Demo and Pixu (amongst many others) artist Becky Cloonan explains what it’s actually like to work in comics:
As a freelance artist you are always working. I try to separate my art and life as much as possible, but I’m still surrounded by it. I still work all day, and I almost always take my sketchbook to bed to knock out a few more ideas before sleep. Days of the week don’t hold any meaning; whenever I go out on a Friday I wonder why there are so many people around. “Oh yeah, it’s Friday night. This is what normal people do.” As much as it is liberating, it’s also a bit alienating.I also try to plan my jobs a year ahead. As a freelance artist you never know where your next job is going to come from, and you don’t want to be stuck for a period with no work, so I’m constantly lining up two or three jobs ahead, just so when I finish one I’m sure I’ll have something new to jump into. This too is [a bit] stressful.
There’s more at the link, including the all-important conclusion: “The second I stop loving it I will find something else to do. Comics are hard work. Comics are relentless. Comics will break your heart. Comics are monetarily unsatisfying. Comics don’t offer much in terms of fortune and glory, but comics will give you complete freedom to tell the stories you want to tell, in ways unlike any other medium.” Go read.
