Full Interview with Alaire

Not only are you producing great art and comics, you have a family that you are supporting. What is the work/life balance? Especially if you use your home as your office. Do you have pre-scheduled breaks? How do you avoid burnout and how do you "shut off" work mode.

It’s VERY kind of you to say that. I am in a position where I do not have a day job with comics and a family on top of that. The folks who are spinning all the plates at the same time astound me, and they deserve so much care and praise for all that they do. I am one of the few who can hang out with the kid all day and still make comics here and there.

I used to do nothing but work on comics, when Toben and I were first married. He would go to his catering job and I’d be in his parent’s basement livestreaming comics as I worked. At the time I had an insane schedule of 6 clients at a time, completing one page a day. Needless to say I don’t think I was as polished as I would consider myself now. So, I am very grateful to everyone who hired me back then and let me practice and experiment and get better at making comics for them.

So when Cy, our son, was born… that all fell to pieces. I was live streaming and patreon-ing for over a year, and kinda fell out of it the farther along I was. I was just always so tired and didn’t have the same energy or enthusiasm. Once I was a real bonafide parent, I had to deal with the fact that I could not put in the same amount of work I used to, and that was really difficult for the first few months of parenthood. I had a few self-worth meltdowns cause all I thought about for two-three years was just comics. Don’t be like past me.

After a year and a half, I am pretty okay with not working long hours. In fact I prefer it! Having a child forces you to take breaks, which is great. Children are great at teaching you patience and what’s most important in life. Comics are not always one of those things. Now I only take one or two comics at a time, as well as my own thing. Doing daily or monthly things just isn’t important to me anymore. I create my own hustle, but make sure it’s one where I can slow down and speed up if it’s my choice.

Basically, to avoid burnout, I work for around 2 hours every day. Sometimes 3. That’s it. That’s when Cy is napping. At times if I really need to get things done, Toben takes Cy in the morning until lunch time instead of me, which garners an extra hour or so. But usually, the former happens. Once Cy is up from naptime, I’m done for the day.

Another way I try to avoid burnout is, yes, keep your promises if you owe a client something by a deadline they have set (or at least work something manageable with them). As for your own deadlines, call them your goals instead - that way you can give yourself a wide berth and you don’t kill yourself so much. Have a goal, work for it, reach for it, but cut yourself the most slack. Your project will get done - it’s not gonna up and leave. So that’s why Crown & Anchor book 2 is taking such a long time, but hey, it’ll get done and it’ll look good cause it’s not being rushed and I’m not getting burnt out.

I don’t work evenings anymore, by choice. Not only am I bushed, but that’s the time I take to spend time with Toben or play some video games. In the past, if I worked nights… I would work way too long. I can’t stay up super long anymore cause I never know if my kid is waking up at 7 am or 5 am, so that’s where I’ve gotta shut things off. If I’m at the computer at night, the reason had better be cause I’m playing Stardew Valley. I feel a lot better not working evenings. I understand that isn’t necessarily what everyone working on comics has the privilege of doing, but if you can - leave your nights open if you’re workin’ hard all day. No work after dinner. No work after 5 or 6 in the evening. Let yourself chill. It’s okay to think about work - just save it for tomorrow. It’ll be that much more rewarding jumping in the next day. I also do not work Sundays, ever. Ya gotta have your days off. NO BUTS!

If I am hellbent on working on my own stuff, I dedicate Saturdays to commissions or my own work. Same work hours, but at least it’s my own stuff.

Follow up, do you feel like a lot of inspiration and art direction comes from some aspect of your family. Or no?

Eh not really. There have been times I’ve used my son as a reference to draw an ogre or two in Sidequest, but that’s about where it stops. I’m sure as Cy gets older I may incorporate more mannerisms and behaviors I see into my work.

How long did it take you as an artist to feel like you discovered your style and art direction? I see your work and immediate know it's you. Do you think this style is ever changing?

That’s a great question. And I’ve no clear idea how to answer it. I always knew I wanted my art to be manga influenced, and western made. As a kid I really admired Tetsuya Nomura, Yuichi Kumakura, and Takeshi Obata. Nomura was the first artist I really wanted to emulate. That beautiful style that’s a wonderful mix of realistic rendering and stylizing where it counts.

Eventually, I wanted to have my characters seem like real people with their body language and expressions, but also have that fluidity, silliness, detail, and intensity eastern comics bring. I’m going to be improving gradually more and more over time (here’s hoping), and I know my style will eventually deviate from what it is now. But I don’t see it making a dramatic change in how it will feel. Hopefully it’ll look better in the future once I sit down and give myself time to study for a change.

As of now, I just kind of pick up bits and pieces from artists whose work I love (who doesn’t?). I learned how to draw pupils from Toni Infante. I learned from flipping through Shaman Warrior how to draw thumbs. Now I wanna be a clone of Dan Mora. It’s the circle of life.

What would you like to promote? Something coming up? Available now? Where can we find it? What's the one aspect of that project you want people to be aware of?

A lot of people may know my husband Toben as a letterer, but he is primarily a writer. We are in the endgame of Emulator #1 (Toben w/ Emiliana Pinna, and Tankitha Joy), and are shooting for a second issue. Pilgrim’s Dirge #1 is coming up in July (Toben w/ Matteo Leoni and Martina Bonnani). As for stuff I work on, Sidequest #3 (Grant Stoye, Martina Bonanni, and Toben Racicot) is also launching sometime in June.

On the side, I’m of course working on mine and Toben’s brainchild called Crown & Anchor. Currently, you can read it online for free at Tapas, Webtoons, and ComicFury. If anyone really REALLY wants a physical copy of the first volume, we got that. Otherwise, digital copies are available on Comixology. The second volume of Crown & Anchor will be Kickstarting in October of this year. I am very excited to get this one out. I’ve been busting my butt and learning a lot working on it, as one does with comics. One aspect of this comic I need everyone to be aware of is that… it’s got a lot of screen tones. And 200% more demons.

So it’s kind of a busy time for us! If anyone would like to follow along, we have a newsletter (sign up at racicot.art!) to keep everyone up to date and to give you, like, free art and stuff. Like Valentine’s Day cards. Seriously.

Thanks for having me, dude! I really appreciate the interview! Go ask Nate about SongBirds ;D