washingtonpost.com: Greetings, comics fans, and welcome to another edition of "Comics: Meet the Artist." Today our guest is Rina Piccolo, the creator of "Tina's Groove," and also the Wednesday cartoonist for "Six Chix." Rina is joining us from her studio in Toronto. Welcome, Rina, and thanks for joining us Live Online.

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Rina Piccolo: Hello everyone. This is the first time I've ever done an online chat, so be gentle!

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washingtonpost.com: Before we begin with your questions, I just want to say that although we no longer carry "Six Chix" in the print newspaper, all you fans can read it online on washingtonpost.com. I, personally, didn't want to drop "Six Chix," but I was outvoted by our comics committee, which is a group of Post employees who advise my boss, which you all already know from reading our "Notes to Comic Readers" in the comics pages, right? So don't hate me, send your complaint to comics@washpost.com or call our comics hotline at 202-334-4775.

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Fairfax, Va.: Hello Ms. Piccolo,

I enjoy "Tina's Groove" and the way it features a smart, confident woman. I was wondering if Betty Boop had any influence with the way Tina is drawn?

Ms. Tobin, how about adding "Tina's Groove" to the print edition?

Rina Piccolo: It’s funny that you should mention Betty Boop at all becauseof the big head, small body similarity. I ended drawing Tina that way out of total convenience, because when you’re drawing a strip in the paper, it gets reduced down to such a tiny space that it’s better for your charactersto have large heads, because then their facial expressions are easier to read. When I was developing Tina, I actually had the same thought...I thought the big head, the small body, the cute looks--It’s Betty Boop! However, Tina’s character is of course a 21st century woman as opposed to Betty Boop, a woman of the 1930s.

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Scarborough, Ontario, Canada: Hi Rina,
I'm a big fan of "Tina's Groove!"

What would you tell a young cartoonist is the most important thing to remember when starting out?

What other cartoonists influence your work?

Thanks.

Rina Piccolo: When you’re just starting out, solicit opinions of your work from people who are NOT friends or family. It may not sound like good advice, but, believe me, it is. Because your friends and your family will say that they like ANYTHING that you do. Whereas a newspaper editor or a complete stranger will probably be more honest. When you’re just beginning, it’s important to know if you can be competitive in the business. And, therefore, it is important to know if your work has any promise. If you have a real passion for cartooning, go with your instincts. Don't write for other people; write for yourself because when you're writing honestly, that'll be your best work.
As for what other cartoonists influenced my work, the first and foremost is Charles Schulz, because the only cartoon I read while growing up was "Peanuts." The others are just too numerous to mention.

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Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA: What was the biggest/most response you ever got to one of your strips? (OK ... haha ...I mean the comics!)

Rina Piccolo: Funny, funny! You must be in the humor business. Seriously, I've had male readers tell me that they are in love with Tina and that always blows me away because only a guy could fall in love with a cartoon character.

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Welland, Ontario, Canada: Rina, I am a huge fan of your work in both "Six Chix" and "Tina's Groove."

I notice that the writing for each feature has a distinctly different approach. The humor in "Six Chix" is edgy and sharp while the humor in "Tina's Groove" has a softer tone.

Do you write for each feature on separate days to get in "the groove" for the different tones or do you just write what's funny and separate the gags according to the strip it fits?

Rina Piccolo: Thanks for the kind words. But I wouldn't necessarily say that "Tina's Groove" is softer, rather I would say it's more subtle. When you're doing a single panel gag cartoon, like "Six Chix," it's a one-shot deal, where the joke has to hit the reader over the head. Whereas in a comic strip, the humor tends to come from the characters and the storyline and therefore it's drier humor, more subtle and idiosyncratic. Here's an analogy--it's the difference between how you'd relate a joke to a stranger, and how you'd tell the same joke to a close friend. I think a comic strip is more personal to the creator and therefore more real to life. Either that or it's some kind of weird hormonal shift.
I discover "Six Chix" gags when I'm fishing for "Tina's Groove" gags. Sometimes certain gags are more appropriate to a single panel format. I do my writing for both strips at the same time, usually two to three days a week. And the drawings are done on separate days. I work six days a week and sometimes seven. I wish there was an eighth day where I could get ahead of my deadlines.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: Hello, I really enjoy "Six Chix." where do you get your motivation to draw these comics?

Rina Piccolo: It's not a matter of motivation; it's a compulsion!

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Arlington, Va.: Why did you choose to make Tina a waitress?

Rina Piccolo: Well, they say to write what you know, and while I was working on developing a comic strip, I worked in restaurants to pay my rent. I did a few gags during the development of Tina where she was waiting tables, and it seemed to work really well. It was then that my editor at King Features pushed me in that direction, and said "Why not make her a waitress?" I have great respect for servers because that's one job that I was never able to master.

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Farmington, NH: Rina, Tina ryhmes with Rina..., and if you drop the T and change it to an R, can we assume "Tina's Groove" is completely autobiographical...? and is it true that you're soon to star in the new movie "Chix Gone Wild"... or is that just a crazy rumor?

Rina Piccolo: Not completely. Tina has cleavage, I don't. There are alot of traits of Tina's that are similar to my own and she started out as being autobiographical. But gradually I've discovered that Tina is very much her own person. She's developed in ways I never expected.
As for the movie deal, that must be the OTHER Rina Piccolo.

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Toronto, Ontario: Hey Rina - I am your biggest fan - I know you grew up in a large Italian family - would you say that they were a big influence in your career decision and also when did you decide you wanted to be a professional cartoonist

Mary P.

Rina Piccolo: The decision to become a cartoonist was not entirely conscious. I've been drawing and writing all my life. As for coming from an Italian family, first you need to know that each and every one of them is a born comedian. By that I mean somewhere along the way someone threw a wrench in my brain that made me see things in a comic light. I can tell you that my family's influence on my career shows in my work in the skewed way I approach life. So it's all their fault.

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K Street Dungeon: Are there any comic strips on your refrigerator right now?

Rina Piccolo: That's a good question. I do have one published one on my fridge, a cartoon I clipped from the Toronto Star's Boom section. It's an "Everyday People" cartoon, done my my friend Kathy Thorne. And I also have a sketch of a funny looking turtle that is an inside joke drawn by my boyfriend.

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Derwood, Md.: So is there a hierarchy among the "Six Chix?" Was there any backstabbing about who got which day? (Just kidding) Did the syndicate have the idea to put you all together or was it a cartoonist's idea?

Rina Piccolo: Backstabbing? I have the scars to prove it! (Just kidding!)
It was the syndicate's master plan to bring the "Six Chix" together. I think the day assignment was arbitrary. We rotate Sunday every six weeks.

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Frederick, Md.: How do you and the other five of the "Six Chix" communicate to make sure you're not writing about similar topics? Do you all ever get together F2F?

Rina Piccolo: I have a video screen on my drawing board, where I can access each and every one of the Six Chix, as they can me so I'm always sure to have my hair combed properly in the morning.
We see each other rarely but speak and e-mail each other often. As for writing the same gags, it's only happened once at Thanksgiving. It hasn't happened often enough for it to be a concern. I have, however, seen the some of the other "Six Chix" cartoons and thought, "Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

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"Only a guy could fall in love with a cartoon character": Interesting idea. Why don't you think that women can't do the same?

Rina Piccolo: Gee, sorry. I didn't think in those terms. I take it back! If there are women out there who are in love with Tina, then love her with all your heart!!!

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Hi Rina, I love your strip. I just wanted to make a
comment about how refreshing it is to see a comic
strip about a woman who is not agonizing over
her weight, her boyfriend, or her latest pair of
shoes. Those kind of gags are so stale. Tina is
cute, clever and confident; we need to see more of
that in the comics.

Rina Piccolo: I couldn't agree more...I like the fact that Tina has self-esteem. She's not willing to fall into the whole "I'm a loser" type attitude. I like to think of Tina as someone that I would look up to. Thanks for the compliment, it's means alot to me.

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Lyme, Conn.: If you were not a cartoonist, what else do you think you might have done?

Rina Piccolo: I would learn how to be a better waitress and make great tips. I don't really how to do anything else except cartooning and working with the public.

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Germantown, Md.: Rina,

Do you find it ironic that The Washington Post, which brought you here to chat with all of us, has dropped your strip in favor of the much-less humorous "Rhymes With Orange?"

Rina Piccolo: Well, they've kept Six Chix online, haven't they? Of course, we'd love to be in the print edition also. Decisions like these are made every day in the comics business, and I wouldn't stand aside for anyone other than Hilary Price, who I think is a great cartoonist and friend. Rhymes With Orange is one of my favorites, so if we had to be bumped off, I'd rather have it be for that then for something I don't have a high opinion of.

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Toledo, Ohio: Speaking of boyfriends... we've followed Tina on interesting dates with some interesting characters. Do you think she'll find someone she can stand long enough to see twice?

Rina Piccolo: I'm glad you mentioned that...stay tuned! Tina's love life will be getting a kickstart around mid-July. So don't change that dial!

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Hi Rina...

Do you base any of your characters on family and/or friends? If so, have they ever made the connection?

Rina Piccolo: Yes, I have based characters on people I know. But I tend to make the character a composite based on two or three people I know in real life. In "Tina's Groove," the chef, Carlos, is definitely someone I know in real life. I think that makes characters more real. But the person that Carlos is based on probably wouldn't make this connection because he probably doesn't read my comic strip.

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Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: Have you ever submitted a strip, which you thought was clever and funny, and yet no one else seemed to "get it?"

Rina Piccolo: About a hundred billion times. Are you my syndicate editor in disguise?

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Farmington, N.H.: Hi Rina,

Where did you get your start in cartooning? When were you first published?

Rina Piccolo: I was first published in a local newspaper in Toronto, Now magazine in 1989. It was the first cartoon I ever submitted, I guess it was beginner's luck. That early acceptance gave me a false sense of how hard the next years were going to be. It was followed by trillions of rejections. It was just my hard head that kept me trying. My second acceptance came from a now-defunct magazine, Comic Relief, which published my work through the early '90s. Roz Warren, a small press publisher in Pennsylvania, then saw my cartoons in Comic Relief and decided she wanted to publish them in a collection. Through the years, I had then had three book collections published by her, "Stand Back, I Think I'm Gonna Laugh," "Kicking the Habit: A Collection of Cartoons on the Catholic Church," and "Rina's Big Book of Sex Cartoons." You might say I got my ya-yas out before I got a syndication deal.

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Hell, Mich.: You did fantastic single panel work before your syndicated strips began -- are you still drawing those occasionally? And if so, how do you find the time to do so much cartooning?

Rina Piccolo: The only other work I do besides "Tina's Groove," is my single panel for "Six Chix," and that keeps me very busy. I'd like to think I'm lucky that I have an outlet for my single panel stuff and be able to develop characters in a comic strip as well.

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Montgomery Village, Md.: My wife and I loved "Six Chix" until the Post replaced it with "Rhymes With Orange." While that's a good strip I can think of others it should have replaced instead (e.g., Bizarro, Piranha Club, Out Of the Gene Pool). Your comments, Suzanne?

Rina Piccolo: Suzanne here...to use a cliche, you can't please all the people all the time. If you only knew how we anguish over any change we make to the print comics...we have many differing opinions just among ourselves, but the bottom line was that "Six Chix" didn't do very well in our comics survey last April and so that was kind of the tie-breaker. I, personally, wanted to keep "Six Chix," but it's easier to drop relatively new comics than it is to drop those with a long history in the paper. Please don't just tell me about this, write to comics@washpost.com and make your feelings known or call our Comics Hotline at 202-334-4775. Each and every one of those reader comments is tallied and reported to the big boss who make the final decision, and it really is the most effective way (besides filling out a comics survey whenever we run one) to make your opinion count!

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Rina Piccolo: Well, I guess this is goodbye. I just want to say sometimes when I'm cartooning it feels as though I'm on a deserted island sending out my cartoons in tiny bottles...so I'm always wondering if there are actually people out there reading them. This chat has been very affirming for me! And I'm always thankful and grateful to hear from readers. YOu can e-mail me through my syndicate's Web site, www.kingfeatures.com. And I love you all!

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Suzanne Tobin: Thanks so much, Rina! You are an absolute delight! I hope you and everyone else will join us again in two weeks when Jeff Parker of "The Wizard of Id," will be our guest. See you then!

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