How this Argentine comic artist turned a childhood doodle into her career — Assembly

Through Cami Camila cartoons, the artist Camila advocates for issues she cares about, including gender equality and education.

Growing up on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Camila used to doodle on the margins of her notebooks during class. It was the same drawing over and over again: a stick figure girl holding a red balloon. To Camila, the drawing represented her hopes for her future. “I’ve always been optimistic and a dreamer and the drawing represented that, that my dreams were at my hands’ reach and I wouldn’t let them go,” she shares.

As Camila got older, she didn’t let go of the girl with the red balloon and would find herself unconsciously drawing the girl at work. Camila drew her so often that she got the cartoon tattooed on her arm. In 2015, Camila created a Facebook page under the pseudonym Cami Camila to share her personal writing. The girl was the obvious choice for her profile picture.

Camila began posting comic strips on the Cami Camila Facebook page featuring the girl with the red balloon commenting on daily life for women in Buenos Aires. Followers immediately responded to her humour and this unexpected success inspired Camila to create weekly comic strips about the stick figure girl, now known as Cami Camila. Through her Cami Camila sketches, often described as graphic stand-up comedy, Camila comments on topics like social norms, relationships, pop culture and the passage of time. She also uses her comic strips to advocate for issues she cares about, including gender equality and education, like in the below cartoon created in partnership with the organisation Fundación Pilares.

“Fundación Pilares’ educational program supports 100 children from ages 6-13, who live in Villa 21-24 in Barracas with their studies.” In this sketch, Camila highlights Fundación Pilares’ work to reduce school dropout rates in marginalised neighbour… — “Fundación Pilares’ educational program supports 100 children from ages 6-13, who live in Villa 21-24 in Barracas with their studies.” In this sketch, Camila highlights Fundación Pilares’ work to reduce school dropout rates in marginalised neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. (Courtesy of Camila)

Camila’s humorous and thoughtful cartoons have earned her more than one million followers on Facebook and 144,000 followers on Instagram. In 2015, Camila quit her job in advertising to pursue illustration and Cami Camila full time. She now sells Cami Camila merchandise online and recently illustrated “¡A la pelota!,” a comical book about football.

I met with Camila in Buenos Aires where we talked about her creative process, her relationship with her readers and what makes comic strips such a powerful tool for social commentary.

María Rendo (MR): You’re always saying you don’t know how to draw, yet here you are drawing Cami Camila. How did that happen?

Camila (C): I always lived kind of far away from the centre [of the city of Buenos Aires]. I live in Buenos Aires, but on the other side, in the Montecastro neighbourhood. And there is not a single, direct bus that brings me to the centre. It was always bus, subway, transfer to a train, transfer to a helicopter and a submarine [laughs]. I took advantage of those trips to and from work to do things. I think a lot about time, “What am I doing that I am not taking advantage of it?” Or if I am taking advantage of it, “How can I use my day to the fullest and do things that I like?” And those trips seemed like a big waste of time where I wouldn’t do anything. I’d take reading material with me, but sometimes I couldn't even sit down so reading was complicated. I ended up drawing stick characters because it was something I could do on the bus, standing up, sitting down, turned upside down, I could do it.

Sometimes people ask me, “Was it strategic then to draw stick people so that everyone felt represented by the character?” No, not really. Thanks, but I didn't have that spark [laughs]. But from now on that will be my official version of the events [laughs]. The truth is that I drew stick characters because I was on the bus or at work and I drew what I could and in the time I could, hiding from my boss.

MR: What initially drew you to comic strips as a mode of writing and self-expression?

C: I started completely by chance because I actually used to write stories. When I was a teenager I used to write songs, I used to say I was going to be a singer-songwriter. And when I created the Cami Camila Facebook page it was because of a friend who encouraged me to start posting the things I wrote. The idea was to post a little bit of everything — a few stories, some phrases. The comic strips weren’t my initial intention because I never knew how to draw.

MR: What do you think makes comic strips such a powerful tool for social commentary?

C: Because I think they are very easy to read. The comic strip has text and an image and with the two things together you can say a lot with very few elements, with something simple. I do it drawing stick characters! I really feel that the comic strip is a format that allows you to say a lot with very little. And it’s also empathetic, friendly, easy to relate to. It is easier to relate to a character in a cartoon than to a person. It’s not the same to have me talking about something and to have Cami Camila talking about it. Plus, the readers know her much better than they know me! So I think the comic strip format is very powerful.

MR: What types of conversations has Cami Camila been able to start?

C: Conversations about feminism. When I started, I think me and many girls weren't involved in feminism at all. There was a powerful cultural break with #NiUnaMenos in 2015 [“Not one less,” the campaign against gender-based violence and femicides in Latin America] that I think caused a complete change in the mentality of many of us who suddenly began to denaturalise a lot of things that we had naturalised for a really long time. And we began to question what is the role of women in society, why there is so much inequality compared to men in all areas, in the family, in the workplace.

From that moment my mindset started to change. I changed completely and I started trying to reflect that in the comic strips. It was a long journey because I had internalised a lot of structures that over time, I realised were not OK and that I had to change them and that it was good to also share that process. I was not born a feminist, I became a feminist. The education I received was not feminist, the education my mom received wasn’t feminist, much less the education my grandparents received.

It was a very powerful personal change that I experienced beyond my work. I wanted to share this deconstruction I was doing — and that I will probably continue doing every day for the rest of my life — in the comics. With its good things and bad things, with readers who understood and shared and others who did not and were angry at me and thought differently.

I always try to talk and introduce all issues from a place of respect, as a healthy debate. I believe in a more just society, with equality for all women in every way. I think it’s a grain of salt I can contribute, hopefully it will help someone.

MR: What made you choose social media instead of traditional platforms like magazines or newspapers as a medium for sharing your work?

C: I believe that at the time [2015], it was the rise of social media. Facebook was taking the world by storm. My friend, who is a journalist, felt that Facebook was a fundamental tool to reach many people, especially people my age. I always say that I do not know if I would’ve reached this amount of people if social media didn’t exist or if I had been born years ago and had to call media outlets asking them to give me a chance. The best thing about social media is that if you trust yourself and your work, you can give yourself that opportunity instead of depending on someone else to give it to you. That's the magic social media has for me, that if you trust your work and what you do, it is like an opportunity for constant boasting and self-management where you can show your work in your own terms, without having to wait for someone to give you that opportunity.

When I was younger people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Now that I’m grown up I ask myself that question all the time. “What do you want to be?” (Courtesy of Camila)

MR: Tell me about your relationship with your followers. Do they help inform or inspire your work in any way?

C: Yes, many of them do, especially women. They write to me proposing topics and it’s great because the truth is that I laugh alone in my house. They tell me their anecdotes and there are some things that are incredible that obviously I always filter or ask if it’s something I can share. I always share with their permission and I check to see if they are telling me something to make me laugh or it’s something they want me to share with everyone.

That’s another great thing about social media, it’s like a constant back and forth. The themes they share too. Sometimes I feel like a psychologist, they have made me cry, obviously. Sometimes they tell me amazing things. They tell me super cute things or things happening in their lives. They tell me sad stories and very powerful anecdotes. And then they say, “But I read you and you gave me a smile,” and I just start crying in my house. That gives me a reason to continue my work. It’s beautiful.

MR: Why did you decide to expand your presence to Instagram?

C: Today, Instagram is like the most important platform I have, even though I have many more readers on Facebook. On Instagram I have more interaction with the readers because on Facebook it’s very difficult to reach people because of the restrictions in the new algorithms. Only 2% of the people who follow you can see the content you post there so it is very small. On the other hand, on Instagram you still reach a little more people without paying to advertise.

MR: And you interact so much with the people that comment on your posts!

C: Yes, I owe them everything. If you don't interact with the people who are reading your work, you miss out on a lot. Even when they criticise me and tell me, "Look here, look what you missed, you made this mistake," it’s great. I love knowing what they think, if they laugh, if they don’t, if it happened to them. That is another great thing about social media, it’s not just something unidirectional where I upload the content and you read it and think whatever you want. It's a relationship full of interactions.

“Ugh but it’s so far!” “Even more reason to get started right now!” (Courtesy of Camila)

MR: What advice do you have for young female comic artists who are looking to increase their followings on social media?

C: Sometimes they write to me and tell me how they don't dare share their work. That is the first barrier. And I always tell them that auto-boycott is the worst enemy we all have, absolutely everyone, some to a greater or lesser extent. That is the first barrier that we must overcome no matter what because if we all thought like that, there would be no artists and there would be nothing, there would be no world as we know it. Then trust what you do, do it with the commitment and responsibility that it entails, being aware that being on social media also means that you reach a lot of people, more than you probably imagined, just like it happened to me and you should take advantage of that reach to promote what you think is worth sharing. Beyond comedy, or whatever you do, make sure that your message is positive. That is essential. And I think believing in yourself is the most difficult but most important thing for everything you do.

MR: What did you learn at your previous jobs that you find useful for Cami Camila?

C: My first job was at a call centre. You’re probably thinking, "What does a call centre have to do with anything?" A lot! I worked three and a half years at a call centre for a telephone company because I was studying and I earned money there. We are three siblings at home. And even though we never lacked anything, I was not in a position to study without working, although my mother always preferred that I only study. But the truth is that I was always a nerd and I studied hard despite work. I never dropped out of school because I liked it so much.

Now I borrow many things from the people I talked to at the call centre, ways of saying things, phrases, etc. for the comics. Many funny stories too. I took many anecdotes from the call centre. I was in contact with people all day, all the time, and yes that was very useful to me.

MR: When you started Cami Camila, did you think this could be your job, that you could make a living from it?

C: No, not even close. I am the biggest dreamer I know, I always say that. My optimism characterises me. I always think that the best can come out of everything, for me and for everyone around me. I really feel that way but at that moment, when Cami Camila was only a hobby, I never imagined that it would become a source of work. No, not even by chance.

And [my previous job in] advertising was useful to me because it was really what allowed me to grow because there, as the community of readers began to grow, brands began to reach out and there I could advertise with comics, branded comics within Cami Camila’s social media platforms and the brands’ social media accounts. So advertising ended up being a tool that allows me to continue my personal project.

MR: What’s next for you and Cami Camila?

C: I started a YouTube channel. I started the Cami Camila channel after an advertising company that has screens in some bus lines in Buenos Aires reached out to me to make videos to show on those screens. They hired me ad honorem [unpaid], but I thought it was a very good opportunity because it’s a platform outside of social media and it puts me a little more in the day-to-day life of people, in public transportation. Sometimes you are travelling and it’s full of people going to work, the routine and everything. I like that this brings me closer to people's daily lives. After I agreed, I realised I could upload the videos to a YouTube channel so I created it.

I also signed with Penguin Random House to write a book about how your perspective on life, love, friendship, work changes as you get older, all with the humour and optimism that characterises Cami Camila. Hopefully we’ll publish it in May 2020 in time for the annual Feria del Libro (Book Fair) in Buenos Aires.

Education is the future. (Courtesy of Camila)

MR: There are so many girls who want to be artists or writers but don’t know where to start. What are your recommendations for them?

C: The first thing is that they should study. In other words, if they do not have access to something private, there are a lot of courses that you may not know about but it’s a matter of doing some research. There are a lot of courses, workshops, that you can do. And then nurture yourself with everything you can, read everything you can, watch all the movies and shows you can. I’d also tell them to nourish themselves with other artists, regardless of genre or medium.

And read biographies because they are great too. We always see the result of artists and entrepreneurs’ work and we wonder how they got to that point so quickly. When you start reading about them you realise nothing is so fast and nothing was so easy. They also had a lot of things they had to learn and obstacles they had to overcome and so on. And that is great because those stories inspire you a lot... That's what you guys are doing with Assembly because when you read the story of another person or you hear them, like I have in events for women entrepreneurs in Uruguay and Argentina, you come out with a sense of empowerment. You feel that you can do whatever you choose to do. It's an amazing feeling! So I would tell them that and not to boycott themselves. If you think you have something really nice and positive to say, go ahead. Don’t doubt yourselves!

This interview was conducted in Spanish and translated to English. It has been edited and condensed for clarity.