I’m A Full-Time Freelance Comic Artist, Here’s How I Earn About S$6,000 A Month

What if you could turn your love for anime and reading into your full-time job? For 28-year-old digital comic artist Alison (also known as Kkumri online), she’s managed to turn her love for art and online fandom spaces into her full-time job. Her job? Creating fanmade art and comics for her social media, and being fully funded by commissions and subscription platforms.

With over a decade of experience in fanmade content and more than 380 thousand Instagram followers, Alison is arguably one of the most popular digital fan artists in the the Haikyuu!! (a sports anime) fan community. She’s been creating digital art content since she was 15 years old, and started drawing long before. Now, what was once seen as a teenager’s hobby is her full-time career.

For many creatives, having the means to become a freelancer full-time is the dream: you get full creative freedom, the perks of a flexible schedule, and a liveable wage. On top of these, Alison gets the added bonus of being able to express her love for anime. However, getting to this point wasn’t easy – especially in a society that prefers STEM-related vocations, practicality and efficiency.

Alison gives an exclusive look into the life of a full-time, freelance comic artist who specialises in fan-art and online fandom spaces. She spills everything, from how she manages her finances as a freelancer, to the realities of freelance commission-based work, and how she sees fandom spaces evolving over time.

FIRST THING’S FIRST: HOW DID YOU GET INTO DRAWING COMIC ART ONLINE?

“My mother has said that I’ve been drawing since I learned to hold a crayon. My father and grandfather were also well versed in Chinese painting, and they were my role models growing up! I was also specifically interested in drawing comics, and would often make drawings that featured myself and my closest friends going on adventures. Drawing comics was my medium for storytelling, basically.

I started an art account on Tumblr when I was 15 years old and was obsessed with the anime Fairy Tail. When my art started getting reblogged, the increasing attention and compliments from strangers piqued my interest to invest in this hobby further by purchasing a drawing tablet – starting my journey in digital art. As I honed my skills in my free time in between school, people started asking if I was open to do commissions for them, and that’s how I started earning tiny bits of income!”

SPILL: HOW MUCH DO YOU MAKE AS A DIGITAL COMIC ARTIST?

“As my supporters are mostly from overseas (my supporters are primarily American), the conversion into Singaporean dollars helps a lot when covering for expensive platform and hosting. I make roughly around $6,000 a month.”

GIVE US A ROUGH BREAKDOWN OF YOUR MONTHLY EXPENSES.

“Digital art is great because you only have to invest in either a drawing tablet or an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, which cost around $2,200. As for resources for improving my skills, YouTube tutorials are free as well, but the hours of practice are what cost you the most. Additionally, I buy a lot of art and comic books to study panelling, colour theory and dialogues, which cost between $25 to $100 each. When I have extra money, I support other comic creators on Patreon to study their strategies and presentation styles and I can learn from them, which costs about $10 to $15 per creator. 

Internet bills cost $150 a month. Since I live with my parents, I don’t pay rent, although I am paying them back for taking care of my student debts by giving them monthly allowances.

I also set aside funds for my Medisave account as freelancers have to pay for their own Medisave each year – I really just pay whatever the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) tells me to pay after submitting my earnings to them. Honestly, I have yet to get it together in terms of paying for my CPF so I’ve been trying to better educate myself on this.”

WHEN DID YOU BECOME FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT?

“I became financially independent from my first full-time job in marketing back in 2022, as my parents had paid off my education debts. However, I was able to finally feel financially secure after starting on my art career.”

WHAT ENCOURAGED YOU TO PURSUE DIGITAL COMIC ART AS A FULL-TIME JOB?

“Actually, I had never considered pursuing art as a career because of how difficult it is to get recognised. Millions of artists are still waiting for a breakthrough in their careers and for clients who see value in their work. That was until the creator and content market grew: YouTubers started becoming millionaires, anime started breaking box office records internationally, Netflix started conquering the media industry, and fandom creators started to gain new clients for commissions. Platforms with content paywalls like Patreon started to be picked up by YouTubers, podcasters and artists as side revenue streams to fund their work and interests. 

Around this time, I had become jaded from my work and I was barely able to have time to think of my wedding, BTO-ing with my partner and stressing about monthly expenses. That was when my partner encouraged me to open a Patreon. I had held it off for the longest time, thinking that no one liked my work enough to want to pay for exclusive art content. It was the pure jadedness from work that made me finally open an account. With him as my first subscriber, I dived in blind.

In utter awe, I had more supporters than I ever expected! I tried my best to balance this new side hustle with my day job with my employer’s support. Eventually, Patreon started earning me more than my day job. I held off on switching to freelancing for half a year to see if my earnings were sustainable for me.

Eventually, I bade goodbye to my old job, and was finally able to pursue my childhood dream of drawing comics for a living. I never would’ve imagined being able to do this sustainably if it weren’t for the Haikyuu!! community that supported my skills and ideas since I started my art account. I owe this opportunity, however long it may last, to my supporters.”

WHY CHOOSE TO SPECIALISE IN FANDOM CONTENT?

“I’m someone who can only draw from the heart, so fandom always means the most to me because of how organic and purely passionate it is with us loving the same things and connecting because of that. 

Being surrounded by people seeking refuge in their fictional fixations like me gives me a lot of solace to focus on my stories, rather than working purely for money. In this sense, familiarity brings me a lot of comfort and I feel highly fulfilled in life dedicating my works and keeping the fandom interest up for Haikyuu!!, which has already given so much to me in those times that I had suffered a lot mentally.”

LEVEL WITH US: HOW VIABLE IS A CAREER IN DIGITAL COMIC ART?

“As someone whose comics are quite community-driven and funded, it’s a big risk but a major opportunity. Not only does it rely on how active and close-knit a fandom is, but also how they respond to your stories and skill level in order to to earn the trust of your community. 

An artist would have to invest many years of unpaid labour like I did; building a sizeable following across multiple social media platforms and consistently putting out quality content. You’ll also a want to build a collaborative and interactive community with your supporters and include their feedback in your stories and content if you want to build a tight-knit and involved community.

You will also need to be a keen marketer and know how to drive traffic to your content by proposing refreshing ideas, and keeping interest up with every new trend and genre that enters the anime landscape to stay relevant. There will be no space for burnout or art-block once you go solo, and working alone is definitely not for the weak.

That said, as I’m not a traditional comic artist that freelances for publishing companies, I can only speak from my experience as a one-woman comic artist.”

HOW VIABLE IS IT IN THE LONG-RUN?

“It’s viable as long as you’ve built an international and sizeable audience to market your services and content to. It also helps to find a niche market to situate yourself in, such as the growing VTuber (virtual YouTuber) scene. These factors would enable you grow your audience and give you more exposure to clients.

In a way, it’s also encouragement that your stories are on the right track and interesting enough for consumers to support, as consistently getting stories out and retaining others’ attention is a time consuming job.”

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF BEING A FREELANCER IN SINGAPORE?

“I don’t think that there’s been nearly enough local support for local artists or the pursuit of art as a career here, as we are still a highly practical and sanitised nation that values efficiency over culture. Because of this, putting your work out locally might have a limited impact – which is why most artists in creative fields might turn to opportunities with overseas clients or schools. 

That said, because Singapore is so small, it is also highly interconnected. Freelancers can use this as an advantage to network and expand their circles and clients. We are also a very technologically savvy nation, so social media and digital marketing spreads widely as long as you have your strategies down to spread the word of your business!”

WHAT’S BEEN THE HARDEST PART OF YOUR JOB?

“The loneliness. A lot of my work takes place in my mind, which can be very debilitating because you’re never able to really let go or rest when work is over. It’s also a job that’s hard for my friends to relate to or talk about, especially if they’re unfamiliar with what I’m drawing or writing about, or even understand how online fandoms work. This is why I tend to talk about my work with my Patreon supporters; we plan stories and ideas together, as only they can truly understand my stories and vision.”

WHAT ABOUT THE BEST?

“The freedom that I have is insane, and the community that comes with creating for a fandom is unmatched. It gives me a lot of faith in the kind of world I want to live in, where we can have support for doing what we love and pass this support forward to those equally passionate. I’ve met a lot of selfless friends in my long 10 year journey to get here which I never could have met without the internet, and I see now how powerful ideas and art can be on the human experience and in helping others cope in hard times, like it did for me.”

HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR TIME AND STAY MOTIVATED?

“While I have endless motivation, I have horrible time management skills. I was diagnosed with chronic insomnia and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (both hyperactive and inattentive), which explained my endless stream of ideas and inability to manage my time effectively. This took a huge toll on my health and wellbeing, resulting in burnout. I was also plagued by fears of me magically becoming broke, losing all my supporters, and the thought that I wasn’t drawing enough.

Since getting medicated, I’ve learned the importance of letting go and trusting that you’ve done your best, and that you deserve to rest. This is important to maintain your mental, physical and even creative wellbeing.

I’ve also learned about the importance of indulging in other creative media to keep your own creativity alive. Art can also be derived from movies, music and the people around you. We are surrounded by unique stories, experiences and art forms that we need to feed our souls. If you confine yourself in your own little black box, you’ll experience art block as you’ll lose out on creative inspiration.

I’ve also learned the importance of humility, and to embrace other creators and their works, no matter amateur or professional. It serves creatives a lot more to see the beauty and inspiration in other artists rather than be jealous and snooty, as I came to learn the hard way. The latter will only limit your own growth and learning potential.”

WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING COMMISSION YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN?

“The most interesting request I’ve gotten would probably be a spicy illustration I did of a commissioner with her favourite character from Fairy Tail. It wasn’t very explicit, but spicy enough! I was 19 years old at that time and I didn’t know that I was on the asexual spectrum, so I didn’t realise that people could be sexually attracted to fictional characters until that commission request! It was quite eye opening.”

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST RISK YOU’VE TAKEN FINANCIALLY?

“Just the opposite, I don’t think I took enough risks at all. I’m a highly anxious person and cannot emotionally handle selling merchandise or art books even though I’ve gotten so many requests over the years. I could’ve earned a lot more profit and gained a lot of experience with manufacturing and international shipping by now if I had pursued it. So I would say that if you have the means and ability to, definitely take bigger risks to push the boundaries of your art, or spend your life regretting like me!”

WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE TO OTHER CREATIVES WHO ARE LOOKING TO GET INTO FREELANCE CREATIVE WORK?

“If you have even a glimpse of a unique talent or skill, don’t let other people put out your flame before you’ve pursued it. Talent is cultivated through effort and hard work, so try your best to keep working on that little hobby that sparks joy whenever you have the time. With a gig economy now, side gigs bring so much experiences and stories that make you stand out in the job market, even if you never end up pursuing your side hustle full-time. 

Take your clients feedback into account and treat everyday as an opportunity to improve in your skills not just in your craft, but to see the value in marketing and the organic community. You’ll not only find new clients, but also friends in the same industry as you. They’ll be the ones keeping you on your feet and pushing you towards your goals through hardships!

Balance your finances well and work within your means. It’s okay to start small to test the waters, and it’s okay to start bad as long as the goal is to get good. No one remembers your failures as failures, but as a part of your success story.”

AS A COMIC ARTIST THAT FOCUSES ON FAN ART, HOW DO YOU THINK ONLINE FANDOM SPACES WILL BE EVOLVING, ESPECIALLY WITH THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN CREATIVE SPACES?

“AI is definitely a growing threat to creatives, especially with how quickly it’s evolving and how it derives from creators’ works without consent. Fandom spaces have been holding strong against AI as the core of what makes fandoms a safe space is its pursuit of genuine connections and works from the heart. There’s strong pushback against AI, as many creators having been “cancelled” for not being transparent with AI use.

Though I am still struggling to find my place within this changing landscape, the concept of fictional fandoms have always been rooted in countercultures. As AI gets more normalised in our everyday lives, I do foresee that real writers and artists will become more dignified and thrive in fandom spaces due to their human flaws and touch. Fandom trends and tastes are created and in demand by humans, and thus, will ultimately keep being spearheaded by our own bare hands while AI can only follow behind slowly.”