Thank you for the Q&A. As someone who keeps intending to set a writing schedule (Anthony Trollope's dedicated 3 hours every day before going off to work at the General Post Office glares at me--despite the fact that I have never actually finished any of his novels!), I love that you have an organic day-to-day (AND still actually accomplish so much great work). Have you listened to (or been able to see) Maybe Happy Ending? I've been obsessed with it ever since I saw some of the clips from the original Korean production. I love that it's such a small intimate show with such big ideas. I'd love to do it when the amateur rights become available, but there's also the question of whether it's a show that inherently needs a Korean cast (being set in a future Seoul and maybe rooted in a specific cultural space--and I'm not Asian and live in rural Illinois) or whether the speculative/metaphorical nature of the story--and the fact that it's not about race--make it more open for a diverse casting? And finally, with theater in mind, and a look at your favorite picture books sample, I have to say I'm also a Shaun Tan fan--have you ever run across Red Leap Theatre in New Zealand. They did a production of The Arrival that was a magical blend of dance and puppetry (https://redleaptheatre.co.nz/production/the-arrival/) A number of years ago I tried to get permission to show a video of the show at our library, but there was some kind of rights deal in the offing and so everything by Tan was off the table for a period of time (this was after The Lost Thing won the Best Animated Short Oscar). One of my personal bucket lists is to do a piece of guerilla public art like "The Stick Figures" in Tan's Tales of Outer Suburbia (see his comments on his webpage https://www.shauntan.net/new-page-30), but I haven't worked up the nerve!
Hi Lian, I've been wanting to write you since you called us out in your last newsletter. No, that's a lie. I've been wanting to write you since much longer than that, and when I read your last newsletter I felt like it was really the time to write you. Alas, life happened, but hey, here I am now writing to you!
My name is Alex(andra), I'm turning 45 years old this year and I'm a Chinese-Indonesian living since almost 27 years in Germany. Nice to finally online-meet you!
I don't remember how I came across your newsletter but ever since I found you I've been enjoying each and every letter with delight. I love your funny, honest and non-pretentious way of writing. It makes everything so relatable and I can't help thinking I'd love to be friends with you IRL. Munich is far away from NY, though, hahah.
Up until I started contributing to the society (a.k.a. working) I used to draw and write stories as well. Unfortunately, with other current priorities in my life I can't seem to go back to enjoying them. Whenever I feel like I want to, thinking about actually taking the time to do them makes them feel more like chores. Sad, isn't it? Maybe someday I could go back to the days where I could simply do them for the sake of doing them, without worrying about productivity and result (though my brain logically understands this, putting that into practice is another thing).
I didn't know that as international students in the US you are not allowed to work during school! I guess the international students in Germany are very lucky in that regard. I think it's awesome that you could draw for a living and I hope you will be able to do it for as long as you want. Do take care of your hand and your health in general :-)
It's a lesson I still haven't learned. I still do it from time to time, thinking "This time I know what I'm doing." Then have to go to the salon to get it fixed.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and draw all of these answers!! It's always so fun and insightful to see how other artists approach things.
Also, have to say that listening to video game music is such a good hack. When I need to fully lock in and focus due to deadlines or anything, I throw video game music playlists on too!! I have no idea if this is a real thing but I figure the composers have a vested interest in keeping your attention on the games so... surely it works the same if you just play the music while drawing??
That's gotta be it! I forgot to mention that I also like to just watch streamers play games while I work.. I got weirdly into it during the pandemic and now I love to work to sounds of silly men playing a video game???
I've done that too! I call it "co-working" haha but sometimes I get too interested in whatever game they're playing and end up distracted, oops. I think one of the weirder things I've put on for background work noise is actually ASMR videos! Usually my go-to when I'm stressed and mentally overwhelmed and it works surprisingly well to just help me zone COMPLETELY out
OH man I'm the same! I guess it is like "co-working" I had never thought about it that way! I really like watching Markiplier cause his voice is very soothing and he is funny and (hopefully) not problematic. I don't think I can do ASMR videos though, they tend to make my brain feel uncomfortable haha
Yeaah lol ASMR is definitely not for everyone. My fiance has the same reaction so I just put on my headphones 😅. BUT OH if you like Markiplier, I highly recommend manlybadasshero on YT too. He mostly plays horror games but some are just silly and weird more than actually *scary* and he talks so evenly and softly, it's SO relaxing to listen to (even if I'm sometimes watching the screen between my fingers like a giant baby)
OMG THIS IS PERFECT THANK YOU! I've been looking for other streamers that don't yell a ton and aren't annoying! This is a nice recommendation thank youuu!
I went through a stage of being obsessed with gentle video game playthroughs--my favorite was Journey. Haven't found one I could settle into post-Covid lockdown (life et al seem to have shortened my attention span). I also got into Hanabira's miniature crafting channel on YouTube for awhile. That's another hobby that I aspire to, but also would need to be more disciplined about making time (and space and budget) for it, though I know there are folks who really embrace the "make it from trash" mentality, which would be my vibe as well. Fortunately (or unfortunately) putting together a weekly storytime craft or activity at the library fills most of that niche in my brain. It's low-pressure and time-limited, so keeps me from going down a perfectionist/completist rabbit hole.
Thank you for sharing Lian! I am really enjoying your newsletter, heehee. The red envelope thing is so cool!! Like a more classy zine fest maybe - I wish I could go. Also, deepest sympathies/hugs/encouraging yet awkward smiles for the state of the states rn. If it helps, I saw a helpful quote the other day. "Resistance is not a one lane highway. Maybe your lane is protesting. Maybe your lane is organising. Maybe your lane is counseling. Maybe your lane is art activism. Maybe your lane is surviving the day. Do not feel guilty for not occupying every lane - we need all of them." - A twitter guy maybe? It was a screenshot, haha. But it's true. I know it's tricky for artists who want to rant and rage about inequalities because of the fear of BECOMING political or pissing off the wrong person, but I think artists have always had a special role in times of strife. Not only to uplift, but to relate, communicate, counsel, and essentially be the Fool from King Lear vibes. We do what we can, where we can, even if that just means focusing on surviving and supporting our closest. If everyone only did that, people still wouldn't be alone.
This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing your experience so openly and with honesty. However, regardless of how inspired and admiring I am of your work and yourself, when I read "Free Herman Miller chair we found," a jealousy demon was summoned on the spot! I am disappointed with how petty I am right now.
HAHA It's my pride and joy!! Adam and I were still in college and one day he suddenly called me and urgently said "You need to get your ass over to this street right now an office building just put out like 30 herman miller chairs on the sidewalk and I need your help bringing these back!!!" It was crazy!! By the time I got there it was a bloodbath and most of them were gone and Adam was fending off two of the chairs that we ended up rolling back home. I am literally never letting these chairs go!
Thank you so much for this! I love learning about how other artists approach their projects (also, your haircut story reminded me about the time I shaved my legs for the first time...I dry-shaved, and left a big cut on my leg ._.;; at the time, my mom didn't teach me how to shave yet and I was overly conscious about leghair for some reason lol)
Taipei has all of the things you’re looking for in a place except the good weather (tho we are in a brief moment of lovely weather - not raining, not unbearably hot and humid - it’s a good day!). Sigh. Why can’t we have it all?
As long as you keep having dumb ideas i will always be the sounding board for you to bounce them off of 🫶
Thank you my dear friend the dumb ideas shall continue to flow your way
Thank you for the Q&A. As someone who keeps intending to set a writing schedule (Anthony Trollope's dedicated 3 hours every day before going off to work at the General Post Office glares at me--despite the fact that I have never actually finished any of his novels!), I love that you have an organic day-to-day (AND still actually accomplish so much great work). Have you listened to (or been able to see) Maybe Happy Ending? I've been obsessed with it ever since I saw some of the clips from the original Korean production. I love that it's such a small intimate show with such big ideas. I'd love to do it when the amateur rights become available, but there's also the question of whether it's a show that inherently needs a Korean cast (being set in a future Seoul and maybe rooted in a specific cultural space--and I'm not Asian and live in rural Illinois) or whether the speculative/metaphorical nature of the story--and the fact that it's not about race--make it more open for a diverse casting? And finally, with theater in mind, and a look at your favorite picture books sample, I have to say I'm also a Shaun Tan fan--have you ever run across Red Leap Theatre in New Zealand. They did a production of The Arrival that was a magical blend of dance and puppetry (https://redleaptheatre.co.nz/production/the-arrival/) A number of years ago I tried to get permission to show a video of the show at our library, but there was some kind of rights deal in the offing and so everything by Tan was off the table for a period of time (this was after The Lost Thing won the Best Animated Short Oscar). One of my personal bucket lists is to do a piece of guerilla public art like "The Stick Figures" in Tan's Tales of Outer Suburbia (see his comments on his webpage https://www.shauntan.net/new-page-30), but I haven't worked up the nerve!
Hi Lian, I've been wanting to write you since you called us out in your last newsletter. No, that's a lie. I've been wanting to write you since much longer than that, and when I read your last newsletter I felt like it was really the time to write you. Alas, life happened, but hey, here I am now writing to you!
My name is Alex(andra), I'm turning 45 years old this year and I'm a Chinese-Indonesian living since almost 27 years in Germany. Nice to finally online-meet you!
I don't remember how I came across your newsletter but ever since I found you I've been enjoying each and every letter with delight. I love your funny, honest and non-pretentious way of writing. It makes everything so relatable and I can't help thinking I'd love to be friends with you IRL. Munich is far away from NY, though, hahah.
Up until I started contributing to the society (a.k.a. working) I used to draw and write stories as well. Unfortunately, with other current priorities in my life I can't seem to go back to enjoying them. Whenever I feel like I want to, thinking about actually taking the time to do them makes them feel more like chores. Sad, isn't it? Maybe someday I could go back to the days where I could simply do them for the sake of doing them, without worrying about productivity and result (though my brain logically understands this, putting that into practice is another thing).
I didn't know that as international students in the US you are not allowed to work during school! I guess the international students in Germany are very lucky in that regard. I think it's awesome that you could draw for a living and I hope you will be able to do it for as long as you want. Do take care of your hand and your health in general :-)
That's it for now, big waves from Munich!
Crying laughing because I also chopped my hair when I was little and have an eerily similar school photo with my “this is a genius idea” haircut🤣
It really is a right of passage as a child!! A cruel way of learning that things actually take a long time to grow.
Completely agreed!! Why did we all think chopping the baby hairs shorter would solve the problem🤦🏼♀️🤣
It's a lesson I still haven't learned. I still do it from time to time, thinking "This time I know what I'm doing." Then have to go to the salon to get it fixed.
Haha! Since Covid I’ve learned how to do it properly (I think at least🤣)
Typing this from the higher plain to which I ascend anytime the besties get mentioned in the newsletter 😇😌🙌
At this point you've ascended beyond the astral plane..
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and draw all of these answers!! It's always so fun and insightful to see how other artists approach things.
Also, have to say that listening to video game music is such a good hack. When I need to fully lock in and focus due to deadlines or anything, I throw video game music playlists on too!! I have no idea if this is a real thing but I figure the composers have a vested interest in keeping your attention on the games so... surely it works the same if you just play the music while drawing??
That's gotta be it! I forgot to mention that I also like to just watch streamers play games while I work.. I got weirdly into it during the pandemic and now I love to work to sounds of silly men playing a video game???
I've done that too! I call it "co-working" haha but sometimes I get too interested in whatever game they're playing and end up distracted, oops. I think one of the weirder things I've put on for background work noise is actually ASMR videos! Usually my go-to when I'm stressed and mentally overwhelmed and it works surprisingly well to just help me zone COMPLETELY out
OH man I'm the same! I guess it is like "co-working" I had never thought about it that way! I really like watching Markiplier cause his voice is very soothing and he is funny and (hopefully) not problematic. I don't think I can do ASMR videos though, they tend to make my brain feel uncomfortable haha
Yeaah lol ASMR is definitely not for everyone. My fiance has the same reaction so I just put on my headphones 😅. BUT OH if you like Markiplier, I highly recommend manlybadasshero on YT too. He mostly plays horror games but some are just silly and weird more than actually *scary* and he talks so evenly and softly, it's SO relaxing to listen to (even if I'm sometimes watching the screen between my fingers like a giant baby)
OMG THIS IS PERFECT THANK YOU! I've been looking for other streamers that don't yell a ton and aren't annoying! This is a nice recommendation thank youuu!
I went through a stage of being obsessed with gentle video game playthroughs--my favorite was Journey. Haven't found one I could settle into post-Covid lockdown (life et al seem to have shortened my attention span). I also got into Hanabira's miniature crafting channel on YouTube for awhile. That's another hobby that I aspire to, but also would need to be more disciplined about making time (and space and budget) for it, though I know there are folks who really embrace the "make it from trash" mentality, which would be my vibe as well. Fortunately (or unfortunately) putting together a weekly storytime craft or activity at the library fills most of that niche in my brain. It's low-pressure and time-limited, so keeps me from going down a perfectionist/completist rabbit hole.
Thank you for sharing Lian! I am really enjoying your newsletter, heehee. The red envelope thing is so cool!! Like a more classy zine fest maybe - I wish I could go. Also, deepest sympathies/hugs/encouraging yet awkward smiles for the state of the states rn. If it helps, I saw a helpful quote the other day. "Resistance is not a one lane highway. Maybe your lane is protesting. Maybe your lane is organising. Maybe your lane is counseling. Maybe your lane is art activism. Maybe your lane is surviving the day. Do not feel guilty for not occupying every lane - we need all of them." - A twitter guy maybe? It was a screenshot, haha. But it's true. I know it's tricky for artists who want to rant and rage about inequalities because of the fear of BECOMING political or pissing off the wrong person, but I think artists have always had a special role in times of strife. Not only to uplift, but to relate, communicate, counsel, and essentially be the Fool from King Lear vibes. We do what we can, where we can, even if that just means focusing on surviving and supporting our closest. If everyone only did that, people still wouldn't be alone.
Love your secret playlist!! Thanks for sharing that little secret with us! I really needed to know that! 💥💯
This is utterly fantastic and I’m charmed by how many of my goofball questions made it into your roundup ❤️🤗✨
This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing your experience so openly and with honesty. However, regardless of how inspired and admiring I am of your work and yourself, when I read "Free Herman Miller chair we found," a jealousy demon was summoned on the spot! I am disappointed with how petty I am right now.
HAHA It's my pride and joy!! Adam and I were still in college and one day he suddenly called me and urgently said "You need to get your ass over to this street right now an office building just put out like 30 herman miller chairs on the sidewalk and I need your help bringing these back!!!" It was crazy!! By the time I got there it was a bloodbath and most of them were gone and Adam was fending off two of the chairs that we ended up rolling back home. I am literally never letting these chairs go!
Love this!! Yay for Shaun Tan, early dinners, and listening to Broadway!!
Thank you so much for this! I love learning about how other artists approach their projects (also, your haircut story reminded me about the time I shaved my legs for the first time...I dry-shaved, and left a big cut on my leg ._.;; at the time, my mom didn't teach me how to shave yet and I was overly conscious about leghair for some reason lol)
NOOOOO not dry shave!!! I grimaced as I read that!!!! AHHH
The crazy things will do when we're preteens xD
Love this.
Taipei has all of the things you’re looking for in a place except the good weather (tho we are in a brief moment of lovely weather - not raining, not unbearably hot and humid - it’s a good day!). Sigh. Why can’t we have it all?
Thanks for sharing!!