Jenn St-Onge

Jenn St-Onge (aka “Princess Jem”, she/her) is a tatted Canadian cat mommy/comic artist. She loves coffee, Bioshock, and anything spooky; she is definitely not several cats stacked in a trench coat (probably)

Have you always been creative and artistic?

Pretty much! I remember drawing a family portrait with big, thick crayloa markers back in kindergarten and several adults remarking how talented I was (for a 5 year old), and that really stuck with me. I loved taking something from inside my head and being able to actually, visibly show it to people; I was constantly writing stories and drawing people or characters on my schoolwork.

How would you describe the style of your work?

Expressive and character-driven. I really try to build a narrative into anything I draw, whether it’s a person standing on a blank background or a room characters are interacting within. People tend to say that my work is “cute” but other than the fact that it tends to appeal to girls, I don’t like to use that as my main trait.

What’s in your pencil case and what’s your favorite tool?

I very rarely work traditionally anymore (I know, bad habit), but for my digital work I mainly use an Intuos Pro M with Clip Studio Pro on my pc. I recently got an iPad Pro but I definitely still have the training wheels on it trying to figure it out haha

Who is your favorite superhero?

I was a big Teen Titans fan back in the day, so probably Starfire or Raven? I also have a bit of a soft spot for Michelle Pfeiffer era Catwoman.

If you could have one super power what would it be?

I’m a ghost type so I wanna say some sort of necromancy? Or telepathy/telekensis maybe.

Where do you look for inspiration?

I’m super inspired by seeing what kind of comic stuff my peers are currently working on! It tends to get a fire under my butt (as the saying goes) and always makes me want to up my own game.

Who are your favorite artists or comic book authors?

This question is always really hard!! My lazy answer is that you should check out who I follow on Twitter because it is a huge list of amazing comic artists/illustrators.

To give some more specific recommendations, I really love the comics Naomi Franqiz, Hannah Templer, and Lisa Sterle have been putting out, and for writers, check out Kelly Thompson, Vita Ayala, and Matt Erman. For a wild card who does really cool creepy creature designs/photo manips, I’ve really gotten into Trevor Henderson’s work!