work). I drew freelance illustrations for print publications as I had one or two fantastic, random opportunities come through, and yet I still felt like a failure, purely just because I was not doing this full time. Even though I was doing art for publications, and getting paid for it! I still don’t do art full time now, because it’s very rare I got autonomy to input into pieces when I *did* do it full time! So I work in publishing now too, and I really enjoy it. What about the holistic side of art, pure enjoyment? As art is subjective, so, doing any art it in itself is a punk thing to do. I think I took art to university level because it was all coursework and no exams for me. I doubt I would have been able to get over the anxiety to actually sit Uni exams, but Uni is not for everyone, especially the ethos of changing what I drew under the guise of developing it. It was more like ‘derailing’, for me. I wanted to develop the skill set I had, and I don’t think I got to do so. So I re-developed skills in my spare time after, and any income I ever made through freelance work has been for the way I drew, before and after Uni. Not during. Academia still hates comics. I still love getting things into print, whether I publish the piece or someone else does. Even through periods of being chronically ill for years, up and down health resulting in not having energy or focus, making art has still been what I would get to do when I felt better. Luckily, that cycle rolled round again. I think a lot of creativity is purely to do with sheer grit and patience. I will always try to encourage everyone to draw, even if they think they’re not very good, purely because of the feeling of enjoyment. I hate that society only considers art and creativity deemed “worthy” if it is only classical or academically quantifiable. Arts cuts will have detrimental effects on the wellbeing of students to come. Please draw! Website: www.BiomechaComic.com Instagram: PinkAppleJam Etsy: PinkAppleJam Patreon: Patreon.com/PinkAppleJam Facebook: PinkAppleJamArt Twitter: @PinkAppleJamArt
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