always feel like a lot of beautiful, painful, and also hilarious insights about life come from those moments.
What about your backstory? From my research, Cursed Princess Club is your first WEBTOON comic, and you began work on it in 2018. What other experience do you have making comics?
LAMBCAT: I don’t have much of any comic experience, unfortunately, other than a very brief attempt at making a comic diary a long time ago which a few friends and their moms read out of pure kindness haha. I always had a pipe dream of wanting to make a fictional comic, but I had zero clue how to formulate a story (or draw, really...). It was a contest on WEBTOON in 2018 that led me to give it a real effort and try to make one. ...And I still can’t really believe what came from it…!
Aside from being a comics artist and writer, you're also a talented composer who creates background music for each episode of your comic. Every episode of CPC contains music, which is noteworthy among WEBTOON Originals and makes the comic stand out in an amazing way, as the reading experience is always heightened with the additional atmosphere. To date, you've released 7 OST albums consisting of a whopping 134 tracks, all available to download via your Patreon. My question is: DO you sleep?
LAMBCAT: 134 tracks?!! I thought I made like 50! That’s disconcerting... lol. Anyway, I will say the only reason I have been able to go to sleep every night at the same time is thanks to my incredible art assistants helping me immensely!!
Haha my actual question is: what is the ratio of time you spend writing your comic VS drawing your comic VS composing music for your comic? And which programs do you use for each job?
LAMBCAT: That’s a really interesting question. I always think I’ll spend the most time drawing, but again, thanks to my amazing assistants helping with the art, I get to do a lot more editing / iterating on the writing by the time each episode goes up. Making the music is always my little rejuvenating treat I get with any leftover time from the week.
So I think I’d have to go with: 50% writing / editing, 40% drawing, 10% music.
As for programs, I use:
- Scrivener for writing (SO amazing for plotting out and organizing your story / seasons, ahh!)
- Photoshop / Clip Studio Paint for drawing (the text and panels are laid out in a vertically-long Photoshop master file, but the art for each panel is linked to individual .psd files that automatically update within the master file)
- Logic Pro X for the music (once I could afford to purchase orchestral synth instruments, it was a real game changer! I love Audio Imperia’s Nucleus, Embertone’s Joshua Bell Violin, but also the free and amazing Spitfire LABS line). Izotope’s Neutron and Ozone plug-ins also help a ton with speedy mixing and mastering that’s a necessity for me.
Do you always write, then draw, then compose--in that order? Or have you ever created music for an episode before the episode itself was created? I'm curious to know how each creative process interacts with and fuels the others.
LAMBCAT: I do feel best when I have the finished comic on one monitor and Logic in the other. It sounds silly, but the words and the colors do really help me feel out what the best musical choice could be, given the limits of the WEBTOON platform (which is so amazing that it allows for music to be timed with the reading of the comic at all…!)
I have attempted to make music before the episode is created, or create a playlist of a mood I think the episode will have. But it almost always doesn’t feel right after I finish writing / drawing the episode. Usually it has something to do with the comedy I shoe-horn in at the most inopportune moments that can really muddy up a mood ^^;
I personally hold an immense respect and awe for your work--a triple crown of comics writing, art, and music, and all thoroughly enjoyable! It's obvious that so many other people feel the same way as I do; Cursed Princess Club has over 14 MILLION total likes, 1.9 MILLION subscribers, 450+ paying supporters on Patreon, and a 9.8 rating on WEBTOON. The most recent episode, the season 3 finale, has 83,697 likes as I write this, and that would be enough people to put the largest NFL stadium--MetLife--over capacity! There is some major love surrounding this story! Why do you think so many people connect with it?
LAMBCAT: I really can’t comprehend any of it without just believing it’s not actually true haha. I’ve never made anything that’s resonated with people before….! But if I had to take a stab at why people connect with it, I’d say that maybe it’s because the struggle with self-love Gwen is going through reflects some painful feelings a lot of us have experienced in some way in life, even if it’s not about beauty per se.
And maybe there are others like me who kinda prefer some light, silly comedy padded everywhere to be able to continue exploring some of these uncomfortable things (or maybe I’m wrong and they actually hate the comedy and would resonate more with it if that part was gone haha, I have no idea).
But mostly, I just have to give all the thanks to WEBTOON. None of this would have ever come close to happening without the incredible platform and audience they’ve built and grown, and the opportunity they’ve given Cursed Princess Club. I’ll never stop feeling indebted to them.
I browsed through the fanart you've received and retweeted, and it seems like Gwen is a favorite subject--which isn't surprising since she's the comic's main character. I personally have been trying to make some 3D models of Frederick (oh my gosh his hair is a challenge in 3D haha!)... And Calpernia/the president of the CPC herself strikes me as the most fun character to draw with her striking polygon crown and legendary pantsuit, so I may indulge myself in depicting her sometime. Is there another character you'd enjoy seeing more fanart of?
LAMBCAT: Whoaaaaa, 3D Frederick!! That’s incredible!!! :D Hmm, another character I’d enjoy seeing more fanart of? Maybe Thermidora with her lobster claws! There probably isn’t much because I haven’t gotten to spend much time shining a light on her character, which I hope I’ll get to remedy with this final season.
Besides fan artists, Cursed Princess Club currently has a team of official artists working to help bring this series to life at the insane output y'all are doing! Starting in episode 20, sheidraws began providing flat colors, and as of episode 106, CPC also has catburgerhelper, i.aint.shihwi, kyorin24, and spudinacup working as art assistants. What was it like growing from a team of just you and your editor (Eunice Baik) to a team of 7 people?
LAMBCAT: They’re like a ray of shining light. Every week, I don’t know why they continue to help me with their talents when I’m always a frazzled, desperate mess. They’re each so nice and patient, on top of being such fantastic artists, and I feel so lucky to work with them.
Cursed Princess Club started out as a 30-panel weekly comic where I could barely slap things together. But thanks to them, now it’s usually around 60 panels, and I can afford to say more in each episode and make them more impactful. A wiser person probably would have kept the panel count at 30 and just slept more, but oh well…
Exvulnerum, my own webcomic, is still a solo show, but I'm paying for that in output inefficiency and burnout! In an effort to save time, recently I've been heavily incorporating 3D assets into my workflow, and I'm spending time studying how other comics artists use theirs. I noticed that in CPC Episode 1, the pastel palace is drawn in 2D, but by episode 18 it appears as though it has been converted into a 3D model. What has been your experience mixing 3D models with 2D art?
LAMBCAT: That’s a great observation! (and much respect to your solo accomplishments!) Yeah, early on, I realized using Sketchup would save me a lot of time with backgrounds, but I felt like they looked way too fancy / bold for my shabby pastel art and shied away from utilizing it, which was not smart! But each season I get a little more comfortable with it. I eventually started tracing the 3D background with my own inking style and coloring that, then transitioned to just exporting the outlines of the models and having assistants color and shade them. And now in this final season, I’m going full out and just relying on Sketchup for all the coloring / shading. It’s been its own fun little journey of how I learned to stop worrying and love 3D models. Any way to save time is good in our world!
Some of the people reading this interview are also comics artists or aspiring ones. It seems like you've spent the past 2+ years neck-deep in comics work, and I'm sure this accelerated pace has accelerated your understanding of sequential art. What advice do you have for people who want to achieve success in the world of online comics?
LAMBCAT: I hope that, if anything, Cursed Princess Club can help inspire people who are afraid their art isn’t good enough to make a comic. I definitely don’t think mine is lol, but it somehow seems to not matter as much as you’d think. I think creating a story that can resonate with people in some slightly unique and authentic way can be enough to carry things -- and after that, it’s inevitable that your art will continue to improve each day as you tell your story.
I do also believe that luck and timing play a part in success, and this is a really great time for online comic creators. There are several platforms always seeking out potential new stories, along with people hungry for them. And it might seem oversaturated, but I think the stories with that certain compelling, human it-factor will almost always eventually get noticed. So get out there and say what you wanna say!! :D
Which comics artists do you look up to and learn from? Was there a particular comic that inspired you to pursue this career path?
LAMBCAT: “Girls of the Wild’s” was the first webtoon I stumbled upon, and was blown away that it was like watching the coolest looking anime on a giant vertical scrolling format. That will forever be a comic I look up to! I also really love the author ONE, who writes “One Punch Man” but especially “Mob Psycho” and how it’s a brilliant mix of comedy, action, and psychological insight. I also really like comedy TV shows like “Kimmy Schmidt,” “Atlanta,” and “Barry” that can be really dark and really silly at the same time.
My biggest curse as a comic creator, though, is that I really, really, REALLY want to read so many other stories, but I just can’t while I make Cursed Princess Club. I have no idea if I’m the only one who’s like this, but it’s awful and horrifying to admit. My brain can barely handle developing my own world, and it just breaks if I add another one.
Like, I knew this, but I had a very brief window of free time over this current hiatus, so I read the rest of Attack on Titan, and for a few days, I felt like I didn’t know who I was or what comic I was making anymore lol, and I’m still shaking off the feeling. So I just have a ginormous wish list of every webtoon / manga / book / show I want to consume and it will be the BEST reward after I focus on creating the rest of Cursed Princess Club.
Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you! Is there anything else you would like people to know about you or Cursed Princess Club?
LAMBCAT: I don’t have anything else to say other than thank you so much, Zules! Exvulnerum and its community here is awesome, and I’m so happy to get to talk with you! Just wanna wish you and everyone here the best of luck with everything!
Read Cursed Princess Club here on WEBTOON!
Or--download the app!
(If you are able to listen to music, be sure to turn your sound on!)
Follow LambCat!
on Twitter
on Instagram
on Patreon
All embedded art in this interview was provided by LambCat.
