The Moxie Series: Shaving in the Dark

How did you get your start in cartooning and writing?

[ZOVI] I’ve always been drawing, but I professionally started freelancing back in 2016. Then I started making weekly comics for Tuzki the white rabbit, the oldest WeChat sticker (of course you know him) – that’s when I started Shaving in the Dark, because it was my first full-time job as an illustrator and I didn’t want to lose my voice as an independent illustrator – and later I got recruited by Ernst & Young, a global consulting firm, to be their in-house live illustrator.  I quit that job last March, after 2 years, because of a surprise COVID-relocation in New York City. And now I’m back to freelancing.

[ADDIE] Like Zovi, I’ve been drawing in one form or another since I could hold a marker, but it was actually by meeting working artists through Shaving that I found the confidence to start freelancing. It’s an environment that gives the novice a chance to show their work to pros, and receive as much encouragement as feedback! 

[JENI] I’ve also been drawing for most of my life, though I hadn’t really come into contact with comics before Shaving in the Dark. It was an eye-opening experience, both in terms of meeting these passionate people, and in terms of building my own confidence in my art. I totally agree with Addie – that’s exactly how I felt joining this community.

What was the cartoon/comics community in Shanghai like before the start of SITD?

[ZOVI] I hadn’t found any community for illustrators specifically (and particularly for international ones). There were many places for designers – I remember clearly having a drink with a designer friend of mine and telling him how I wished there was a place for low-key, indie, gritty comics. He told me – so, create it! Most magazines I was seeing were super polished, super expensive and not even about being funny… at first, I wanted to find a way to make really cheap and dirty leaflets to put in bar and restaurants toilets, for people to read while they’re busy! That model could work in France, but probably not in Shanghai, where even though indie comics are getting more popular, it’s rather as a staple of modern youngster life. I doubt any sponsor would let us distribute in washrooms… hahaha.

[ADDIE] This tracks with what I’ve heard from other long-time-shanghai illustrators. Basically, that there was (and still is) a lot of enthusiasm for sequential art among Shanghai artists, but with the in and out flux of the community there wasn’t a way to get quickly plugged into the indie comics scene in Shanghai. Now, even if you only have a few months in the city, it’s easy to get connected with people, and share your work. Find support, or collaborators, put yourself out there.

[JENI] I don’t know a lot about the community before Shaving, I was lucky enough to come on board when it was in full swing. But I do feel like its success speaks to the need for an outlet and a community like this.

How has SITD helped bridge Chinese and western voices together?

[ZOVI] The issue #6 mentioned above was really what pulled everyone together. After issue #6, local artists started showing up more, and we also felt more confident to take part more in the local scene, and now our mix of both is something I’m really proud of.

[ADDIE] Each issue is an open call. This is true regardless of language. But we tend to get more English submissions. I think where you get the most bridging happening is at our events. We are able to draw a good mix of Chinese and Western artist/writers together. As the night goes on, with a little booze, and a few collaborative drawing challenges people find connection over the shared love of art and indie comics.  A mutual love of the weird.

[JENI] ‘A mutual love of the weird’ is a brilliant way to put it. I do feel the bond is a lot stronger during events. Drinking together, drawing together, making each other laugh with dumb visual jokes.

What makes comics and illustrations such a powerful vehicle in sharing diverse stories? 

[ZOVI] Personally, I grew up with comics as a tool for seeing the world with a humorous lens. I practice comics as a therapy: whatever happens to me, the good, the bad and the ugly, I turn it into short panels that force me to take a step back and see things from another angle, and that’s key to understanding what is so unique about comics as an expression vehicle. In my profession, as a live illustrator for conferences and seminars, I use comics, illustration and storytelling blended with infographics and analysis. After hearing a speaker share a compact hour of fascinating but abstract content, instead of having to re-read it in a text version or watch the same thing in a video, I give the audience an interpretation of that content that engages them and tells the story from my eyes. And that’s the other key element: in comics, the reader is in many ways an actor of a story that he can unfold at his/her own rhythm.

[ADDIE] Comics are uniquely accessible. The medium, much like film, has the potential to layer meanings between the written word and visual language i.e. the art. But, unlike film, comics, by necessity, distil visual langue down to the essential. How do you show the complete action of a daily commute, or the feeling of intense longing in a single image, a single panel? That’s what comics have to do, they speak in an essentialized visual language that, while not always, is often accessible across culture and language in a way that other media is not. This is why comics are often used as a teaching tool in foreign language textbooks. I always recommend that Chinese language learners download a Chinese webcomic reading app on their phone or desktop. Because even if you only know fairly basic classroom language, you can follow a relatively complex high school drama. The excitement of the story keeps you coming back, the visual langue offers the context clues for the written words you don’t know. This is what makes comics a powerful vehicle to share diverse stories. Even if your story is specific to your experience (ideological, racial, gendered, what have you) comics have an unrivaled potential to make that experience accessible to others, while maintaining the complexity and truth of the narrative.

[JENI] Honestly, I have nothing to add to this. These two have it covered.

What advice would you give budding artists trying to make their own mark in the industry?

[ZOVI] It’s hard to say, especially since I’m in New York City now and it’s so different. In Shanghai, your luck is that there are so, so many opportunities that you’ll never encounter elsewhere. Stay open, so you’ll be ready to catch yours when it comes!

[ADDIE] You aren’t an artist because you get a show, or a writer because you get published. You’re an artist because you make art, and you’re a writer because you write.

[JENI] Great advice from both Zovi and Addie. I’d also say get away from Instagram or “what’s popular”. Try and consume as much interesting stuff as possible.

What does the future hold for SITD?

[ZOVI] I’m not the one to ask about that anymore, but what I know is that it’s in good hands! It was probably a good time for me to leave, even though it happened in quite a sudden manner. I’m proud to see ‘em Keep Shaving on!

[ADDIE] We’re just hopin’ to do mama Zovi proud! Zovi has built up a fantastic community here in Shanghai, now I hope we can provide members of that community with more resources to push their work to the next level. To that end I hope to put together more workshops, panel discussions with pros in Shanghai, and artist retreats.

[JENI] I want Shaving in the Dark to always be able to do what it did for me – to give people the confidence to take their art into public and to allow them to create connections with the best people in Shanghai. That’s the most important part for me.