We were lucky to catch up with Donna Almendrala recently and have shared our conversation below.
Donna, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
When I was in undergrad, I studied chemistry and took all the pre-med requisites in order to apply to medical school and become a doctor. My school was notoriously competitive in the pre-med field, and I was one of thousands following this path, with nothing really that made me stand out above the rest. It was tough to feel like you were really doing your best, but it’s just not good enough. After I graduated, I worked in a bio lab, burned out on science and studying with the 9 to 5. I started making webcomics with a friend based on silly in-jokes and nerdy references, using crude stick figures after XKCD. With encouragement from my partner, I decided to instead apply to a tiny cartooning school in Vermont, instead of medical school. It was a big risk for me, as I tend toward making safe and predictable choices. But I realized, if there’s a time in life to change everything up and follow your passion, it was right then. I was young enough to not have anything tying me down and if it all went wrong, I could course correct after. Choosing to follow cartooning is the best decision I’ve made for myself as it led me to meeting an amazing network of teachers, mentors and peers, the skills to pursue my craft and my current job working for the Schulz Studio. It’s been over ten years since I graduated that 2-year program, and I haven’t looked back since.
Donna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a cartoonist and I just completed my first graphic novel, Becoming a Dog Person. In 2018, my partner and I adopted a rescue dog named Max, a cute small mutt with a spunky personality. I fell in love with Max immediately but his emotional and behavioral issues were more than I bargained for. The experience affected me emotionally and challenged my relationship with myself and with my partner. I wanted to write about the experience in a semi-autobiographical format, so I wrote our story, changed our character names, and added a touch of magical realism to explore the themes of confidence, leadership, and relationships. While it’s clear that this story is fiction, it’s also still very much my personal experience. This book took me about 5 years to finish, and I’m extremely proud of it.
I also have a day job at the Schulz Studio as the VP of Content where I manage a team of artists reviewing licensed product from all over the globe and new animation content for Peanuts. Charles Schulz is one of my heroes and I have learned so much from reading his comic strips and learning to draw the characters. I feel so lucky to be part of the studio and contribute to his legacy.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
After my son was born in 2022, I struggled through a lack of sleep, independence and identity. I missed my old life and the ability to dedicate my time and energy to my creative work. One of the things that helped me through that was The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. My friends had been recommending it to me for years, and I finally was at a place where I desperately needed something to make me feel like an artist again. This book revived in me a sense of purpose and even faith in my art. It allowed me to view art and creating as a service that benefits not just me, but those around me. And I was able to feel connected not just to myself but to my environment and community. I know it all sounds a bit mystical and woo-woo, which I was surprised about too. But when you become a parent, especially a mom, it’s easy to lose yourself in the demands of your day-to-day. The book gave me a space to just unload all my mental anxiety in the morning pages and then validated the need to create. I believe art is gift that serves a higher purpose, and when we follow that drive, we make the world a better place.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I came from a strict, rules-based and performance-driven background. I had to get straight A’s, study hard, do my extra-curriculars, volunteer, etc. in order to get into a good school and get a good job. This type of drive doesn’t exactly translate into creating good art, mostly because art is subjective and not something that you can objectively please everybody with. During the COVID pandemic of 2020, I suddenly found myself in isolation, and unable to “perform” for those around me to show how good I was. I realized, sadly, that without the feedback of my supervisors or peers I had no direction. It was then, when I had to take things really slow, that I discovered watercolor. It was a random Youtube channel from the artist Peter Sheeler who painted really quick landscapes using very few colors. I started following his tutorials, without any intention of becoming an expert or showing my paintings to anybody, but just to experience it. And it turned out to be the first time that I actually *enjoyed* the process of creating art. Watercolor is really different from comics, because the best part happens when the water does it’s own thing and you don’t try to control it. Making mistakes is part of the process and it’s all about using those “happy accidents” to discover something new and beautiful.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://madmacaques.square.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madmacaques/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094533997925
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnaalmendrala/
- Other: https://patreon.com/dacomics
https://bsky.app/profile/madmacaques.bsky.social
https://madmacaques.tumblr.com/
Image Credits
Donna Almendrala, Christopher Joel