Interview: Joumana Medlej from Cedarseed
Joumana Medlej
Today’s guest is designer, calligrapher and illustrator Joumana Medlej from Beirut, Lebanon. Multifaceted and creative, Joumana has created and published her own graphic novels, works with calligraphy, and designs desktop icons & computer games.
Name: Joumana Medlej
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Web Site: Cedarseed
Connect with Joumana on Twitter or Google+
Hello Joumana, please tell us a little about yourself, your background and your passion for art and design?
I’m Lebanese, born and raised in Beirut where I acquired a passion for drawing and creative work during the long days of being stuck indoors during the war. I majored in Graphic Design but I lean strongly towards illustration, which I had to learn on my own and am still developing in every way I can. I have a compulsion to create, to “make pretty things” (as my business card says!), though with me they also tend to be meaningful, cultural things.
Could you tell us some more about your work?
Professionally, I’m in charge of the art department for a game development company based in Jordan. I create game graphics and interfaces but also write games on occasion. It’s the best job because researching means playing games for hours! Aside from that I work with a master calligrapher (for the Arabic script), which is a privilege and as much an apprenticeship as it is work, and I coauthor and illustrate children’s books about Lebanese Heritage. On occasion I get freelance work in storyboarding or illustration for advertising.
Moosiqar. Game design by Joumana Medlej
Malaak: Angel of Peace. Cover. Part 4.
My personal work is dearest to my heart, though. It varied wildly for a while, but at the moment my most serious work seems settled along the lines of Comics, Icons and Calligraphy. I started writing and drawing a comic series, Malaak Angel of Peace, in late 2006, which should run up to 7 volumes (I just published the 4th).
It’s the story of the Lebanese superheroine and draws on local folklore/mythology as well as our war memories. I have loads of other, different comic projects in mind though that I will focus on when they solidify.
MiniFu. Computer icons by Joumana Medlej
Computer icons are something I started playing with back in 2000, especially after discovering the Iconfactory. Except I enjoyed them so much I ended up forgetting the “computer” part and iconifying the world around me like a Reducto curse gone mad! I make sets of cultural objects, food items, things that I encountered on my trips, anything that would look good on a tiny scale. Because my sets became so large (I rarely make anything with less than 50 icons now) I started dubbing them Collecticons and orienting them towards posters and printed products.
Wajd (Ecstasy). Calligraphy by Joumana Medlej
The Calligraphy started coming out of me after a few years of assistant work. The Arabic script has a unique relationship with geometry, and I learned by osmosis to interpret it in modern ways while respecting its essence. It’s very different from anything else I do and it provides a welcome relief from computer work – handling paper, protractor and pencil again, not to mention the gilding process.
I almost forgot to mention my drawing tutorials, for which I’m best known in some corners of the web. If you ever needed proof I’m a perfectionist!…
What or who inspires you?
Life, really. I look at things we take for granted and notice what a perfect shape or texture they have, and it makes me want to draw them to show what I see. When I travel, which I do a lot of, I go nuts, as I get so much new input to process and turn into a creative project, but even being at home in Beirut, I keep seeing things on the street that I feel would be a pity for nobody to see, and I integrate them into my comic. It can be an an awkwardly painted wall I walked past or a forgotten, numinous mythological being I re-discovered during my research, it doesn’t matter. Ethnography has been a privileged source of inspiration, but so is the animal world, my martial arts, etc.
I should also mention that I have a very rich dream life, that is, a good access to my own unconscious, and it frequently overflows into some of my work.
As an artist and designer, what has been your greatest resource?
Network
The internet has been a boon… I would never have had access to any kind of references without it, without buying them at great cost from abroad. When I started drawing and making comics in my teens, pre-internet, it was so difficult for me to find resources (no easily accessible libraries here), now all I have to do is google. The internet also provided entire communities of artists, and without this contact I would not have been motivated to try so many things and develop my skills. Finally, it has been a place to spread the word about my work and market it. I don’t know where I would be today without it, either in Lebanon not doing art, or doing art but not in Lebanon!
Which is your favourite creative project so far?
That’s a real hard question as my answer would have to change constantly! Based on time alone I should say my comic book, since I’ve been doing nonstop since late 2006; that’s motivation! But right now I’m really into the geometric calligraphy I’ve been experimenting with, both because I’m constantly amazed with what turns up and because it’s such a pleasure to return to paper, brushes and gold leaf.
Malaak: Angel of Peace
Could you tell us more about your creative process?
The creative part is not much of a process: suddenly an idea is there that wasn’t there before. My job is the nitty gritty of manifesting it on paper or on the screen, and how that goes varies with each project. However, I always, always start by scribbling in a sketchbook. I carry at least one at all times, to pour ideas into, or sketch thumbnails till I find the composition I want. Most of my illustration work also starts with “pencils” in a sketchbook, which are actually done in ballpoint pen. Roughing a subject with a pen is my favorite part of the process, it’s like sculpting on paper.
Calligraphy. Sketch and final. By Joumana Medlej
Do you keep a journal or sketchbook, and would you mind if we had a sneak peek?
I have many sketchbooks, each for a purpose! Sometimes I even make the sketchbooks myself because I love bookbinding. But they’re messy and not very pretty, as opposed to my travel journals which are a lot more exciting. Let me show you sneak peeks from both.
Travel Journal. By Joumana Medlej
Cute sketches
Would you like to share a photo of your studio space as well?
Ah, the glorious mess that it is! It’s also my bedroom, which doesn’t help. It looks bigger in the photo than it is. I would love to have a proper work space but that has to wait.
Joumana's Studio
What is a typical day like for you?
Earth Kingdom Zuko
Most days I start working almost the moment I get out of bed (around 6), out of sheer motivation, before I even make my ritual cup of tea. I can keep up an uninterrupted pace till early afternoon; that’s when I start to feel I need a break. Often then I drive across town to a neighborhood I haunt, where I set up “my office” in my regular coffeeshop. Work becomes more social then because I’m bound to run across people I know. Several evenings of the week, I train (I practice Chinese martial arts) which is a good way to relieve the day’s mental tiredness. Needless to say, I sleep like a baby at the end of the day.
How has self publishing and the Internet influenced your work as an independent creative entrepreneur?
Malaak: Angel of Peace. Sketch.
I created my website in 1997, just a year after the internet arrived in Lebanon. I had a lot of writings and illustrations I wanted to share and it was so exciting being able to post them online where they could be seen anywhere in the world. I was 17 then, just about to graduate from high school, so I wasn’t thinking of any kind of work-related purpose for it, in fact I was too new to the ‘net to measure the impact it might have on anyone’s professional life.
A graphic design degree later, I revamped and expanded the site, and moved it to its own host. That’s when I picked the name Cedarseed: the new site now had a large section about Lebanon and I wanted something related, but not so related I could never use it for anything else, and it had to be simple and memorable. I brainstormed and came up with Cedarseed (for those not aware of it, the cedar is the symbol of Lebanon), which I only started using as a username when visitors to my site started calling me that!
Malaak: Angel of Peace. Completed page.
I added the blog in 2002, then I abandoned it for a while because writing journal entries (at the time that tended to be the use of blogs) did not fit in with the site. It’s only recently and after years of experimenting and being active in several communities, and exploring social media, that I finally settled on a way to integrate all of these tools into one website that can both present my work and facilitate my making an earning from it. (I should also mention that I was encouraged in doing this by the amount of work I got, and works I sold, online before I even tried to make it happened, which opened my eyes to the net’s potential).
I try every avenue open on the net for independent creatives, drop those that lead nowhere and focus on those that work for me. Self-publishing through print-on-demand sites was one of the best, as it allowed me to make available some of my work that was worth making into a book, but that it would have been too costly and risky to publish with a traditional printer, for instance my tutorials, which are now personal best sellers as PoD books (Note that I print my comic books traditionally and wouldn’t have it otherwise; it costs me, but that’s the kind of product it needs to be).
Kokeshi. Sketches.
Now, getting to your question in this roundabout way, if you peruse my site you notice that it’s entirely about my own work, not about promoting myself as an illustrator or graphic designer. I even moved all client work to a single portfolio page. That is how the internet influenced my work: it made it possible for me to be an independent creative, rather than a freelancer. I hardly freelance anymore. I’m happy with my game designer position, and the rest is all about my inspiration.
What do you find to be the greatest challenges and rewards of being an artist?
For one thing you have to trust your gift, it will develop in ways unforeseen and you have to follow, not try to lead. You also have to learn to love uncertainty, because it’s a solitary path and you’re not going to have a career (you could, but for myself renting my creativity full-time would kill me). You mostly depend on people liking your work enough to buy it or commission you, and there’s no knowing how often they’ll come; you can earn a lot one month and nothing the next. Also, people with no artistic sensitivity will constantly be talking about your work in terms of how you should maximize your profit, as if you were selling potatoes.
As for the rewards, you’re doing nothing less than “following your bliss”, as Joseph Campbell put it. What more can anyone aspire to in life?
Ethiopia. Travel Diary.
Where do you see yourself within the next few years?
Things have a way of taking unexpected turns so it’s really hard to predict where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing. I’m pretty sure calligraphy and comic creation will be prominent, though. Ideally I’d love to live somewhere with a spacious work space and little demands from the outer world, so I can devote myself to my comics and other creative projects, as well as my practices.
You’re exceptionally versatile and productive! What is your advice for someone who struggles with getting going or gaining momentum?
Matured Aang
Hmm, I think everyone has to find what works for them as it very much depends on one’s temperament, but I can tell you what works for me: absolute single-mindedness. It’s ok to multitask in the initial phases of a project, for instance I might collect research for a tutorial while answering emails and scanning things simultaneously. But once I’m in the making phase, I need to wrap my brains firmly around the project and not let go till I’m done. This means I don’t give attention to ANYTHING that requires em to shift my attention (I still go train in the evening because physical exercise is beneficial and not such a distraction). Interruptions are deadly, if I lose my momentum I know it may be weeks or months before I get it back for this particular project. When I’m working on long-term projects such as my comic, where I can’t cut myself off from everything else till I’m done, I practice single-mindedness a day at a time: one day dedicated solely to this, one day entirely focused on that, and I’ll have just one or two “scatter” days a week – meaning days for fulfilling errands and chores, where I basically get nothing done but at least all the interruptions are grouped together!
Mai
So basically my advice is, apply your mind to ONE thing at once and you’ll waste a lot less time. We’re in an age of tremendous distraction and I believe most people are just not used to keeping their attention in a single place anymore. If you’re like me, working on a computer with a browser and Twitter in the background, you’re constantly jumping back and forth between 1000 places on top of life’s daily solicitations. The key is to juggle what can be juggled but known when to ignore everything that’s not the task at hand when needed.
What is your advice for someone who would like to turn his or her creative dreams into reality?
Lucky Cat
Don’t be afraid, start immediately. Nothing requires you to drop everything else instantly, so there’s really no reason to hesitate.
Get yourself a website or a blog and start putting your world together, because it will take time for you to find your creative identity and establish an online presence. Above all, be yourself, because it’s the only way your work can be really unique.
What do you do for fun (besides art and travelling)?
I most like playing with friends :) Board games, football, darts, … Even spontaneously mobbing our favorite pastry shop and tweeting the same cake from different angles!
Check out Joumana’s web site Cedarseed and connect with her on Twitter or Google+.
Tags: blogging, calligraphy, creative business, design, desktop customization, illustration
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