Drawing comics always.
I make a webcomic called On A Subeam Website// Prints
An excerpt from my third book I Love This Part which you can get directly from me here
Or if you don’t have the $$ to buy a book (which I totally get) feel free to read some of my short comics or check out my new webcomic
The following is a guest post from graphic novelist Tillie Walden, creator of Spinning.
I read comics on and off as a kid, but it wasn’t until I was sixteen that I really discovered them. I liked manga, specifically manga by Osamu Tezuka and Yoshihiro Togashi, and I had grown up reading all the famous graphic memoirs like Blankets by Craig Thompson, Stitches by David Small, and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Because I had always shown an interest in them and also happened to be an artsy kid, my dad signed me up for a two-day workshop with Scott McCloud around the time I had turned sixteen.
We lived in Texas and the workshop was in California. But in my dad’s mind, that barrier didn’t matter. We flew out together, and I showed up way too early at the class, full of nerves and anticipation. I was the youngest in the class. Everyone else there seemed impossibly old, though that’s probably just because anyone who wasn’t in high school seemed old to me at that time.
The class went by so quickly. The first day was full of long conversations about comics and little exercises. The fact that Scott McCloud (a complete celebrity in my mind) was just a few feet away from me, chatting and eating a doughnut, never ceased to be incredible. After the first day we were left with an assignment: draw your life story in 16 panels. The time after that first class is a blur in my memory. I remember running to an art store with my dad in a panic to get pens when the ones I had brought dried out. I remember the evening air and the store closing and running fast through the aisles to find my size 02 micron that I so desperately needed. I almost didn’t finish the comic in time; I was drawing right up until the start of the second day of class.
What I see now when I think about that class is that it was the first instance where I felt a real passion for comics. I had never felt so strongly about something until that moment. The fire I felt inside me screaming that I needed to find a pen so I could keep drawing was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I cared about finishing that project, and I cared about doing a good job. As a teenager I often felt numb and distant from everything around me, so to feel so awake and connected was a revelation. I left that class and became a cartoonist. We got back to Texas, and I started drawing, and I haven’t stopped since.
I feel so lucky to have had that experience as a teenager. And since I started in comics, there has been a real renaissance of comics for teens. I remember in my class with Scott McCloud he recommended we all pick up Drama by Raina Telgemeier, and that recommendation still holds up. In fact, I recommend all her books. Anything with her name on it is worth buying. Some of my other favorite comics for teens are This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, and Through the Woods by Emily Carroll.
Spinning by Tillie Walden hits shelves in a bookstore near your om September 12th!
Tillie Walden is a cartoonist and illustrator whose earnest and dreamy comics have inspired many, and led to her publishing three books before she graduated school! Now a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies, she is living in Berlin and working on comics full time.
Hey here’s a little interview with me!
I’m taking a break from social media for the rest of December, so here’s a couple of things before I take off and disappear into my bed:
Have you read my new graphic novel SPINNING yet? It’s about growing up as a gay figure skater. Get it here.
My webcomic On a Sunbeam is coming out in print in Fall 2018. In the meantime, you can read it all here. Don’t worry, the comic will stay free and online even after the book is published.
Want to get prints or cards of my art? Check out my shop.
Thanks for a great year y’all.
T
Hey everyone!
For those of y’all that don’t know: My next book is coming out in September and it’s called SPINNING. It’s a graphic memoir about my 12 years as a competitive figure skater. Yes, I was an ice skater for much longer than I’ve been making comics. But the book deals with a lot more than just skating; it deals with my coming out, bullying, and all sorts of other stuff (I don’t want to give too much away). And it’s 400 pages long, so it’s a nice long book.
And I have good news: Spinning is NOW available for pre-order! If you want to get a copy RIGHT when it comes out, this is the way to do it.
My first book has just come out in a brand new fancy edition. Big lovely pages, a new cover, bonus material. Read the story of Lars and his sister Maja as they try and wait out a three year long winter in their massive and seemingly endless home.
Now’s a great time to grab a copy of The End of Summer, which you can get directly from me.
Hey folks, here’s some important links for y’all so you can be sure to find all my books and various projects.
My website - info on me, interviews I’ve done, and links to my four available graphic novels.
My webcomic - Read the complete story, On a Sunbeam, for free. The book version comes out this Fall.
My store - get prints, cards, or phone cases with my artwork on it! Hooray!
I collected 130~ pages from my various sketchbooks and made a little book! You can download a PDF from gumroad. It has slightly mature content!
https://gumroad.com/l/eAsoj
Rare photos of me in the wild.
SPINNING, my graphic memoir about my 12 years as a competitive figure skater, comes out in 3 days. It’s the lesbian figure skating story you’ve all been waiting for.
Rare photos of me in the wild.
SPINNING, my graphic memoir about my 12 years as a competitive figure skater, comes out in 3 days. It’s the lesbian figure skating story you’ve all been waiting for.
