What made you start to do a strip like this?
Hopeless Optimism started off as a simple comic strip thing that I really wanted to do for so long. I started doing (serious) comic strips since I was 12. These projects, "Sunny Side Up" and "The Megatuns" were as short as a lit match. Then I started all over again and got Hopeless Optimism running.
Why "Hopeless Optimism"?
I came up with the Title "Hopeless Optimism" because:
1. Most Webcomics have titles completely irrelevant to the Strip.
2. The word "Hopeless" is synonymous with Teenage life for some reason, so I HAD to use that.
2. I decided to make mine an Oxymoron (where contradictory terms appear together). So it was either "Hopeless Optimism" or "Hopeful Pessimism". I took the latter, it sounds better .
What do You use to do "Hopeless Optimism"?
All my strips are done digitally on a Graphire3™ Wacom Tablet using Adobe® Photoshop® CS, all done on a Mac.
Is "Hopeless Optimism" based on anything at all?
Not Really. Although "Hopeless Optimism" has me and my closest friend, Daniel, in it, it practically has NOTHING to do with our melodramatic lives, except for a minor few incidences. Oh, and Gwen is a Fictional Character.
Where do you Get Ideas for "Hopeless Optimism"?
Anything I can come up with. Once an Idea comes up, I'll jot it down, then review it to see if it makes sense or me laugh. If it's good, it gets to be a strip. If not, it's scrapped. However, if I already drew it and it didn't turn out well, it goes into my rejected stash instead.
How Long does it Take for you do to a Strip?
It depends on the idea I have. On the Average, I'll take up to 20 minutes to complete one strip. You may think that is a really short amount of time. Well, it is. Because is no colouring involved, thus the short time.
Surely you have sources of Inspiration?
Yep, I do. I have a couple of resources in my shelves (click, left).

I have 4 Major Players in my Collection. Bill Watterson, Bill Amend, Frank Cho and Gary Larson, creators of "Calvin and Hobbes", "Foxtrot", "Liberty Meadows" and "The Far Side" respectively. All of great caliber.
I also have the Works of Berke Breathed ("Bloom County" of the 80s, he now does "Opus"), Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott ("Baby Blues"), along with a couple of flimsy-paper "Archie-style" Comics and Limited Editions. I'm also driven by Cartoons and Comedies, the Good ones, not just the crap they shove to the masses. So there's my 3Cs. Now You Know.