Yana, also known as Cosmic Spectrum is a full-time freelance illustrator and comic artist. She creates in-depth tutorials full of tips that she discovered over her 10+ years of drawing and shares them on Gumroad. She is currently working on a comic book called Grimoire Noir (coming in 2018).
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Get in touch with Yana
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmicspectrum/
- Tutorials: https://artsideoflife.com/cosmicspectrum_gumroad
- Twitch: https://go.twitch.tv/cosmicspectrumtv
Key Takeaways
“If you really like drawing, just keep true to yourself and never be ashamed of it!”
- Some of the best advice Yana received was to learn to be responsible, to push her artwork towards her goals while keeping a minimum level of quality. When she juggles workload, she always decides about prioritization based on deadlines while keeping the minimum level of quality
- Yana learned to rush a lot, to draw fast. That helped her to be more accurate. She works way faster within boundaries, e.g. if the artwork is already inked and she is doing the coloring. With no lines, it’s hard to determine when to finish and she just obsesses about details
- Yana thinks the hardest thing to be a full-time freelancer, is to manage your time. She plans weekly and then daily to-dos. She prioritizes tasks based on deadlines, she likes to use a physical planner to check things off
- Yana’s main inspiration comes from music and books and fashion a lot – aesthetically driven and things pleasing to eye
Resources mentioned
- Graphic novel Yana has been working for past 1½ years: Grimoire Noir, written by Vera Greentea – it’s a detective story with magical elements
- Schools Yana went to: OCAD University in Toronto – here she studied graphic design and illustration for 2 years and later she went to Sheridan College to study 2D animation for 4 years
- Art tools
- Prisma color markers
- Micron pens for inking
- Watercolors
- Fav movies by Miyazaki / Ghibli movies
- Books – N.R. Walker: Starting point and Deborah Busby: Turning point
Special thanks to Yana for joining me today. See you next time!
All artworks by Yana Bogatch, used with permission
Episode Transcript
Announcer
Creative, artistic, happy! That’s you. There are endless possibilities for living a creative life. So let’s inspire each other. Art Side of Life interviews with Iva.
Iva Mikles
Hello, everyone and welcome to the next episode of Art Side of Life where it’s all about how you can turn your creative passion into a profession. My name is Iva, and my guest today is a freelance illustrator, character designer and comic artists from Toronto, Canada. She studied graphic design illustration and traditional animation and has a background in music. Drawing for her it’s about learning and creating a different language that allows her to catch a glimpse of what goes in her mind. She is committed to creating an immersive experience with her illustrations and comics and wants her audience to feel like they are there with her characters. For one and a half years now, she has been working on her debut graphic novel titled grim or noir written by Vera greedy, due to be released in early 2018. So please welcome Yana Bogatch, also known as comic spectrum, and let’s get to the interview. I’m super happy to have you here. So please welcome to the next episode of Art Side of Life. And
Yana Bogatch
hello. Yeah, hi, thank you so much for inviting,
Iva Mikles
I’m super happy that you take time, you know, from busy schedule. And I would like to start with your background, and maybe when was the first time you realize that you want to work with art.
Yana Bogatch
Um, I can’t really remember a specific time. It’s one of those things where I feel like I always just knew, like, I never actually considered doing anything else. So I kind of stuck with it.
Iva Mikles
So what was the maybe first thing you threw? Did you do remember?
Yana Bogatch
Um, no, uh, I really liked drawing since I was very young. I didn’t take it too seriously until I moved to Canada when I was about 11. So because I didn’t know the language, and I had to go to school. So I started doodling in class a lot. So that’s kind of how I started drawing a lot more than I used to.
Iva Mikles
So we tried kind of like the biggest decisions you had to do in order to follow the patient was the part of the moving because you wanted to do more art, or it was still with family,
Yana Bogatch
I guess. It was with family, like I was pretty young at the time. So I wasn’t really concerned about the future. Um, one of the biggest decisions I’ve made, I think was taking one year off after high school, just to kind of sort things out and decide what path I want to take and stuff like that, because there was just too much pressure at the very end of high school. And I couldn’t really decide like which college to go to university. So yeah, I really enjoyed that one year off, and it helped me make a lot of decisions.
Iva Mikles
So how did you then decide for the for the school or what for your next steps? What was kind of the influential thing or someone maybe?
Yana Bogatch
Yeah, I didn’t really have a mentor. And all I knew was that I really liked drawing. And it was basically my favorite thing to do. But um, I couldn’t really decide which what to specialize in. So which program to go into, and ended up going with graphic design, because it just seemed like, like a generic option that could possibly work out and had a lot of options in terms of jobs and stuff. So yeah, I went for that. And so I went to OCAD University, which is like the local Toronto University for arts and stuff. I spent one year in graphic design, and it was very generalized as first year is usually on University and University. And so I didn’t really solidify anything in terms of what I wanted to do. But I figured that I wanted to do something more specific actually. So I switched to illustration. So I did another year in illustration. Thankfully, they I didn’t have to start over. So I just went straight into year two illustration. And again, I found that it wasn’t really to my liking. So because basically, I found that illustration was more geared towards like editorial type of stuff. And in terms of preparation, like they concentrated a lot on concepts and stuff like that, and like the importance of being able to explain your art and etc, which is very important, I think, but at the time, I felt like I still really wanted to improve my skills, which I felt were insufficient and you know, it always feels like that. But um, yeah, so I really wasn’t getting that from Okay, so I decided to go to Sheridan for animation like traditional animation animation. So I made a decision to that. So, yeah, so I applied and I spent the next four years doing Sheridan animation.
Iva Mikles
So how do they influence your art? Maybe the combination of animation and illustration? Do you see these kind of like some kind of branding in your in your style? Or some some maybe mission or vision you’re communicating through the work?
Yana Bogatch
Um, I haven’t really, like I haven’t solidified exactly what I want to do yet. I’m not really sure. Like, there are tons of things that I want to try in the future. And for the time being, like, in comics, so I’m working on my first graphic novel, and I’m super excited about that. But um, yeah, like branding. I’m still working on that, because I don’t really put up too much personal work at the moment, just because I’m so busy with like, the graphic novels, but I’m looking forward to doing that in the future.
Iva Mikles
Yeah. So what are the the maybe the most exciting projects now when you mentioned, so the graphic novel? That’s the full time you’re working on now? And when is it going to be out is the 2017 or
Yana Bogatch
18? I think it’ll probably be 18, like early 2018.
Iva Mikles
Oh, super cool. I mean, it’s really nice for your fans that they can like, look forward to something.
Yana Bogatch
Yeah, I can’t wait to complete it. I’ve been working on it for quite a while now. So
Iva Mikles
So can you tell us a bit more for people maybe who don’t know about the yearbook? What is it about? Or maybe how long is it there?
Yana Bogatch
I’m collaborating with a writer, her name is Vera green tea. So she wrote the story. And I’m just doing the illustration and everything else, all the visuals and stuff. It’s a story about a boy who sister’s missing. So he has to go on a little journey into the small town that he lives in to find her. And it’s a town in which all the women like women and girls have magical powers. And yeah, so I mean, that’s as much as I can say, everything else is, should be left up to the reader.
Iva Mikles
Yeah. And so what this may be your main inspiration for your art do get inspired from real life or something you do daily, which you know, motivates you.
Yana Bogatch
Right, um, inspiration. It’s a really difficult question for me, because I haven’t really thought about it ever. Um, I really like music. And I like reading. I’m not sure where the inspiration comes from. And to be honest, like, I’m not sure what inspiration actually really means to me, personally. I like fashion a lot. And I guess I’m very aesthetically driven. So I like drawing things that are pleasing to the eye, I guess. Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. And that’s about it.
Iva Mikles
And he could think about, you know, when you were studying and just developing your style, or basically learning what was maybe the best advice you ever received.
Yana Bogatch
Now, that’s a tough one. It’s a tough one, because I’ve been drawing for a very long time. And I never really have to look for guidance, because I kind of decided that I was going to go into art a very long time ago anyway. And I don’t think I have gotten much advice, to be honest. I’ve listened to tons of interviews and stuff to look for myself. And there’s just so many things that I can’t single one out, but if I were to give someone advice is to kind of try to keep the passion alive. As an think something that I personally find important is just responsibility, kind of, so it helps me to really push my artwork now in a way that like, I have certain parameters that I’ve set for myself as in, I can’t spend too much time on something because that won’t allow me to make it possible to continue doing that for a living, but at the same time, there is a minimum standard of quality that I absolutely must adhere to, for. So I can have soft, like retain self respect, you know what I mean? And try my best to elevate my artwork, basically. Yeah,
Iva Mikles
so yeah, I care if you like what you did they kind of,
Yana Bogatch
um, yeah, like, it’s just a, you know, because with, with big projects, it gets really complicated, like when there’s so much work to do and you don’t really know how to handle the workload, and you have to decide like what level of finish work Not only what level of finish are like how much time you can basically physically put into it. And also keeping the deadlines in mind, there are just a couple of things that I think are very helpful. So that’s so basically having like, a bottom line, like, quality that you can’t go below. So you have to work really hard at speed. So speed becomes very important. Yeah, I guess. Yeah.
Iva Mikles
For you.
Yana Bogatch
It’s kind of a confusing answer.
Iva Mikles
No, I think that’s good. Because then it’s like your thinking process and how you approach your workflow, basically. And,
Yana Bogatch
yeah, do you like to more like, the technical side? I guess? Yeah. In short, do
Iva Mikles
you like to work on more projects at the same time, like, or more drawings at the same time, or you don’t do that?
Yana Bogatch
Um, I, I juggle things a little sometimes when I have to, but I really prefer not to do that. Like, I find it’s best to just concentrate on one project. At a time, it’s like, it’s a little hard, because since the project I’m working on right now is so big, that I can’t just only work on it. But I think it helps to just set aside days in which I can do something else. But otherwise, I like to actually keep focused on one thing for an entire day. Like I can’t switch between things in one.
Iva Mikles
Okay. Yeah. Because for me, it’s like total opposite. I like to jump from, you know, one thing to another, and if I have to sit with one thing, then I’m like, Oh, my God.
Yana Bogatch
Okay. Yeah, it’s for some reason, it’s totally opposite. Yeah. So
Iva Mikles
for everyone is different. And so how do you kind of design your day or week kind of working schedule? Or what do you do? Do you like wake up and drink coffee? Or do you exercise or something maybe, which, you know, contributes to your success.
Yana Bogatch
Um, it’s very important for me to make a list and schedule, I’m not very good at it. And it’s something that I’m still really trying to work out. It’s honestly, I think it’s one of the hardest things about being full time freelance is that you’re given 100% control over your time, so you have to really learn how to manage it properly, which was super difficult for me. But um, yeah, I like to start the day with just coffee usually, like more than one cup. And, and make a list of things that are very important, like, probable, I’ll do like a weekly thing in the beginning of the week, and then I’ll do a daily thing afterwards. So to break things down. Um, and yeah, I guess I just have to prioritize tasks based on deadlines and things like that. So
Iva Mikles
yeah. And so do you plan maybe in like a physical diary? Or do you have a like, I don’t know, Google Calendar, or what do you prefer?
Yana Bogatch
Um, I think I’ve tried switching back and forth. And I kind of like both, but I think I prefer writing things down physically. And like actually checking things off with a pen. So I prefer that. So I have like a little journal.
Iva Mikles
Do you have like a favorite brand? Or a favorite journal you use all the time?
Yana Bogatch
Oh, no, I kind of just by any notebook, I like, go through it and given other ones Yeah, it’s
Iva Mikles
like, good, good to complain. It’s nice. And so and you also sketch like, in traditional media, right? You do pencil sketches? And also digital, do you have like, favorite mediums you’d like to use or tools.
Yana Bogatch
I used to draw mostly in traditional. Well, I guess this was a long time ago. But um, it just helped me gain a bunch of experience with doing things, look things on paper, I guess. And then when I started going to college, and now working on the comic, like I find that it’s actually a lot more efficient to work digitally. Because it’s way faster to fix certain things, and etc. It just simplifies the process. So you can only you only have the one screen and you don’t have to physically deal with like paper and stuff like that. So I’ve been doing that for a while now. And I find that actually really miss. I’m working traditionally. And hopefully, once I’m done with this big project, I’ll be able to make time to do more traditional work. Yeah.
Iva Mikles
So so how many hours that they do work on drawings? What would you say?
Yana Bogatch
Um, I work pretty standard days. So like nine to six about that. And sometimes I’ll work a little afterwards in the evening, like, after dinner or something. And yeah, but usually, it’s like around eight hours a day.
Iva Mikles
Standard. So and then you don’t work weekends.
Yana Bogatch
Sometimes it just depends, like, if I feel like I’m falling behind or I need to work a little more and get more things done. I’ll work one of the days or sometimes both days but sometimes not at all. It all fluctuates just because like when you’re on your own time and full time freelance, I can pretty much work whenever so it does change quite a bit.
Iva Mikles
Yeah. But then it can also go overboard because you can work whenever and Does it happen to you that you work too much?
Yana Bogatch
Sometimes, but I try. Well, basically, I have a couple of things. Like for instance, if I draw over a certain amount of hours in one day, my hand will start to hurt. So I, that’s a pretty easy way to keep it in check. You know what I mean? Like, I can zone out and just work for hours. But then eventually, I will notice like, it starts to cramp a little. So then I’ll stop. Yeah, so you take break, definitely don’t push myself too hard. Yeah. Because, yeah, I did that a couple of times when I was in college. Like, I just kind of worked through it because I was annoyed. And I needed to get things done. And I worked like an extra few hours. And then for the next two days, I kind of couldn’t, because my hands just hurt too much. So I stopped doing that. Yeah, yeah. And D is really important to take care of health, for sure. Yeah.
Iva Mikles
And do you do some kind of like exercises for the hand when it hurts? Or you just like heavy thrusted?
Yana Bogatch
I actually don’t, I really should, I think I really should do a hand exercise. And I’ve seen them float around a lot on social media. So that’s good, easy to find. But I don’t I just kind of stop working. And just let my hand rest. I guess.
Iva Mikles
When you mentioned that you started with a traditional media, did you use a pencil? Or did you like watercolors? Or what did you use?
Yana Bogatch
For a while I really liked Prismacolor markers. So I use markers. And then I got really into inking, so I used like Micron pens and things like that just to like a lot of inking all the time. And then eventually I kind of started dabbling in watercolors. And that was a lot of fun. So that’s like one of my so I really liked the combination of ink and watercolor. Yeah, so I think that would be my favorite.
Iva Mikles
And when you do like inking and watercolor for the ink do you use like the color ink or the dark one, like when you like the lines.
Yana Bogatch
I like to experiment. Sometimes I’ll dilute the ink. And sometimes I’ll mix two different ones together. I usually don’t like straight black ink. So I will either try to make it like off Gray by diluting it with some water or mixing in a color.
Iva Mikles
Yeah. And so how do you approach maybe these traditional paintings do you do first the line work? And then you apply the texture with watercolor or do more work with, you know, like, what the texture brings? And then you do the line work?
Yana Bogatch
Oh, yeah, um, I hear very strictly to like standard procedures, unfortunately, like, I really want to experiment more, but I do like the standard sketch pencil sketch first and then just expand our thing and then color it with our colors.
Iva Mikles
Yeah. And now how long does it take you now when you have the experience? Or maybe if you can compare like, how long did it take you when you were learning? And how fast can you do it now?
Yana Bogatch
I say a few hours, I’m I’m the type of person who can’t really focus for too long on one specific thing. So for instance, I don’t think I’ve ever done a drawing that took me like longer than one day, just like, you know, working back and forth for one day, I really don’t like to carry over things to like other days. Yeah, usually just like a few hours or sometimes several hours more, if it’s more complicated. And in terms of speed improvement, I think I’ve always really kind of leaned towards rushing, if that makes any sense. So I’ve never spent too long on anything. If anything my speed has, like I started drawing faster and more accurately. But sometimes nowadays, I’ll actually take a little more time, because I’ve learned to be more patient. So to me, it was like a slow down type of thing. Because I know that some people are afraid to draw quickly. But I’m the opposite, where I will draw too quickly and actually need to force myself to slow down and concentrate more. So yeah, I guess if that answers
Iva Mikles
there, because I also kind of like to do a mess. And I’m really focused on colors. So I am more obsessing about the colors and less about the lines. And because then I get too stressed with it is like, oh, I need to make it perfect. You know if I have lines, so I’m like
Yana Bogatch
I know what you mean. It’s really interesting. You mentioned that because I’m the exact opposite, but it’s actually a lot faster. I work way faster within constraints. So like for instance, if I have a sketch and then I just have to ink it I can very quickly because it’s already laid out and I know the beginning in the end process, but for instance when I’ve painted I’ve never painted traditionally with things like oil or anything but um line was painting I’ve tried on what shot so digitally. And it’s actually very difficult for me because with no lines, it’s so hard to determine when something is finished. Or like, I basically can’t, I don’t know when to stop. So I’ll just keep doing the little details and like flushing it out. And that can just drive me crazy last forever. So that’s funny.
Iva Mikles
But it’s good to know, you know, what is basically your favorite process where you can be the most effective for sure. And we, you talked about the book that you are working on a book and maybe in the past, how did you decide what to say yes, and no to kind of what was your self though, you know, like, how to set goals and like, Okay, this is the project I really want to work on.
Yana Bogatch
Well, I’m so right after I graduated from Sheridan, um, I started working right away at a mobile studio, like a mobile game studio. And I was just doing 2d art assets, stuff like that. And I didn’t really like doing that type of thing. So I quit very quickly, which obviously scared like my parents as though they were so happy that I just had a job. So it was a little rough. But like in terms of choosing what to do, I always kind of just go with my gut. Like, if I feel really not, if I just don’t feel great about working on something. I figure that’s probably not the best thing. So that’s why I decided to leave that studio and go full time freelance. And around the same time, you’re agreeing to the writer for Grimoire. Noir, she contacted me and she’s been looking for an artist for Grimm on GrowMark for quite some time. And, and the thing is, I get, I get people contacting me about things like that all the time. And I usually try to, like get a little bit more information. But it’s very important for me to actually like the story. So hers was the first store that I’ve really liked. And that’s why I decided to work with her. Yep. So that’s pretty much how she is. And since then, like, I really can’t accept much more just because it’s such a heavy project. So unfortunately, I have to turn down most of their job requests. So that kind of sucks.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, for sure. And so do you remember maybe the conversation or they had with their, with their parents, you know, like when you told them like, Okay, this is not for you? And how did you explain maybe what they want to do?
Yana Bogatch
Um, well, they, of course, they have my best interests in mind. So they mostly just wanted me to have something stable. And like, I totally get it, it’s very important to have a stable income. And part of why it’s kind of difficult to go full time freelance is that the income becomes very unstable. So you have to really learn, like how to save, and conserve, and just generally be very careful. They were mostly worried about that. But I think at this point, it’s been a couple of years, and they can see that I don’t have any problems. And so they’re, they’ve been supportive, which is good, but yeah, I mean, they never really thought that going into art was bad or anything like that. Like they always thought it was fine for me to go on to work. So I didn’t have any trouble with that.
Iva Mikles
So how do you balance it now with your income? Like maybe what is your main income source? Or do you have like more income streams? Like because you you teach as well like on Patreon, right? Or so how is your kind of income structure look like? What is the main and what is maybe the side or,
Yana Bogatch
um, it’s kind of hard to say what the main because I do have basically several different streams of income that fluctuate all the time. In the last couple of years, going to conventions and doing like on spot Commission’s and selling prints and stuff, my artwork has been a pretty big chunk of income. And also obviously for Grimoire is like the biggest project I’m working on right now. That’s a pretty big part of income. And aside from that, tutorials for Gumroad I’m kind of on and off with Patreon because sometimes I find it really hard to like keep up with content and like if I feel like I don’t have enough to justify charging people for like a month, or whatever, like the term on Patreon I just don’t do it. So sometimes I won’t use it for months at a time just because I feel like I can’t really offer anything significant. And aside from that, I’ve recently self published an art book with my first full color art book. So it was a few months ago so that also helped quite a bit with income in
Iva Mikles
basically the art book you did through Kickstarter. i
Yana Bogatch
No, no, I actually just did pre orders and and then I sold it on my own I’m start
Iva Mikles
Oh, Okay, nice. And all of them for a camera, do you think Gumroad is better to teach or do tutorials than Patreon? Because then Gumroad is less restricting maybe with rewards, or
Yana Bogatch
I do prefer Gumroad. I prefer Gumroad. Because it’s just, I guess I like for the tutorials to be accessible to more people. And Patreon is a little exclusive that way, but Well, it kind of they kind of work hand in hand. So for instance, if I do tutorials on Patreon, it’s totally fine for me to just publish them on Gumroad afterwards. So I can’t say one is better than the other because they’re just like, different platforms.
Iva Mikles
And you also mean,
Yana Bogatch
I like, I mean, I was gonna say, I like Gumroad, because there’s no deadlines. But,
Iva Mikles
but good to know. Because then for people, like they’re deciding if they want to do a tutorial, you know, like, what are like the pros and cons of each that, you know, so they see what you like about it, and so they can figure it out for themselves as well.
Yana Bogatch
Yeah, the thing about Patreon is that it’s kind of like a part time job. So it will have to be seriously scheduled into your life and time has to be made for it on a constant basis. So there’s that. But with Gumroad, I mean, I guess you can just put out a tutorial tutorial whenever you feel like you have the time to do it. So I think that’s a little easier to deal with.
Iva Mikles
And if you think about, you know, like networking and finding new paid project, you mentioned, you go for the events and festivals, do you have some favorite ones? Or maybe if you can, you know, describe how you make new contacts? Maybe,
Yana Bogatch
um, conventions are always great for meeting new people. And I guess not? Well, I don’t really think of it as networking. But it turns out to be networking at the end of the day, I guess, in some part, but um, I think specifically for finding jobs. I personally have never, I feel pretty privileged to be in this position. But I’ve never actually had to like look for a job. So I think just having a consistent presence on social media really helps. So people that are looking to hire someone to help them with their project or whatever. Like they will go on social media and see who’s like, what artists are available and stuff like that. So job offers kind
Iva Mikles
of calm. And so what were you doing, maybe, when you started your social media, did you post it like every day? And then you do like, talking to other artists? Or what was your approach?
Yana Bogatch
Um, I actually started using social media a very long time ago. So maybe, like 12 years ago at this point, even. But like, I didn’t take it seriously, honestly, because I was very young at the time. And it was just a lot of fun. And yeah, the greatest thing about it was just meeting other people that also really loved drying, and love drying, like the same type of thing. So it’s really great for feeling like you’re part of a community. And sorry, about your question, oh, how often did I post? Well, at first I kind of used forums and legs given aren’t, you know, even used to be like the popular saying, I don’t think ever had a schedule. But I would probably post like maybe a couple of times, like a few times a week. But I noticed that in recent years since so many more people use social media. And now that I’m not just don’t like a high school student. And I, it’s more of like a professional thing. So it kind of it’s like an extension of my job and my occupation, I have to take it more seriously. And it is a lot better. To have some sort of schedule, which I’m currently completely failing. It is very, very hard for me to keep posting things on a regular basis. I would say that for anyone who wants to use social media to get their artwork out there and get their name out there. It’s very important to post like very consistently. So if you’re going to post like, every other day, that’s fine. It would have to be I think, a couple times a week at minimum. But maybe even once a week, as long as it’s consistent so people know what to expect.
Iva Mikles
It’s very important. The photos also at the same time, or that’s not so important.
Yana Bogatch
I usually post around like midday, but I don’t like you can obviously look up I don’t go too in depth into analyzing like what the best time to post is. I know there is one. It’s probably like, at a certain time during the weekends like it’s bad to post too early in the morning or like too late at night and things like that, but I don’t think it really matters. I think that’s taking it a little too far. like analyzing the right times, I don’t know.
Iva Mikles
Maybe you’d like Oh, okay.
Yana Bogatch
Yeah, definitely too complicated for me.
Iva Mikles
And so now with the, you know, like building your career, do you maybe have like, the worst career moment and maybe something you’ll learn from it some maybe difficult time.
Yana Bogatch
Um, well, working on Grimoire has been has definitely has had its like ups and downs, because I haven’t done such a, like large project and sort of long term project before. And before that, I had a lot more time to focus on my own personal stuff. So I really missed that. And I guess right now is a difficult time for me. So I basically have to really concentrate on finishing Grimoire Noir, because at this point, I think it’s been about a year and a half that I’ve been working on it. So to me, it’s like a really long time to be working on the same thing. But at the same time, like, you know, I take like one page at a time, and I can always find something to enjoy, because I do really like drawing as much as I get overwhelmed sometimes. So it’ll be fun. Yeah, hopefully, I’ll finish faster than anticipated, but you never know.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, but definitely, but it’s good to find out what you like about the project, then, what is more challenging? And what do you want to do more in the future? And yeah, so what would you kind of let’s talk about the future. One of the last questions like, Where would you see yourself maybe five to 10 years? And, like, what would be your dream scenario? What are you doing?
Yana Bogatch
Um, my dream scenario? Well, I would like I would really like to be 100% self sufficient. So it’s not that I don’t like working with other people or anything. I just, I really care about my personal projects and stories. And I’ve always, as long as I can remember, like, since since high school, like started making my own characters and stuff, I’ve always really wanted to turn to a comic. And yeah, I feel like I finally I’m finally at a point where I can say, like, my skills have gotten to the point where they’re, I think they’re sufficient. So I don’t have to feel too nervous about it anymore. Because before that, like, I’ve tried working on my comic a bunch of times, but I always felt like it wasn’t good enough. And like, you know, that stuff never really goes away. But I’m really looking forward to when I’m finished with this project, because I think I’m getting so much like invaluable experience from it. And yeah, I think I feel like I’m finally ready. So my, my goal is to just be working on my own stories in five years. And hopefully, I can
Iva Mikles
do that. Yeah, that sounds really good. And do you have like, favorite comic books you would recommend to people, or maybe some books, or even film or documentary.
Yana Bogatch
Um, I’m a huge fan of priyam. Miyazaki, from Jubilee studios. And there’s this, there are these two books. The first one is called starting or turning point, and actually wrote down some more starting point and turning point. And they’re basically like interviews and like little essays and stuff written by him. Exactly. I found that they’re very inspirational and like, super informative for an artist, and I generally just really like his world view. So I would recommend those two books. For sure.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, definitely. In the the last question, where they want to ask is maybe like, far, far future? And what would you like to be remembered for in 100? years?
Yana Bogatch
That’s a really hard question. I can’t answer that question. Because I don’t know. I feel like I’ve never actually really thought about it. And I don’t know, I want to legitimately never really crossed my mind. So
Iva Mikles
good. But I mean, it’s really nice to think about it like what would be like the the life goal at some point, then, kind of, well, these the the thing would, why you like drawing and this kind of thing. So,
Yana Bogatch
you know, to be honest, I just really want to write a good story. It doesn’t even have anything to do with art. I just really, really like to write a good story. So I think maybe in the future, I’ll get more into studying how to write and just writing in general, because I haven’t really done that up to this point. Well, yeah, I think that’s something I just really, really want to do. Yeah, so
Iva Mikles
that sounds great. I’m looking forward to see your book or comic book and you and your story. So thank you so much for being here and inspiring. gathers. Yeah, thank you. So if you have like last piece of advice you would like to share with others before we say goodbye.
Yana Bogatch
I think that if you’re really like drawing, especially if you’re younger, and I don’t know, because in my experience, I’ve had a lot of like teachers who disapprove of like style content or whatever, like, sometimes it’s very hard to please teachers, especially in high school, and even in college as well. It’s, I would advise people to just keep true to themselves, and not to let other people’s criticism, especially when it’s just purely based on taste like and preferences. Just love what you love, and never like, Be ashamed about it. So if it’s me, and people, like some teachers really hate anime, for my experience, and in Scott in high schools, especially, and they tend to be very discouraging. So I would advise to just do whatever you love and don’t listen to them. And to just continue.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, perfect. So thank you so much, again for being here and sharing your story with others. And thanks, everyone, for joining.
Yana Bogatch
Thank you so much.
Iva Mikles
Thanks and see you next time. Hope you guys enjoyed this interview. You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode at artsideoflife.com. Just type a guest name in the search bar. There is also a little freebie waiting for you. So go check it out. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on iTunes, hopefully five stars so I can read and inspire more people like you. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Art Side of Life podcast because I post new interview every single work day. If you want to watch the interviews, head over to artsideoflife.com/youtube. Thank you so much for listening. Don’t forget to inspire each other. And I will talk to you guys in the next episode. Bye.
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Hi, I am Iva (rhymes with “viva”). I am a full-time self-taught artist behind Art Side of Life® and a Top Teacher on Skillshare. I have 15 years of experience in the creative field as a concept designer, illustrator, art director, and now freelance artist, content creator, and art instructor. My goal is to help you get your creative groove on with Procreate and make awesome art through practical classes, tutorials, Procreate brushes, and guides on art tools, supplies and resources. About me »
