Their personal attributes have brought them a significant professional success. Today, they are members of high-ranking management teams, running some of the most successful companies in the country. These are the stories of our successful people published in the section “Climbing up the ladder of success”. Fakulteti.mk and Pivara Skopje Educational Center in the training “Skills to succeed” show you the way to the stars.

“What an interesting hobby he has. Just let him be, he will forget about it in a while” are the comments that Mihajlo Dimitrievski used to hear as a young boy whenever he was seen deeply lost in his illustrations, “forging” his artistic trade, while setting a clear goal in his mind about becoming a professional artist some day. Born and raised in Bitola, the popular The Micho has made a long way from the early artistic endeavors to a widely established artist, one of country’s best award-winning illustrators and comic artists. In the book named “The Sakai Project”, his name stands alongside the legends of the global comic industry and illustration.

He has worked on advertising campaigns for many large companies and brands on the Balkans, such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Makedonski Telekomunikacii, A1, Skopsko pivo, Prilepska pivarnica… He also worked for the 5+ production, the show “Ednooki” (“The One-Eyed” ), on many comics for “Studentski zbor” and has been hired to work on a bunch of animated movies. Mihajlo is also one of the creators of contents for the children’s magazines “Opravdano otsutni” and “Golem odmor”.

Currently, he is working on the comic entitled “Claim: A Song Of Ire And Vice” for the US market. He is the art director of “Svetot na Bibi” (Bibi’s World), as well as of the first Macedonian 2D feature animated movie called “John Vardar vs the Galaxy”. He has also been involved in the creation of the following games: Game of thrones, Valeria – Card Kingdoms, Raiders of the North Sea, Claim, Paladins of West Kingdom, Merchants Cove, Excalibur, Dracula’s Dinner…

Born and raised in Bitola, his identity would not have been complete without a nickname, so as there was already an artist named Micho in his home town, Mihajlo decided to add “The” to create his pseudonym which dates back to his high school years.

With sisters passionate in reading comics, he couldn’t resist checking what’s the fuss all about

Growing up in a family where comics were just a normal décor, Mihajlo had no other choice but to snitch his two older sisters’ comics, who in fact were passionate comic enthusiasts, so eventually, he ended up being addicted to the beauty of comics. He has been drawing ever since he can remember and he never been shy about drawing on about just anything. At the beginning, his favorite media to draw on were the family books.

– Since I was little, my favorite way of expressing my thoughts was through drawing. I have been lucky enough to have two older sisters who enjoyed reading comics, so that basically got my attention. Most of my early drawings ended up on the margins of the books we had at home. I have to admit that people around me used to find that very strange. People used to say that it was just a hobby and that eventually, I’d lose interest in it and probably will become a doctor or a lawyer. I assume that back then, just like nowadays, our parents preferred a more secure future for us, which meant having an “actual” profession, and that art or similar professions will fail to ensure a good quality comfortable life – says Mihajlo.

I learned to draw and to read comics

The beginnings of The Micho are undoubtedly linked with comics. They were his window to the world. First, through illustrations and later on, once he learned to read, through the text. Comics have helped him learn a foreign language and develop his imagination, which is certainly an important tool for any illustrator.

– I believe that all of us belonging to that generation have been very lucky to have comics as a way to learn another language, in addition to Macedonian. That was Serbo-Croatian, because the majority of comics, if not all of them, were in that language. I think that everybody should read comics. Comics are great way to get entertained and to relax, and literally, there are comics to suit everyone’s taste. So, I started with comics, then movies, and then games, and that has brought me to what I currently am, and I hope I will continue doing it in the future. In that world of mine, I can draw and enjoy, I can do anything I please, without any borders. Later on, I learned that drawing too takes immense efforts and perseverance and I’m still working in that mode – added Mihajlo.

Self-taught artist

We can undoubtedly categorize The Micho as a self-taught artist. The desire and the curiosity in drawing have always encouraged him to push the envelope, so he used to make all kinds of researches, bought new comics and contacted domestic authors to try and “steal” a trick or two from them. He says he had been very lucky to be at the right place in the right time, but nobody can deny that his perseverance and dedication have had a lot to do with his success.

– When one is interested into a profession which is considered to be “unorthodox” and rare in their surrounding, there are no resources to help them learn or people who would be willing to share their knowledge. Therefore, I had to learn all by myself. I was lucky to be living in that transitional period when there were several domestic comic magazines on the market, so I managed to contact with some of the authors. However, in general, just like in any other profession, the most important thing is what you’re trying to achieve and the level of your dedication. I might have been lucky enough to be on the right spot or to meet the right people; however, had I not worked hard and had I not spent my days drawing and making comics, none of this would have happened. Nowadays, it is much easier to deal with illustration and drawing professionally, simply because on global level, it is considered to be a serious and valued profession – says Mihajlo.

I still have a lot to learn

Mihajlo’s artistic style is constantly changing. Just like everybody else, he had to adjust to the digitalization of his profession and therefore, his artistic style had to go through some changes. Besides his immense experience and the rich track record, he is still not quite ready to just stop there, admitting that he has reached the pinnacle of his career.

– I currently work digitally. That certainly imposes certain changes on my style. There are some things that you learn how to do, there are some things that you can’t do, so you simply hide them, and there are some things that you just can’t draw, so you just avoid drawing them. I think that I have a lot to learn, and I hope that one day I will be able to say that I’m happy with where I stand. My style is mostly based on caricatures. I guess that those who know me would say that I prefer the vintage Cartoon Network-ish style. So, instead of realism, I’ve opted for caricature. It is much faster to draw, meaning that I can set a scene in only two strokes, so I always say it is really artsy and atmospheric. Currently, one of my favorite topics to draw, which my job also requires it, is monsters – added The Micho.

Important tip for the up-and-coming artists: work, work and guess what, more work

Just as he sought advices from the older and more experienced artists back in his early years, now, he is the “target” of younger and less experienced artists, trying to get an advice or even a trade secret from him. He tries to pass on the knowledge he personally applies. To be professional, to meet deadlines and finally, if one genuinely wishes to succeed in this business, to treat it as a business and to never stop working.

– I feel like I’m 100 years old. Lately, many young artists have approached me, and I try to help them as much as I can. Most often, they want to learn more about this profession and the equipment required. I have never turned anybody down and I’m not planning to do so. I’m always willing to share my knowledge; but as I said before, no amount of advices or equipment will make somebody do their job properly. The most important thing is to be motivated and to love one’s job. To start, all they need is a piece of paper and a pencil. But, this profession requires a lot of work. Simply, there are deadlines that need to be met. If you enjoy drawing in your free time, that can take for ages, and that’s OK. However, to be a professional, you have to be ready to cope with challenges; otherwise, leave everything to somebody else who is willing to be a true professional – added Mihajlo.

I entered the world of games by pure chance

Totally accidentally, but still thanks to his quality, did Mihajlo manage to enter the world of online games. After an illustration for a game, which quickly turned out to be a hit, offers started flooding in, so very soon, game illustrations became his main professional playground.

– It all happened five or six years ago. I was contacted on my social media profile, with an offer to work on a Viking board game. Of course, I accepted immediately. Luckily, that game soon became very popular, so after the launching of the game, I started getting offers for other games. And, day by day, offers still keep coming. I can say that I entered this business by chance. I have both the honor and pleasure to be working with the most popular names in the world of board games. I enjoy all kinds of games, and I have always enjoyed playing board games; however, due to the amount of obligations I currently have, I don’t have lot of time to play games. Luckily, my kids enjoy playing games; both my games and PlayStation games – says The Micho.

“Game of Thrones” is my dearest achievement so far

In the series of projects on which he has worked so far, Mihajlo considers his involvement in the game “Game of Thrones” to be his biggest achievement so far. He still enjoys drawing just about anything, although his main focus currently are board games. Although he is practically buried in work, he still thinks that currently in Macedonia, it is rather hard to make a decent living out of this profession; however, there are endeavors to develop a market for this profession.

– Currently, in the US, there is a comic based on one of my games, called “Claim”. When I was talking with the publisher, there was a bit of dilemma about who was going to be working on the comic, as I was busy with games and other projects. And finally, I ended up accepting to draw the comic, as there is nobody else to do it for me. When it comes to all my past projects, I enjoyed every single one of them, but I’m happiest with the “Game of Thrones” game, because I had done the drawings before the launching of the game. When it comes to whether drawing is profession one could support their family from, I would say – not really. But, we are working on changing that. We live in a rather poor country with limited resources and people first try to make both ends meet, and only then, spend some money on entertainment. It is possible to make living out of this job, but only if one works for foreign clients. We are currently working on setting the same standards in the country as well – says Mihajlo.

Prepared by: Nikola Petrovski