creative presence
vladimir voinovski
The Micho is a Macedonian illustrator that is best known for his comic and cartoon style that merges exagerrated shapes with vivid color schemes. Although not an animator, he is the art director of Lynx Animation Studio - a studio based in Macedonia - who is generally in charge of all the creative backgrounds and concept designs of most of their projects. Having said this, I found him to be a perfect professional that would infuse me with insight on how to prosper within Macedonia, as well as on how to develop and refine my practice and style. Furthermore, this endeavor would establish my initial networking contacts within Macedonia, as well as on an international basis, that will soon expand and collate in a snowballing manner.
How and when did you begin with your art? I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I don’t believe that anything other than drawing and reading comic books has interested me ever since I was really young. Now that you mentioned it, I believe that the chronicles of my drawings can be found within several collections of poetry (I do not like poetry) drawn on the margins. One of the earliest comic books that I read and attempted at drawing was Tarzan – his design was quite an inspiration for me. Have you always been interested in illustration, or have you had other aspirations alongside? As I have aforementioned I have had absolutely no other aspirations. With all my heart and soul I impatiently waited for the consecutive issues of the then-established Mickey’s Magazine so that I may draw on them. I also received huge A3 format notebooks that my father brought me during my youth that served the role of canvases. Ah, splendid were the days.
How have you established creative networks with studios and practitioners – have you contacted them or have they contacted you? Hmm, creative networks. At the time there was no internet, hence the networks were quite rare. Rarely could someone achieve personal contact with a studio, whereas through mail it seemed quite redundant. The sophistication of technology has now served as a blessing where everyone can achieve any position or goal, although only the most determined and persistent can excel in this business. After a great deal of years working as an illustrator it is quite natural that a plethora of drawings are created and formulated as one’s portfolio. Furthermore, it is quite effective in the era of social media for such works to be shared amongst others, and it all functions like the rise of a Fibonacci’s sequence. Due to this, I am the one that gets remotely contacted by people, and due to the amount of work on my table, I can rarely spend any time on my own projects or contacting people on behalf of my choice. And so it turned out that I still draw what I want, so I can’t complain. Technology (and networking) is a treasure to those that know how to use it. Conceited dreamers do not prosper, only those that take an initiative and forge their own future.
Have you been aspiring towards the creation of your style, or has it passively been acquired? Style is something that everyone has. Naturally, under the influence of everyone’s respective idols. As years have passed, I’ve had artists and authors that I respect from whom I have absorbed bits and pieces of their art-style, inadvertently assembling my own. All of that mixed with my manner of work perhaps displays my art style. It is really lovely when some game gets released and people state “hey, The Micho has drawn this character”. Have you been experimenting with different visual mediums? Well, when I was young I worked with paper, ink, quill pen, pencil… from a simple reason that during those times computers were not so prominent in the Balkans. In due time, with the acquisition of a computer came the need for a scanner so that I may scan all of my drawings. Then came programs, then drawing tablets, then a better computer, and overall better equipment. In other words, as I grew as an artist so did my set, or until I reach the position where I found that I can work comfortably with what I have. The advice I give to the youth when they ask me what kind of a tablet they should by the answer I give them is: pencil and paper. If you know how to draw, you do. If you don’t, the tablet is not going to assist you in any way shape or form. Thus, “baby steps” and persistence are key! Never stop sketching as well, for every once in a while I still draw on some of my sketchbooks solely for the sake of jotting down and illustrating any ideas I may have.
Do you collaborate on an international basis as an individual creative practitioner? Yes; 99% of what I do is for outside of Macedonia. Without having to elaborate upon our industry, the collaboration with people from outside of our margins infuses you with an even bigger independence from our national endeavors and even more so, broadens your horizons. Both with work endeavors and with the number of friends you may make. Nonetheless, I work with people all over the globe as long as they are friendly and decent. Which programs do you use? After a thorough journey of experimentation with all scopes of programs – Corel Draw, painters, Illustrator, etc. – I stuck to the rather old rendition of Photoshop 7 and with a Cintiq WX12, alongside which I have another Cintiq Companion which serves as my plan B, just in case. That’s it. I do use need anything else, nor do I need to. Keep it simple. Up until this point this has been all I’ve ever needed and will need in the future. As I said, use the tool that would offer you the maximum of comfortability in your practice.
How much time approximately do you spend on your art on a daily basis? Well, I haven’t quite calculated it, but it is at least 8 hours a day… when I can I work less, when I have to, I work more. When storyboards are in question, I have strict deadlines and there is nothing to apply mitigation to – it’s for tomorrow at 8, and that’s how it must be! Games and other illustrations have a longer period of time in between the beginning and the deadline, which allows me to have some flexibility with combining other works. What’s important is that one works to live, and not the other way around. Thus, spending a segment of the day with family and friends is a must. Otherwise, nothing would have any point now would it?
Do you perhaps have any routine or technique that allows you to finish your work without any distractions? Nope, I work from home. In general, I don’t mind working in the studio, however, I prefer to work at home. It is a part of the family life, perhaps the toilet will stop working, so I’m right here to fix it. Perhaps my son would want to play Skylanders, so here I am to play Skylanders. Maybe we’ll crave some pizza, so I go to fetch it. Generally, I want to use the maximum of the time I have, and I do appreciate it if I have 2 hours for me minimum for every day. Do you have any advice you can give to a young, zealous Animation student? Any advice? Work. You don’t work for me, you don’t work for others, you don’t work for your neighbors; you work for yourself. If you can manage to make someone’s day along the way of your work, that’s amazing. There will always be people that will get rake the leaves, but not always are there people that create beauty and happiness.
The Perspective of the World of the Freelance The Micho has proven to be quite the meticulous and insightful practitioner that I required to assist me in the establishing of my artistic autonomy. In order to follow my passion as envisioning and accomplishing my desire to work as a freelancer, The Micho provided professional yet colloquial insight into the parameters of this practice. Being a freelancer himself that is directly connected and is working part-time within a studio, he has annotated how this practice manifests itself in such a way that one’s artistic talent alone will not achieve any goals. On the contrary, it is the multitude of eclectic factors that solidify one’s creative practice, persistence and aspiration being the most influential and necessary of developmental traits. Furthermore, The Micho emphasized one important aspect of the improvement of one’s practice that I seem to neglect – the frequency of drawing and sketching one’s environment, ideas, and concepts. As I have mentioned during my Creative Strategies presentation, it is something I am planning to create a firm routine around during this summer, and although I do draw, I do not do so in a consistent routine. The principal key in the establishment of one’s commissioned route of practice is the generation of networks, which as The Micho has specified, comes from the amenability to collaborate with artists of many contrasting styles, as well as to do so with practitioners from all sides of the globe. However, this can only be acquired if one is constantly aiming towards the refinement of one’s style, one’s identification as an artist, as well as one’s openness to multi-platform and interdisciplinary works. In relation to this statement, there is no universally correct way of execution, for art in its own respect is the most flexible practice that it allows for the oscillation of one’s method of working, be it through the oldest and most “obsolete” of programs to the most outdated pieces of technology.
The Perspective of the World of the Freelance As he has expressed, the most important factor of one’s equipment is the comfort it provides during the completion of one’s working practice. Technology only augments one’s already firm skill and style and does NOT fabricate it in any way shape or form. However, in terms of the standardization of the industry, a placement in a studio will possibly not allow for this deviation, although experimenting with different programs in order to test their application to one’s own practice is an insightful way of developing one’s technical practice. This interview being the foundation of my networking endeavors, I have eliminated the enclosed mindset I had in terms to contacting professionals for my practice, for the most possible undesirable outcome would be me being ignored – something inevitable in the art of networking. This experience has shown me how successful freelancers require their art and practice to be formulated in a presentable manner, promoted and exposed, as well as being interconnected with other practitioners or studios through collaborative means. Although the role of a freelancer offers flexibility and artistic freedom to an extent, the conservative “lone wolf ” mentality diminishes any advances at exposure, something that The Micho has thoroughly pointed out. Conclusively, the online network’s possibility to work internationally from home as The Micho does offers me a future creative opportunity to continue with my desired, avant-garde animation practice while earning remuneration, inadvertently synthesizing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for my art.
Seize the future, persist, triumph!