Hi, I’m Jackie E. Davis and I make Underpants and Overbites. It’s a diary comic about my tiny human life featuring me, my husband Pat, and our toddler Peanut, and baby, Pickle! Other recurring characters are my lumpy house, my beloved childhood cow plushie, Butter Udder and whatever worn out car I happen to be driving at the moment. I live in Rochester, NY and work in my super cozy attic studio while Peanut sleeps.
I’ve been doodling things forever, but only really considered comics after discovering they weren’t all about super heroes when I was 26. Suddenly all my journaling, doodling, and storytelling combined and morphed over time into the comics that you read today. I officially started Underpants and Overbites in 2016, when I realized how unemployable I was and that creators could feed things to the Internet and pay their bills. I’ve been doing this fulltime since 2017.
Pat and I met in undergrad at Syracuse University. He was there for the illustration program, I was there because the mascot was an orange. When he suggested illustration as a major I thought, “Sure, that sounds fun!” We graduated in 2011, moved to Austin, TX, (because why not?) had a ton of odd jobs, went on lots of road trips and moved away after being too hot for three years. We decided to move to Rochester where I had lots of relatives to shower us with used furniture and leftovers. Pat went to grad school to become an art teacher so we could have healthcare and a steady paycheck. Thanks, Pat! In 2017 we got married! Pat teaches pre-K through second grade art. When he gets home from work he smells like Elmer’s glue and photocopies. His pockets are full of little notes from the kids.
In 2022 we bought our extra lumpy forever home. In 2023 our son Peanut was born. Now I make vats of soup to keep us alive, Pat fights the moisture in the basement to keep us dry, and we both excitedly await the day when Peanut and his new sibling can draw with us and not try to eat the art supplies.
Me in our lumpy bathroom. Sept. 2024
Pat in our lumpy basement. Oct. 2024
If you have any questions, comments, general musings, or happen to be in Rochester and want to meet up, feel free to email me below or at jackie@underpantsandoverbites.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I mail you things?
Yes please and thank you! I love fanmail, random snacks, a tiny hat for Butter Udder etc.
Underpants and Overbites
PO Box 18604
Rochester NY
14618
Do you take commissions?
I do! Please see my commissions page for more details.
Do you have an online store?
I do! I run in out of my studio and it ships internationally
I want to support you financially, but don’t really want to buy anything. Can I send you money?
Sure! I have a Patreon where you can read an extra comic a week for $3 a month
https://www.patreon.com/underpantsandoverbites
Or if you’d prefer a onetime thing, my PayPal is jackie@underpantsandoverbites.com
And my Venmo is @UnderpantsAndOverbites
Can I hire you to teach comics?
Heck yeah, I love teaching! I’ve taught 3 one-credit comics courses at a local university plus several week-long workshops and countless courses at public libraries. Email me with your proposal and we can work out a quote.
Why is Pat purple?
When I first started Underpants and Overbites, I wanted the characters to be colored based on mood rather than skin tone. I pictured a bunch of cute little jelly beans running around. Pat’s tired so I made him purple, while I’m more peppy, so I made my character pink. As I explored other colors for different characters I realized a lot of the colors didn’t work. Red was angry, blue was cold, green and yellow were sick etc. At some point I decided to just make the characters based on their actual skin tones, but Pat got stuck purple.
Will you illustrate my children’s book?
Sorry, but no. I’m not interested in illustrating other people’s ideas. I might explore making children’s books one day, but I would be in control of the entire creative process. Good luck! (Unless you have $10,000. Then I’d consider it)
What materials do you use?
I make everything traditionally like an art dinosaur. For full color comics, I use Fabriano Bright White 140 hot press watercolor paper and Microns. I use Winsor & Newton watercolor paints, an old enamel palette, and a few trusty round brushes. Oh and I draw every comic with my beloved Cross mechanical pencil, Goldie, who I found in a soccer field when I was like 10.
Pretty much my whole traditional setup.
For black and white comics, I use a big ream of printer paper, flair pens, and the occasional Sharpie. I scan all my comics with an Epson Perfection V89 scanner that seems close to the end of its life. I clean things up a bit in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet and my trusty ASUS laptop circa 2015, also nearing death.
My whole digital setup.
How long did it take for you to arrive at the final cartoon version of yourself that we see today?
I’ve been doodling since I was a kid and have had many obsessive phases. The first was cows. I drew them constantly until I was about 15. In high school I experimented with digital art and realism. In college I was obsessed with puns and started to develop some lumpy characters. I also really liked writing about my life in incriminating journals that are to be burned upon my death. After college I got a bit lost creatively, but continued to journal and draw lumpy characters. At age 26 I discovered autobio comics and read as many as I could find at the public library. This inspired me to combine all my journaling and doodling into the first iteration of me as a character. She gradually evolved into the Jackie you see in my comics today.
What advice do you have for aspiring comic artists?
Oh yikes, idunno. I feel like at the time my work became successful, the algorithm was totally different. If I had to gain an audience online again today (which is the only way I know how to “break into” comics), I don’t know where I would start. But! As far as creating work goes I think it’s super important to focus on what brings you joy. Make things that excite you and delight you and challenge you. Sharing those things and having other people like them is a bonus
How does Pat feel about his foibles being featured in the comic?
I just asked him and he said, “Could be worse.”
How do you know an idea is worth making into a comic/cutout/etc.?
I probably make 20% of the ideas I have. I record my thoughts, things people say, things that happen to me etc. in a bunch of different places. I have a sketchbook on my nightstand, one in my fanny pack, and a notes app on my phone. When I sit down to take a comic to finish, I very rarely start with a blank page. I flip through my ideas. Some are fully formed and need almost no editing. Some I try to rework so much that they die on the operation table. I never know 100% what will work until I try to block it out into panels, but the longer I make comics, the faster I get at knowing whether an idea will work or not.
Are there any plans to move into other mediums (ie. television)?
Now and for the foreseeable future I’m happy to stick to good old fashioned comics. I have a bit of a onetrack mind when it comes to creating. Some people want to try every medium, but I find so much comfort in doing the same thing over and over again. Simply putting Comics Jackie in a new outfit fills me with delight. And there are infinite iterations of outfits!
I’m also obsessed with creative control and would find it nearly impossible to relinquish enough of it to work with a team of people who wanted to turn my comics into a TV show. But one day I would like to publish a full-length graphic novel. For the moment, I’m just working on longer and longer black and white comics. It’s like I’m at a comics gym trying to work up to it.
How do you keep yourself motivated?
I set an arbitrary goal of two to three comics a week and try to achieve that as often as possible. Something about that production schedule keeps me making comics while not overthinking them. If I only made one comic a year, there would be so much pressure that I probably wouldn’t make anything. Two to three comics a week gives me the space to know that if something isn’t my best work, it’s okay, because I’ll be trying again very shortly.
I also just love making comics so much. I really couldn’t tell you why. I began in 2016 and love it as much as the day I started.
Why is your comic called Underpants and Overbites?
I wanted to name my comic something that didn’t take itself too seriously. I also have an overbite and Pat loves to chill in his underpants, so it was a perfect combo. And I love Hyperbole and A Half by Allie Brosh and wanted to use an ‘and’ in my comics like her.
Can we see pics of your studio?!
Of course! It’s one of my favorite spots in the whole world! It’s in the attic of my lumpy house. Pat, my uncle, and a couple other relatives insulated and finished it so now U&O can have a cozy forever home.
The stairs leading up to it
More little doodads on the way upstairs
A reader crocheted me that Little Jackie and it’s one of my prized possessions. I found the chair on the street and she welcomes me in every time.
I put a mattress up there as a cozy spot to read, and snooze undisturbed by my family
My sitting desk where I can watch the neighborhood
My uncle helped modify this standing desk so it’s the perfect height. And he installed a couple bars for me to prop a foot on.