HotPanda #61, march 2023 : special FA**Q after 5 years!

21 march 2023

HotPanda n°61, mars 2023 : la FACul des 5 ans !

It's official, it has been 5 years that every month, I draw the HotPandas! They are mainly in french, but when it's possible, I translate them.

Today's episode is special, because I had asked you on Mastodon what I could do for a special episode. You suggested a FAQ - or a FAssQ because puns like this are encouraged in HotPandas - and I will answer your questions! 💜

How Moustache was born?

When I first started drawing on my first blog, I was illustrating anecdotes about my personal life, but I quickly felt that I was limited, and that I needed a second character to interact with me. An imaginary character would be very convenient, because in this case I could make them say whatever I wanted 😁 In 2015, I had a panda plush for my birthday, and I called him "Monsieur Moustache" at the beggining, in reference of the animated cartoon "Brandy and Mister Whiskers". In french, whiskers and mustache are under the same word "Moustache".

Then, I had my forst drawing tablet (without screen, a Huion H58L) the Christmas after that, and since it motivated me to draw more, I decided to add this panda character to my illustrated stories.

But I quickly noticed that there was too much difference between my pseudo, "Petit Lutin" (tiny elf) and "Monsieur Moustache" (Mister Moustache): it was much bigger than me, whereas he was just a secondary character. I then removed the "Monsieur", and the name Moustache stayed!

At the beginning, I drew him with cat whiskers, because I also drew myself with cat ears... Proof with this archive banner from early 2016. It was my first blog banner fully illustrated. I did it with MyPaint then.

Moustache the panda is on the left. There is a puple 10 faces die flying in the middle of the illustratuion. On the right, there is a humanoid, with cat ears, playing the 5 strings bass (it was my first design of my character). There is written "Chez Petit Lutin" on top.

Is Moustache inspried by a real person? Or a mix of several persons?

I'm lucky to know very funny people, and then Moustache is inspired by a mix of them. But sometimes, I also have a pun in mind, and I want to ilustrate it, so I use Moustache to tell it.

Does Moustache have a soft and silky fur, even when he's in a bad mood ?

Haha, nice pun ("bad mood" is "mauvais poil" for "bad hair" in french 😁 Moustache's fur is always soft and silky no matter what his mood is. But his environment can have an impact on his fur quality... 💨☢

- Moustache, what the.. ?
- I farted.
Watercolor painting for Inktober 2016 - "Mask"

Watercolor from 2017 from a pun (parody of the Titanic song)

Yeah, at that time, I described myself like a "farting pandas illustrator" 😁 You can see that the design of my character is now close to wha it looks nowaday ; my hair style is only depending on my real hair.

How were created HotPandas?

At first, I wasn't planning on creating them, because Moustache appeared first on 2016, and HotPandas were created on 2018. But I regularly read "les dessins de Cy(Prine)" on the webzine MadmoiZelle. They were published on every first sunday of the month, and their content was testimonies on sexuality illustrated by the illustrator Cy. Those strips were dealing with sex scenes, but always in a really funny and safe way : example withPelotages furtifs (french only). Cy received so much testimonies that she was able to publish two books aside from what she drew for the webzine, "Le vrai sexe de la vraie vie" (real sex from real life). Here's one of her video where she draws while promoting her book.

So, I got puns ideas, and an inspiration on how to draw them. I thought that my illustrated puns could at least make my friends laugh. Moustache, the fictional character, was perfect for telling what I did't dare to tell myself 😂 I'm still the one who has the ideas, who draws... One step at a time, I added anecdotes from my real life, made because of quiproquos. I always wanted to keep this format, wayyyy softer that Cy's strips, but out of my friends' circle, I still do not dare telling people that I draw pandas making butt jokes!

le premier logo des HotPandas, tout rose
HotPandas' first logo

Are the HotPandas depending on ambient temperature?

Absolutely! For now, there are many episodes made during hotter times - such as Express cooking - but I recently made one when there was snow on my car.

Did you name your bass (the one seen on the "Enemy" video)?

Yes, even several!

My cover video of "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons 🎤🎸

This is a Squier Jaguar Bass, so I think it would be funny to name her Squiky, but I call it more often my "kids' bass". But it's a real instrument bass, a real instrument for adults.

But have you noticed, higher in this article, that there was a blue and bigger basson the 2016 banner? This one is Fender Jazz Bass, with 5 strings, and a huge fretboard, really big for my smol hands - these are the kins of puns you can find in HotPandas, and this article is for their 5 years anniversary 😁

Photo where I sing while playing the bass. I wear yellow sunglasses, a red and black dress, and the 5-strings bass is blue.

I used this photo from 2015 as an inspiration for my selfportrait. You may see that this bass is bigger than Squiky. What you may not realize is that she weights 4 kg! Her name is Fifi. In comparison, Squiky is way lighter and easier to play.

Will you make other music videos?

YES !

Well, that's the plan. But I can't record my vocals at my place, because my flat is not well insulated. I have several covers in progress, I hope to publish them gradually.

That's it, that was the FAssQ for the 5 years anniversary, so there you have Moustache moving his booty and twerking! 😂

Moustache the panda is twerking, with his paws on his knees

I hope you enjoyed this FAQ, and I wanted to say a big thank you to Gynux, La Filacroche, and Chagratt for your questions and ideas for this special article!