Balancing life between passion and health to stay at the top of the game.
Today, I want to discuss an important topic: staying healthy as a comic & graphic novel creator.
We all know the not-so-secret sauce:
Sit up straight. Rest your eyes every hour. Stretch. Workout at least 20 minutes a day. Meditate. Drink eight glasses of water. Less meat, more veggies. Eat rainbow food. Don’t forget the fruits, but don’t overdo them. Go easy on sugar. And less salt, too. Go low sodium. Make your food really bland. Take your vitamin. Go to bed early. Sleep those 8 hours. Repeat that for the rest of your life.
Yikes!
The truth is, many comic creators I admire have some real health issues.
Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece, once mentioned (and I paraphrased): “The turn-around time for comics is really tight. A lot of times, I only get about three hours of sleep a day.”
Fujiko F Fujio, creator of Doraemon, passed out and died at age 62 while he was drawing at his desk.
The assistant of Yoshihiro Togashi (creator of Yuyu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter) revealed Yoshihiro Togashi suffered from constant back pain.
Our profession requires us to sit by the desk and draw for an extended period of time everyday. We churn out work at the expense of our shoulder muscles, neck muscles, wrist muscles, hand muscles, and of course, our eyesight. Sitting too long results in poor blood circulation, which, in turn, affects our overall health.
When we are on a tight schedule or under heavy deadlines, we tell ourselves, “It’s the passion that matters!” But beware to not ignite that passion in an explosive way, or the burnout and physical pain will come back to haunt you fast.
Sure, many creators I admire have serious health issues, but many also try their best to lead a healthy lifestyle. Those are habits I try to pick up.
Takehiko Inoue, creator of Slam Dunk and Vagabond, plays basketball regularly to maintain his health.
Marcie Colleen, lead writer for Epic’s Time Buddies and Kitten Ninja series, has a daily running and yoga routine.
I myself am a big competitive badminton player. I used to play four times a week at two different local badminton clubs. Nowadays, I can only manage to play about two times a week, but I fiercely guard those precious hours.
Some walk the dog. Some swim laps. Some bike around the city. The key is to find a few physical activities you truly enjoy, allocate time weekly for them, and stick to the routine.
For Wacom Cintiq users, I also recommend looking into a good pen-grip. I use the Ergo pen grip. It looks funny, but I find my hand muscles a lot less tired at the end of the day. (At $30, it’s PRICY, considering it’s really just a piece of plastic. I guess if you phrase it as “the thing that reduces hand muscle fatigues” or “a long-term investment in your illustration career”, it makes me feel slightly better. Slightly.) (Also, that silly carrot-orange color might be an eye-sore, and the designer in me cringes a little, but it surely makes my pen very visible on my desk.)
As for that mouth-full of cliché-goodie-advice I mentioned at the beginning?
Try to do as much as you can, but don’t kick yourself too hard when you can’t. They are reminders, ideals. Sometimes we hit the mark, and most of time, we don’t. All we ask is try. Then try again. And again.
Because if you love doing this, you want to this for a long time. Perhaps a life time.
And preferably not in pain.
Stay healthy, friends!
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