FINDING JOY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN COMICS
This week we got rather philosophical here at the Terrible Anvil podcast!
We tackled lots of big ideas, but circled back again and again to finding joy in the hard parts of comics (and within the confines of capitalist markets).
We also discussed drawing inspiration from the world around us—zooming out can get us out of our heads and give our work room to breathe.
But our power to tell stories comes from within us too!
We go over ways to tap into our own creative energy, even when we've reached a state of burnout. Finding ways to reignite the joy of our creative process can lead us to more sustainable art practices—especially when we're working on dark, heavy topics.
LISTEN ON:
A FEW IDEAS WE COVERED
The stories we tell often come from outside of us.
It’s important to not be overly concerned with the abilities of the self, or wrapped up entirely in ourselves. We should remain curious about the world, even when our stories are memoir or based on our own lives. There is always a chance to zoom out and let some air into the story and process.
But the power to tell stories also comes from inside.
You have the strength, skills, and equipment necessary right now to do it! Don’t let your inner critic or self-doubt paralyze you into inaction. Just get something down on the page and move from there!
On dealing with burnout
We might have an expectation that art=fun. It should be! But it is not always! And sometimes we really suffer when we make stuff. How can we minimize that suffering and maximize our fun in the process? Sometimes our suffering is completely optional, and is not a necessary ingredient for the story to be GOOD or TRUE or THE BEST. But FUN is a secret ingredient for better comics!
Beyond these floaty thoughts, we wanted to offer some actionable tips for dealing with the feeling of burnout when working on comics (and noted that the root of that burnout can come from all sorts of places).
A sample from New School by Dash Shaw
Tom mentioned that when Dash Shaw came down for an in-person workshop at SAW, he said,
"You should never draw anything you don't want to draw."
He had students get a ream (500 sheets) of printer paper and tasked them with drawing on every page by the end of the week. When you're working at that kind of pace, some of this resistance falls away.
As Tom said, you're harnessing ENERGY (which sustains the work) not PRECIOUSNESS (which dilutes the work or slows you down).
What do we want from our art practice? How can we make it sustainable?
At the graphic memoir roundtable last week, Tessa Hulls described the agony and ecstasy of drawing a 500 page comic.
Tom noted that working on Rosalie Lightning was "a weird, hard time," but he clung to the "more positive dark stuff" and felt that he was "drawing the spirit of [his] daughter."
He also mentioned a songwriting email thread where he read that "you won't get stuff done by either wanting to or discipline. What works is ACCOUNTABILITY (have someone to check in with), DEADLINES (a real, tangible, time-based goal), COMMUNITY (which we seem to have a lot of here at SAW!) and JOY (which we should take the time to grow!)”
LEGALIZE JOY!
Tom, scratching chin, looking wistfully into the distance: "I haven't drawn in a year....am I burned out?"
When Tom was making that seemed important, his joy with drawing lagged. He turned to music-making and has been HAVING A BLAST.
JOY is sustainable, and there is a RHYTHM OF JOY. Jess mentioned The Book of Delights by Ross Gay—a collection of essays on radical Black joy that is, well, a delight to read—and how Gay holds both the pain of life and the beauty of the world within the same palm.
Tom noted if he is "joyfully noodling and finding meaning" he might then start to set "small goals" to help the work make its way along.
Carole McKee Armen shared: After the hardest part of my memoir to draw and write, I drew my character kayaking. A joy for me and her.
We talked about TOXIC POSITIVITY and TOXIC PRODUCTIVITY.
We ranted about capitalism and how it limits public spaces, sharing, and community, even through social media algorithms. How PROJECT (the word we often use to refer to our comics) sounds, to Tom’s ear, awfully close to PRODUCT.
"We don't make meaning alone"
We talked about COMMUNITY and how sometimes a conversation is better than an answer.
JOY FEEDS THE ENGINE
Carole McKee Armen gave us some William Blake:
Joy and Woe are woven fine, a clothing for the soul divine
Tom also talked about Joe Sacco returning home from a war zone and DANCING, and that people dance in war zones, which he finds so deeply moving. Even through unimaginable horrors and tragedy, humans still find the capacity for joy and community.
Showing the ugly parts
Jennifer Mitton said: My clients were for some time profs, who wanted the torture shown. And had a slew of movies and books to point out: THIS WAS POWERFUL. It was tough.
Tom talked about two kinds of horror movies: one where you never see the object of horror, and one where you are shown it/want to see it. This is also where we get that line, "The call is coming from (outside) the house!"—a classic horror movie realization.
Donna Druchunas mentioned: I also thought of outside of the house as stuff happening in the world — and how that relates to our work and also our mental/emotional state that can lead to burnout if we’re not careful.
There’s lots more on the call, so join us as we ponder being a cartoonist in the world!
Watch the full EPISODE HERE!
Happy making!
WANT TO MAKE AND READ MORE COMICS?
Do you have a story inside you that’s just itching to come out, but want some guidance to help push it out?
Learn more about intensive comics learning with teachers at SAW by checking out SAW’s Year-Long Intensive Program and our Six-Month Graphic Novel Intensive.
Be sure to also check out our Online Courses! Some courses are offered year-round and are always enrolling while others are limited in space and come around only once a year!
Our Graphic Memoir Intensive runs year round and is always enrolling. It includes access to a vibrant working community, twice-monthly live online check-ins, weekly prompts, and access to SAW’s Monthly Pro Calls!
Our Comics Flow Group, or SAW FLOW MEMBERSHIP, is also year-round and always enrolling and is SAW's MOST AFFORDABLE course option with access to Monthly Pro-Calls!
And, of course, come see what we’re all up to on SAW's Mighty Network anytime!
