How do you guys balance school/work with comic-making?

zuggarts 2017-09-05 16:52:15 UTC #1

My artistic productivity/growth has slowed so much since university that it's pretty ridiculous. How are you guys handling things?

Optional Reading:

This might come off more like a rant than a genuine question, but I am so desperate to be able to spend more time doing what I enjoy and want to hear back from others with similar experiences.

I'm studying a mixed math/engineering program (a.k.a. no arts classes ) with currently around 6-7 mandatory courses each semester. I also need to find a job/internship in my field every four months or "fail" the term, meaning that I spend a lot of time revising/stuffing my resume, practising technical interview questions, and doing interviews--sometimes during the middle of exams. Granted I don't study very much and have pretty "meh" grades, so I do have some free time. But whenever I take time out and start drawing I am plagued by extreme guilt and jealousy. My friends are getting jobs at top companies like Google because they're a) smart and b) doing a fair amount of coding in their free time while I'm just sitting here crying over my inability to draw a fucking circle in my sketchbook.

I was expecting more time to work on my comics this summer, but long work hours + daily 3 hour commute + consistently busy weekends killed that dream. My lack of improvement has gotten so extremely bad the past year that I also can't stand to look at my own work anymore.

Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to hearing how everyone copes with this kind of thing.

Even more optional:

If anyone is in a similar situation and interested in forming some kind of art-buddy relationship to help keep each other motivated, please talk to me on my Tumblr or on Slack/Discord/etc. (PM me)

Chopythes 2017-09-05 17:03:31 UTC #2

Currently working 8h/day plus managing 2 ongoing webcomics, I would say I might be able to help you, or at least come with some tips.

My immediate response was: Study. Let work come first, drawing later.
I think you'd feel better if you focused more on your work, as you said that you're feeling guilty whenever you're drawing.
Allow yourself a day off or two from studies and focus on drawing, if you feel like that might help you?

Also, keep a sketchbook with you and whatever pen you can find. Sketch during lunch, break, when you're commuting, waiting in line at the grocery store...
The list can go on.

If that's not working, why don't you "treat" yourself by drawing one full body figure every day? A sketch, or something.
I do believe improving, helps by drawing every single day.

Myself, I thumbnail my comics during lunch hours at work, I doodle on stuff whenever I get the time, a minute or two while waiting.

Or maybe just draw half an hour before bedtime? That usually calms me down and makes it easier for me to sleep.

joannekwan 2017-09-05 17:10:46 UTC #3

What the heck? I think your art looks HELLA good! It's really unique and I love the style! Please don't feel bad about how it looks specifically.
I know as an artist you always want to improve, but really improvements can be made in small increments at a time. I've gotten to a point that my stuff has stayed fairly consistent since this time last year, but I've made smaller leaps elsewhere, such as refining one of my coloring styles, and just slowly getter better with color picking in general.

Anyway, degrees come first. But definitely sketch between studying or going from place to place, whenever you have some quiet time. I never even thought of running my own webcomic while I was in college. I was focused on making grades and getting that degree that much of my family's money was put towards.

Kirstin 2017-09-05 17:59:24 UTC #4

Oh gosh i f you ever find the answer to this question please let me know!!

I too am studying STEM. I kind of like it though, because art is my break from my school/job. And I'm more appreciative of the time I DO have to do art.

Nothing is more motivating than working on a limited schedule. If I only have an hour to spare outside of classwork, I make good use of the hour. I feel like on summer breaks I get lazy ._.

joe_galindez 2017-09-05 18:04:08 UTC #5

By keeping 36-hour days and learning to accept the voices.

TheKawaiiGarden 2017-09-05 21:48:24 UTC #6

I'm kinda in the same boat, I'm studying biology at Uni (working my way towards Marine Ecology) and I have a job that swallows up my weekends so I have little to no time to work on my comic and its friggin killing me.
I was already slow when I had all the time in the world but now its just gotten worse. I try to use the little free time I have each day to slowly create a new page even if it takes me 3-4 weeks just to make one page.

dawgofdawgness 2017-09-05 23:11:56 UTC #7

I create the biggest buffer I can during the weekend, that way there will be less stress when I update my comic on Tuesdays/Fridays ^_^

franzvanderlinde 2017-09-05 23:13:38 UTC #8

I totally feel you! I struggled through 6 years at uni (also in tech) without much success. It was only 3 years after finishing school that I decided I had to make time for it and get it regular. Eventually you start to get a few time management tricks here and there and start to work the balance, spend less time with less important things. I'm happy to have reach where I am, I use Trello (trello.com) to organize my comics progress and activity so I have a constant pace even if slow. I'm not satisfied though, and the conflict between what I love do and what I get my living from doesn't seem like will resolve too soon.

solhawthorne 2017-09-06 00:48:53 UTC #9

I'm in the same boat! I tried last summer during my full-time internship to work on my comic but it just fizzed out... School is actually a lot easier to manage than 40 hours of straight work so I'll probably have time this year...

Also, from one technologist to another, I would say you should definitely not worry about your job prospects as much as you indicated. Everyone wants to apply to work at google but it is not the end all be all. In fact, I think given the sheer work and effort required to get there, it's not even worth considering! CompSci/Math/Engineering is in REALLY high demand and there is no end of good work to be found. If finding a good job with a better commute (jesus h christ 3 hours? I can barely put up with 30 minutes of commute) is stressing you out, check out resources on Medium for how to get linkedin connections or try to go through your school's resources and connections.

The other thing that helped me this summer is I just stopped thinking about "improving". Art isn't supposed to be a competition, it's supposed to be fun. It sounds like you're not having fun and that has to change. I would take out my sketchbook and doodle just like I was back in high school; zentangles, chibi characters from my fav anime, pokemon, dragons, etc... Nothing crazy, just to get myself in the mood and relax. Only after you've relaxed can you get yourself in the mood for drawing seriously. Good luck!!

NaamanBlanco 2017-09-06 02:19:55 UTC #10

Being an artist/creative is tough. For a while I've tried to balance work with a 2 hr commute, school, and a family with a 2 year old son and a wife who isn't really supportive. I even had to drop out of Architecture school because of her nagging. It was very depressing. However; I didn't give up! I decided to devote an hour a day to sketching, and to creating a nice drawing once a week. "The Art of Figure Drawing" became my Bible and Andrew Loomis it's prophet. Before long I got faster and improved in a short time. YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!! DO WHAT YOU LOVE!!!! IT WILL PAY OFF IN THE LONG RUN!!! Think long term when it comes to your craft. You have the gift of drawing for a reason. Declare your love for the sketchpad! Marry your pencil! If you do the pencil and pad will remain true to you even when everyone else doesn't understand. I thought about starting a sketch group here. Maybe I should look into that.

Zpreader 2017-09-06 04:51:43 UTC #11

^ This. I'm in the STEM boat too (Mech. Eng. senior)

Fit as much artwork into the cracks as you can, but the degree comes first. Ultimately, once you're done with school and get a better working situation you should have a great deal more control over how you spend your time (Goodbye homework!)

As for making more time the best I can tell you is to get work/studying done early as often as you can. I typically try to work ahead as far as I can during the week so I can have at least one weekend day when I can focus on my comics.

franzvanderlinde 2017-09-06 12:24:21 UTC #12

I forgot to tell in my post that I got back to school to study Anthropology, and I just had a baby, and I still get some progress done on my comic, so yeah, you learn to fit it!

Nork_King 2017-09-06 14:45:53 UTC #13

I try to finish school work as soon as possible so i can work on my comic. Ah, but sometimes I just don't feel like studying so I end up doing whatever lol

stephaniegodin001 2017-09-06 22:38:33 UTC #14

I remember having that guilt feeling while in school, but to be honest with all the stuff you are doing, you do need a tinsy bit of down time to stop you from going crazy. I work full-time and when I go home an after I am done cooking and chores, I sit down and I draw. Even if it's 15 minutes, its enough time to get something done.

Basically, my best advice is to set a goal each night, after school and internship, to do a certain amount of homework, then when that is done, draw a bit. Doesn't have to be a lot, just enough to keep that muscle memory going. Time management is the most essential part of all this.

akemikae 2017-09-06 23:06:43 UTC #15

Honestly, I'm terrible at time management, and probably put things off more than I should just to draw. I usually work about 30 hours a week at a cashiering job (that I kinda hate). I work on my comic pretty much any time I'm not at work, and I sleep when I fall asleep. So, that's it. I don't have much going on in life, so I guess I have it kinda simple.

VikiKuli 2017-09-07 00:33:49 UTC #16

Um, I'm also a college student and I'm not studying anything related to art (double majoring in Molecular Biology and Psychology) and doing research in psychology but I still really enjoy art and making comics and art. I've been publishing Wednesday7 for a year now with basically no hiatus so here are my tips:
- I view comic making as a side job that I really enjoy. I know it can be kind of hard to make it more than a hobby and maybe takes some joy out of it but it's one of the only ways I've been able to keep going while being in school. This means scheduling and keeping at it sometimes even when you don't really want to.
-spend every break you can doing art. This means Thanksgiving break, Labor day weekend etc. Now, I'm not saying ignore friends and family (don't do that that's a bad idea) but make sure to dedicate a good amount of hours to it.
-get up early. This can be a real struggle for some people but for me at least it's a necessity. I don't know how else I would be able to do small daily studies to keep my art skills at least level.
Here are just some tips, it was cool to see what others posted as well!
Best,
Viki

jjfresh 2017-09-07 00:42:25 UTC #17

Hey, friend. I completely know that feeling. I'm a mathematics major currently in my last year at a PREEETTY difficult school. I also took the stupid idea of taking two part time jobs following a depression state that inhibited my work last semester. So, I'm an idiot. I may leave the second job if it doesn't give me enough time to study (it's more laidd back whilst being well paying. Hey, I need the money)

I'm uynder some pressure to get a good job too so I totally know what you mean. I'm currently redoing the old pages of my comic so I don't have to worry about updating currently but if I was, I would commit to once a week, or twice depending on the free time. It would be one day, say Friday and I would spend that day working on and uploading the page. That way I could continue the comic whilst worrying about school and work.

It;s tough friend and I totally get it. My Discord is . Once classes are done, your focus should hopefully be career work and doing what you love....sigh and paying off debt if you're american. jjfresh #8253

Puppisama 2017-09-07 01:16:32 UTC #19

I don't lulz, jk.
I usually have a book where I write the plans of the day, if I have some project at work, I try to advance it at work, having clear goals for the day (bringing work to home is a bad idea unless is a do or die), I always put as a daily goal to do 1/2 or 1 page of my comic and do 1 drawing, even if it is a dirty sketch. Sometimes I go lazy and do none, but since I always review what I had to do for the day if I see a score of 20% that means more work for tomorrow...

Drawing and advancing a page or half of it is ALWAYS in my list, so even if is little is better than doing nothing. Putting conditions like "i will do a background in 1h" is also a good way to push improvements.

I also study IT engineering, which involves 0 arts, but I'm a study bug so... yet still, I'm currently working as a mandatory subject of the university, and also have to waste 3h of my life everyday to reach work/home. Having a clear schedule/goals of the day has helped me manage my time better. Don't worry bout not applying into "cool jobs", everything comes with time and effort and is more important to concentrate on YOURSELF.

I also thought I sucked at programming, but when I stopped caring about the others and concentrated on learning in my own way I became quite good at it.
Even though coding looks like you have to "practice a lot" is more technical, if you know what you want to do, and have each step of the process very clear you only need to refer to the manual (functions and procedures) to make it work, the best thing you can do, is to divide the problem into steps, until the steps are sooooo simple you can see clearly what to do, and if you still don't know, try searching in Youtube or Stackoverflow.
Coding is too broad to learn everything perfectly, always have the manual at hand.

(I suck at keyboarding I tagged the wrong person lulz)

joe_galindez 2017-09-07 15:58:55 UTC #20

That's an interesting double major. Story?

VikiKuli 2017-09-08 04:56:49 UTC #21

well, double because there's no biopsych major at my school and no psych minor so I'm kinda stuck with both haha! I really love to learn about how our personality and decision making (psych) are influenced by the endocrine system and neural pathways (molec bio on the neurosci path).
Are you on a similar-ish or something else entirely? Just curious