About Me — Neaumi

A portrait of an artist as a medical doctor

Selft portrait by the author

I wasn’t sure why I liked drawing. I have been doing it since I was around 5; I remember doodling the characters of a manga I read with outrageously distorted proportions. I kept drawing throughout the years simply because I thought that’s the only thing I was good at, and naturally, my skills got better. Not only did I manage to draw faces properly, some artworks I created actually captured people’s attention. Eventually, people discovered what I could do and I began taking commissions. Now, twenty-five years later, I have become an artist who has joined several exhibitions and created illustrations for books.

But that’s not my main job. I’m actually a doctor who’s currently studying to become a specialist.

Not too long ago, the radiologist in my hospital who had commissioned me told me jokingly that I should change my profession. I thanked him for the compliment even though I thought it’s kind of ironic. I chose to become a doctor because I knew I wouldn’t be able support myself financially as an artist. Heck, I even enrolled myself in a four-year residency without any paycheck (a tragedy in my country) in order to become a specialist. The only reason I still make drawings is because they bring me some amount of money. But since I’m doing it part-time, my earnings were not even nearly…