Most artists develop their passion for art while escaping from the drudgery of their daily life. For Michelle Lam, creating art is more confrontational in nature than an escape. Like writing in a diary, Michelle feels that her work is able to help her process her thoughts in a peaceful manner. This outlook is also what helps keep her as motivated to create as possible.
A story artist with Netflix, her confrontation nature makes her comics more relatable, helping her connect with people across the globe. Now, with almost three hundred thousand followers on Instagram, Michelle helps people not only relate to her experiences but also understand the elements of universality in their experiences, helping them overcome and confront their emotions. Ultimately, through her hard work and perseverance, Michelle aims to develop a stronger voice as an Asian-American female in the animation industry and inspire others to work towards their goals.
About Michelle- A regular day in her life
I’m originally from New York and moved to California for school, and now work. A regular day for me is waking up at 5 am to work on my personal art, going to work from 9 am-6 pm, coming home to exercise, taking care of myself, and then, if time permits, working on my art a little more.
Her Instagram journey
I started posting on Instagram back in 2016 for fun, but only started to seriously post around April – May 2018. At first, I did not have a plan other than post for fun, but now I post at least twice a week. On vacations, however, I definitely allow myself to take a break.
What is it like working as a Story Artist at Netflix?
It’s great working as a story artist at Netflix because my show allows a lot of flexibility and freedom with my boards. It also challenges me every day and allows me to continue learning. It does improve my comics as well since I am able to apply the advice from work onto my own personal work as well.
Recently, you’ve been posting several comics with similar styles. Would you say you’ve found a style that suits you and your work?
I still would say I don’t have a specific style. Currently, the style I’m using is for the sake of the comic. At the end of the day, I draw in many variations in which I don’t show all the time. I just specifically choose different styles for different types of works. The style I currently use for my comics though is cute, simple, and sketchy because it’s the easiest and fastest for me to make a comic consistently while I still have work.
Do you think there any negatives to putting art online?
The only negatives is potential theft, but either way, I don’t think anyone should stop themselves from sharing their art online if that’s what they want to do.
Your video on YouTube titled “Old Sketchbooks” has nearly 700 comments, most of which seem to be “why can’t I draw like that?”. Do you have any response to this approach taken by the audience?
I would say my work now is an accumulation of how much time I spent drawing since I was a kid. I had no cable, or barely any video games growing up, so drawing was the only fun time I had / the only thing I was able to do. Despite the times, I felt bad about my art, I still kept drawing and never gave up no matter what.
Allowing the audience in, why do you think it’s necessary to break the 4th wall?
While there’s no specific reason, I could say it’s because of who I am. I naturally gravitate towards sharing my true personality and experiences. In turn, it helps me understand my audience and creates a harmonious exchanging of emotions.
Do you have any tips or tricks to getting yourself into a productive headspace?
Working in a café helps. I also like waking up really early because you get that feeling of being awake before the rest of the world. Nothing really goes on at 5 am, so it helps me want to work on my own things.
Do you ever find yourself being too harsh on yourself?
I used to be harsh on myself but stopped as I grew up. A lot of it came from negative thoughts about my work, and the way I stopped it was to focus on other parts of my life. I focused on exercise, eating healthier, going out to places, attending events, spending time with friends, etc. By creating stronger bubbles in other areas of your life that are not art.
Your profile has grown immensely in the past year. Do you ever feel any pressure to put out good content?
I feel happy to be reaching out to a lot of people as ultimately I aim to have a stronger voice as an Asian-American female in the animation industry. I have a goal to have a stronger voice in the animation industry someday as well, so might as well start off with developing a strong presence on my own first. I do feel pressure sometimes to upload good content on time, but remember that I ultimately have no obligation or contract signed to Instagram or any other platforms, which helps me put my mind at ease.
Behind the scenes- taking the next step and creating merchandise
Printful reached out to me, so I had never even thought about creating merch until they emailed me. Around the same time, I started “Succubishez,” so I coincidentally actually had a story to go along with the merch. The journey was more fun than anything! All I really had to do was create marketable art and put them on the appropriate items, and it was fun to see it all come to life. So far I’ve been getting kind comments from everyone, people send me a picture of them in the merch which is amazing. I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity.
Lastly, have you experimented with any other artistic mediums?
I used to do fine arts and painted with oil paints, acrylic, used charcoal and pastels, as well as other mediums before animation. I haven’t used them for a while as a story, writing, and animation lately has been my focus.
A message for the readers:
Never give up, because you are creating your own destiny for yourself by giving up. You are 100% definitely not going to get anywhere with whatever you want to do if you decide to give up. If you at least try, you don’t know where you will go, but there is a promise of improvement and will end up somewhere rather than nowhere.
