Hwan Sama – Comic Artist – Interview

Q1. What inspired your passion for art and who has been there supporting you from the beginning?

I have always enjoyed doing art in general – such as painting still life, portraits in pastels, etc - but I never expected that I would be lured to cartooning as my passion. The idea of meshing pictures and words to communicate to people has fascinated me but I thought it was only limited to the 3 panel comic strips which I would find in newspapers. It wasn’t until I discovered comic books that I realized that there is a huge potential out there for this medium. And this discovery was entirely by accident – that X-Men #1 issue that changed my life was meant for my little brother.

Unlike today, where people are able to find a community and/or peers with the same interest through the internet, I was pretty much on my own. It was pretty rare to find a comic book fan, especially a female fanatic as myself, when I was young. I guess I can count my parents as my early supporters for not kicking me out of the house when I announced to them that I wanted to be a cartoonist.

Q2. Have you always aspired to be artist, or did you ever dream of following a different path?

More like childish dreams before I settled on becoming a cartoonist (though that does sound like a kid’s dream?!?). Things on my checklist was becoming a comedian, a nun, teacher, writer….

Q3. How do you feel about the your industry today?

Very mixed. I love that people – both in the art world and the masses – are starting to pay attention to cartooning as a ‘legitimate’ art form. Yet I’m a little worried there might be a backlash since the industry is currently saturated with so much. I think it’s the lure of comics being made into movies, games, toys that is bringing more and more people into it. It seems that even cartoonists are forgetting why they were originally drawn to the filed in the first place.

Q4. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Hopefully be more comfortable juggling between doing comics and being financially secure. Right now my ‘day job’ (which is full time) has take priority over everything, that leaves me very little time to do art. But that is life – we just have to go with the flow.

Q5. Is there any work you are currently working on that you would like to tell us about?

I’ve actually been on a hiatus from art for a bit due to work and financial constraints. I have been collaborating with my friend, Becky Cloonan, on a web comic called K.G.B.. It was an idea we have thought of when we are college students in the School of Visual Arts and we decided to go through with it as a web comic idea in 2009. Once our schedules are a bit clear, we’re hoping to get back to updating it.

Q6. Who have you always dreamt of working with/for and why? How would you go about accomplishing this?

As a teenager, my dream was to work for Marvel, do X-Men and be the next ‘Jim Lee’ (who was – and still is – a huge influence). Not only is he still a well-respected comic creator but he has managed to become a writer, editor, publisher, etc. Probably working in Marvel is not such a strong goal as before – but I would like to be able to have that kind of influence within the comic industry as well.

*Q7. As you are starting out in your career, what steps do you plan on taking to reach your goal?

*Q8. Have you found that as you are starting out in your career, there are aspects that have taken you completely by surprise? If so, what are they?

*Q10. If you could have asked anyone for advice when you were starting out.  Who would you have liked to ask? What would you have liked to ask? What would be your answer now?

*Q11. From your experience in the arts, what advice could you offer people looking to get to where you are today?

(I have lumped questions 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 into one)

I wished that I was able to approach people more easily and not be so intimidated, which I realized was a huge mistake. Cartoonists are the most approachable professionals I have ever known and they are always eager to share their advices and give feedbacks. Also, since the comic industry is so tight-knit, we’re all out there to help one another out -as long as you put in the effort. Always, always stay relevant, always continue to produce work every other moment – even if it’s only a sketch, or going to a convention. Artists these days now have the internet. We can now use resources as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc to market ourselves directly to our audience. We now live in a world (‘instant gratification’!) where if your audience does not hear about or see new art/comics from you, the majority of them will move on to the next, new thing. Once you fall off that wagon once – and I admit, I have done this many times – it just gets harder and harder to get yourself out there again.

Another thing I realized was cartooning doesn’t bring in that much money (unless you’re incredibly famous). Even though my instructors in SVA has warned us about this, it still surprised me when I finally entered the ‘real world’. If you’re deciding to go into comics, thinking that comic (if it gets published by a major company) is going to make you a lot of money, please reconsider your priorities for wanting to go into this industry. Most of us are doing it for the love.

Q9. What is the greatest thing about working in the your industry? And what would you change if you had the opportunity?

I love comics and I’m just happy that I have the opportunities to be able to work in the industry in many different roles (whether as a comic editorial intern, freelancer and teacher). I just wished that I had jumped on more opportunities when they were offered to me earlier.

Q12. What courses/classes would you recommend someone take if they want to be a professional in the creative industry?

A cartoonist not only needs to know how to draw (i.e. anatomy, perspective), but they must know how to tell a story through their art. In addition to the basic arts, I would definitely recommend classes as diverse as creative writing, story-telling – even writing plays.

Q13. How many years were you fighting to get to where you are today? And what was that time in your life like?

In the art industry, it is a constant struggle to not only make a name for yourself but to produce work as well. I think I’m more focused and organized in my work now than I was in my 20′s, trying to start off. I felt like when I was younger, I just had so many ideas, so many projects that I wanted to do that it completely overwhelmed me into a halt for some time. Trying to get ‘into’ the art industry will always be a fight for the rest of your career – don’t let it beat you down.

Q14. From your experience so far, what have you found to be most challenging? And how are you dealing with it?

Making money solely from your art is always the most challenging. Most cartoonists I know usually have another job (whether it’s full time at a store or as a freelancer) to supplement their finances. But I think as long as the passion is there, it doesn’t matter what measures you need to take to be able to pursue and enjoy art.

Q15. Share with us your proudest moment in your career so far?

There was al ot more which I accomplished work-wise (participating in conventions, doing work for a film, etc) that seems more relevant if I were to put it in my resume. However the things I find myself most proud of is when I have young women who would approach me and tell me how we (Estrigious) had a strong influence on them to pursue arts and comics. Or when I was teaching a cartooning class to a group of middle school students, I realized not only were there as much girls as there were boys in these classes – but they were all sincerely in love with the art of comics itself. From growing up when I felt that not only was there not much love out there for comics – but not many women interested in it – it’s moments like these that makes me fall in love with comics all over again.

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