Tilteed

Welcome back, MJ! We’ve missed you around these parts! What have you been up to the last few months since we saw you here?

It's good to be back! I've been blogging like a maniac at Compete-tee-tion, building traffic at TeeMagnet, and completely wasting my time in a most enjoyable way by playing a ton of Minecraft. I've also been doing a decent amount of drawing, which sometimes manages to produce decent results

Why World Turtle? What about the story made you so interested in illustrating it?

I'm a huge fan of turtles in general. I had a pet turtle as a kid, and still have fun finding them in the yard now and then (here's one I found last year). Plus, there's just something cool about seeing the world as small and alive... it gives you even more appreciation for the beauty of nature and the importance of protecting it. I'd love to ride on the back of a turtle and explore the planet- or maybe even the universe! It'd be like a cruise ship minus the buffets, but with the best guide possible.

In the last year, what’s been your most enjoyable design you created and why?

Tough question! I enjoy creating every design I make, but I guess if I had to pick one, the one that stands out the most is The Eating Habits of Bears. It was hugely gratifying to finally get a print at Threadless, since that's the site that inspired me to start making shirt art in the first place. But another reason that design is so memorable for me is that I got a lot of great feedback on it from friends while I was drawing it- their input helped me hone the joke and make the shirt even funnier.

We know you’re a gamer, on top of designing tees, so give it to us straight: What game has been eating up your free time at the moment?

I am an absolute Minecraft fanatic. I'm so obsessed I even made a site about it: Minecult. There's something really awe-inspiring about dropping into a pristine pixel world and then building it into the world of your dreams. So far I've got a sand castle, a lighthouse, and a huge underground subway, but my current project is to make a town. It was going well until I tried to put a fireplace in a log cabin, so now I'm back at square one on that idea!

Do you listen to any music when you get in the tee designing zone? Care to link up a sample of what you love listening to?

I'm actually kind of the opposite- I don't listen to music all that often, but when I'm working I watch a truly insane amount of TV. The story lines and conversations help keep me energized and interested- when I try only having music going, I get a lot more easily distracted. The TV I watch is all over the place- I watch critically acclaimed, well-written and acted shows like The Good Wife (packed full of interesting characters), goofy soap-style dramas like Pretty Little Liars (I think the writers are in on the joke with that show, because a recent episode showed the villain watching the protagonists while chomping on a huge bowl of popcorn), and even talk shows like Craig Ferguson (I don't care what anyone says about Conan, Craig is by far the superior show even though I watch both).

Do you have any portfolio links or pages you'd like to have us check out?

I've got a bit of a portfolio up at VonPlatypus.com, and my Woot derby entries (the good, the bad, and the ugly) can be seen at ShirtWhat.

Take your final bow, MJ! Anything you’d like to say to the Tee Nerds?

I just want to give a huge thank you to all the folks commenting at Tilteed- you might not know it, but your feedback means the world to artists. Remember to keep supporting the work you love, it's the best way to ensure that there'll be more of it

Also I just ate a bacon sandwich on spicy flatbread and it was pretty awesome. So if anyone has other great sandwich recommendations I would love to hear them!