Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with KA Sandholm

We recently had the chance to connect with KA Sandholm and have shared our conversation below.

KA, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Right now I have a 10 month old baby and two young cats, so I have a lot of ‘child’ minding to do when I wake up and very little time to myself! But I know that will change soon, and I make sure to squeeze in showers, coffee and drawing when the baby is napping. If I am lucky enough that she naps that day :’)

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the artist and creator of Angry Duck, an original comic character I started drawing 20 years ago. Angry Duck World holds 24 original characters (so far) and they are all based on real people I have met whilst working in the service industry and in offices in Norway, Scotland and Australia.

Angry Duck is the hero who is angry with many of the awful other characters. He will stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves and he loves shoes.

I self-published my first long comic book ‘Angry Duck Vol 1’ in 2023 and am currently working on Vol 2 but things take time with a baby no matter how structured I try to be! I am also working on a wall calendar / planner for 2026 because I am unrealistic and too optimistic.

Up until I had my baby, I traveled to comic cons around Europe and the US to promote my art and sell merch, but that is more difficult now with a small child and also with cost of living and travel costing so much more than before.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that says that I must not try to stand out or try to be seen or try to achieve something ambitious for myself, just blend in with everyone else.
When I tell people around me that I am a comic artist, they look at me like I say that I steal change from a small business for a living or something. If someone tells me they do something unusual, I am always intrigued and curious, and would never talk down to people.
Doing something most people living in a small town don’t do, is lonely but luckily I have creative and like minded friends in other countries and I communicate with them often. It is still something I miss, having supportive and understanding people close to me.

Also the part of me that is SO terrified of failing and making mistakes!! That part is really difficult to let go of.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Now is a critical time – I can’t sustain myself from drawing comics and traveling to conventions anymore so I will have to get a dreaded ‘day job’ again. I have had enough to know that there won’t be one I can stumble upon and accidentally love, and it is also difficult when I know so clearly what I want to do.

My dream is to make an animated show for grown ups with Angry Duck – I have so many stories inside me I want to tell and I have started writing episodes and scripts but I am sort of frozen because I am so scared to mess up or won’t forgive myself if I fail.

But with having another person to care for as well it is hard to keep going, even if I know drawing Angry Duck in all these years have been vital to my sanity and my mental health. It is more than just a hobby, it is what I want to do with my life.

I am really grateful for having had the opportunity to travel and draw for a while and even if it breaks my heart that I might have to stop, I know there are many people who have never been able to be in my position so I am happy that I have achieved some things even though I am still hungry for more!

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
That it is more important to be happy than to have money. I do still believe this – but you can’t exist in the world today without money and money equals freedom and I wish it wasn’t like this.

I have spent so much time trying to be happy and have joy every day that I have ignored trying to earn money and now I have no idea how to earn money and it is sort of something I need if I want Angry Duck to be seen by the world! You need money to travel to conventions and pay for table fees which has risen insanely in the last few years, and you need money to be seen on social media unless you got marketing skills which I am severely lacking.

It is a difficult balance. I have no idea how to figure it out and I really hope I will one day.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Drawing comics I hope!! And having an animated show on Netflix or somewhere else.
It is sad that many artists become famous, like really famous after their death. Who needs that when they’re gone!

If I knew for a fact that all my art and stories would pay off in 7-10 years I would fall asleep with a smile around my lips every night. But right now people just want to consume free art on the internet and social media, and I don’t have the capacity for that just now. AI is also a threat to many creative industries.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.angryduckshop.com
• Instagram: @argaankan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/argaankan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ArgaAnkanAngryDuck

Image Credits
David Weatherston my husband