Where to get time for your favorite hobby and how to turn it into a profession

How to love working on a project?

“People of specialties associated with drawing do not like the word 'inspiration',” says Uryryuk, the creator of the comics “The sea is worried” and “Dirty and squabble”.

But this chapter is about inspiration. And also about the systematization of work and the ability to complete what was started.

It's always easy to start … Full of plans and enthusiasm, the horizon is deceptively close. But making a comic strip day after day, sometimes through laziness and “I don’t want” to redo it, while not losing interest and focus, is not easy.

Alexander Ex Makarov artist

Interestingly, screenwriters are more likely than artists to say they believe in inspiration. But the authors of both texts and graphics believe that it will not be possible to build work only on it.

Evgeny Matskevich works as a piccher in the Obrazach public and popularizes science with the help of funny memes. Having created thousands of pictures and comics with colleagues, he came to the conclusion that inspiration is a kind of myth, and creativity is a skill that can be improved by constant training: “There is no point in waiting for inspiration. When you are faced with a creative task and every day you need to generate interesting ideas, the only thing that is required is to start drawing."

According to the screenwriter and editor Mikhail Zaslavsky, it makes sense to talk about inspiration primarily in the context of author's comics - individual projects that are written and drawn, because they were carried away by the idea.

“This is how much of what was done during the comics-club“Com”was invented, - he comments. - Since 1992, I have been working in periodicals, printing, and this is the production chain, obligations, deadlines that cannot be violated. They are the main work motivation."

There is no motivation. There are poorly developed ideas that are not yet clear how to implement. Another creative burnout, which for some reason is called "lack of motivation."

Tanya Papusheva artist and co-author of the "Scrolls of Erundza" web comic

Other comic artists may still say what helps them stay on track.

Screenwriter Kirill Kovalchuk (comic "The Gray Days of Magicians") observes writers, artists, musicians on Instagram and Facebook: “I understand that I want to be no worse … People inspire. Those who earn and live by what they sincerely love."

If there is a good script and story that you are confident in, chances are you will not be distracted from the drawing process. All that remains is to make a good script.

Uncle Wind painter

The reason to create a comic can be participation in a thematic competition, festival, challenge. Look for those where you are interested in the task, awards or level of the jury and participants.

Tatiana Lepikhina (Sideburn004) has won prizes in three international manga competitions. The main thing that gives victory, according to her, is self-confidence and the possibility of further growth.

Since 2002, the International Festival of Drawn Stories "KomMissia" has been held in Moscow. He prompted Yevgeny Bornyakov, Ivan Shavrin and other authors to start creating.

In St. Petersburg, Boomfest has become a similar catalyst. Thanks to him, Olga Lavrentieva and Yulia Tar took up comics.

Often people are encouraged to view other people's works on their comics. This is how cartoonist and strip writer Nick Aragua describes it: “Look,” the story says, “you could have thought of me too, if you weren't idle. Go and try to do something better."

North Carolina gives strength to the opportunity to publish: “Happiness began to overwhelm me, even when the first time they wrote from the publisher:“Let us publish you”. I lived on a joyful feeling and drew a comic for six months, pored over it at night."

One way to mobilize yourself is to set clear deadlines.

Sergey Redisoj Klyuchnikov recalls that the comic strip "Shura and the Moon Flower" was specially prepared for the BigFest festival. It was necessary to have time to draw, show to the publisher and print: “I was already ashamed to sit in the comic zone, on the Alley of Authors, with stickers, postcards, badges and art books. There is a task, a deadline. So you try to keep within it, doing everything possible and impossible."

Bulat Gazizov, the artist of the comic strip "Draft: the fourth door", argues that if nothing comes of your time you will not notice what did not work. But in order not to lose your ability to work, you need to take breaks, for example, play your favorite game, go for a walk or go to the movies, and it is best to warm up and play sports."

And the strongest motivation is the response of the readers.

Internal obstinacy, faith in the industry and love for their work helps. Sometimes competition spurs on, sometimes - the lack of a piece that you would like to see on the shelves. But what inspires most of all is the feedback and reactions of the readers, the realization that you've inspired someone or just made someone's day better …

Julia Varasabi

Where can I find the time?

As long as comics are a hobby and not a source of income, you have to figure out how to carve out time for it.

The most difficult thing in creating comics, according to Anton Savinov, is to combine it "with making money, family and sleep."

Oleg Tishchenkov, author of the books "The Cat", "Fairy Tales of Robots" and others, says that when drawing is not a profession, the most difficult thing is not to come up with a character or a plot ("this can be done by walking the dog or at lectures"), otherwise why would you waste a few weeks of labor on it.

“Time is always short,” - says Varvara Tomato. Prioritization and planning help out. Varvara shares an exercise that she learned about while participating in the international project “24 Hours of Comics”: “The point is that you are given a topic in a day, you can do it faster, you have to come up with and draw a complete story of 24 pages. It turned out to be difficult for me, but I got an excellent experience of fast work, decision-making, finding new moves that are not typical for me."

I set myself deadlines, schedule every day and work. It helps that I have learned to ponder, invent, reflect, imagine options for sketches in my thoughts when doing something completely different, for example, go to the store, cook, wash the floor.

Barbara Tomato

An example of planning is given by Elizaveta vitaRäven Voronina, comic book author, teacher and theorist of comicsology. She draws detailed sketches in fits and starts during the week, and the final pages on weekends. The average is two pages per week, and you can calculate how long it will take to create the final comic: “You have to work everywhere. Storyboard miniatures are made at bus stops, in queues for doctors, at the bank, at the post office … After that I usually give myself a couple of months of rest, but I still write pieces of scripts and draw concepts in fits and starts."

Dmitry Osipenko, whose published works include The Bronze Horseman, a comic adaptation of the poem, is also preparing a daily plan to meet the deadline. But the plan doesn't help: "I stick to Pinterest half of the time, and the rest … I try to do everything."

Lena Murzina composes comics on her way home from work: "It's cool to come up with stories on the bus, probably because windows are like panels of pages."

Dmitry Nikls Nikulushkin proposes to make a rating of the importance of cases. Anything below the rating of a comic can be “sentenced”. If the comic itself is in last place, this is a reason to think about whether to take on it.

In the opinion of Andrey Plotnik, who drew Borgoth the Ravager and The Island of Maniacs, “if you can devote at least an hour a day to your hobby, you already have enough time to create comics … Some manage to make a page in an hour. Depends on what style you use."

In the creation of a comic book, for which there is no time, the basic rule is: "Not a day without a line." The main thing is regularity. For example, I am working on the comic "Expedition" for 2-4 hours a day. I specifically get up at six in the morning. Business, of course, is progressing slowly, it has advanced by 30 percent over the year, but it is still progressing.

Vladislav Serov

Oleg Grin, the artist of the Pasha Technic comic strip, created it in parallel with his work as a designer: “There are no tricks. If you want, you paint, if not, you don’t paint. At six in the evening, the working day ends, and I start comics, draw until three in the morning, with more workload - until five or until I start making mistakes from fatigue."

At Bubble I work at night as my main job is as a concept artist in the games industry. To do everything, you have to sacrifice a lot, sometimes weekends, but when you love your job, it's a joy.

Eric Erik-diziron Bragalyan

Ivan Khoroshev suggests cooperating with writers, editors and other artists: "You don't have to play the hero and do everything alone." And he adds that the ability to work in a team will also come in handy for those who decide not to associate life with comics.

When you share work with a screenwriter or colorist, you can motivate each other and take responsibility for deadlines not only in front of you … Is time management your weak point? Find a team.

Julia Varasabi

To save time, many authors choose short comics - strips. With them, you can “catch fire with an idea or a good graphic solution and do everything quickly, without having time to cool down,” says comics artist Ilya Lizard Yudovsky.

Dmitry Narozhny, author of the collection “Vitaly. An unfashionable Illustrator ", says:" I have been saving up my skill for a long time. Common problem: "I'm not good enough yet." And then, under 40, he decided that he could not wait, and began to draw strips. It seemed to me that what a writer would write on dozens of pages, I would draw faster and more beautifully and without any skill in writing. Not really. But I started comfortably - black and white stripe."

Anastasia Kiseleva, creator of the Cathvader illustrations. The same illustrator ", publishes strips for three or four frames:" Sometimes it is possible to draw a comic in 20 minutes, if you like the idea and want to bring it to life."

However, one more piece of advice: take your time.

Don't think comics is a big and time-consuming business. With this attitude, nothing will come of it. You just need to do a little bit every day. And there will be success. Feel free to interrupt for other stories, as you can get tired of working on the same comic for a long time.

Ilya Obukhov

Anna Lumbricus Suchkova says that for 10 years she could not complete a large comic strip, there were always cases. In her experience, “no time” is an illusion, self-deception: “I considered the priorities, realized that it was time to close the debts, and in a short time I painted 50 labor-consuming and picturesque sheets. I have a small child, household chores and freelance work … I was able to finish the comic because I had a desire. For money with deadlines and waiting clients, it's easy to work quickly. When the client is not there, it seems that the project will wait. And if there is a desire, the time is found."

"How to survive in a comic book industry"

Dmitry Lyashchenko is the chief editor of Cityselebrity, the largest crowdsourcing platform in Russia. It helps people to believe in themselves and reveal their talents, and employers - to find the best workers and creative solutions to their problems.

For the book How to survive in the comic book industry. Tips from professionals”Dmitry spoke with hundreds of comic book artists. He has gathered their expertise into a guide for anyone dreaming of a career in the industry. You will learn the answers to the most important questions, learn how to create characters and write scripts, and understand what to do when the comic is ready.