Lucy Knisley
I’ve been a fan of Lucy since back when Live Journal was popular. I don’t really know Lucy but having read her slice-of-life comics for (jeez) 20ish years now, it sure feels like I do. Her work offers just about everyone something relatable to their own life.
Among other things, Lucy has written autobio comics about finding her footing as a 20 something (French Milk), her love of food and cooking (Relish), getting married (Something New), and having a baby (Kid Gloves). She jumped into the world of middle-grade fiction with the Peapod Farm series inspired by her childhood.
Lucy has two books out this year. Ride Beside Me, a picture book about the joy of bicycling with others, which came out this week. And coming this summer, Woe a collection of comic stories told from the point of view of her dramatic house cat Linney.
I love Lucy’s work and find her creativity and the thoughtful way that she shares and approaches comics and life, in general, to be inspiring.
Why comics? (What compels you to create in this medium?)
Comics have always made sense to me– We go from reading picture books and drawing pictures to tell stories as kids, and then suddenly we’re meant to jump to books without pictures– stories that have no illustrations? I loved comics as a kid, and I always told stories through drawings. I never stopped! Now with years of experience and study, I still think comics are a very instinctive way to communicate on multiple levels, but I also see how visual storytelling has informed the whole of human history, from as far back as cave paintings! Comics make sense at the most fundamental level of human storytelling! Plus they’re fun as heck.
What are you currently working on?
I’ve got my hand in three projects directly, with more simmering on the back burner! I’m drawing the next middle-grade graphic novel in my Peapod Farm series; a follow up to Stepping Stones and Apple Crush. I’m also working on a new picture book that lets me play around with mediums– watercolors and gouache and colored pencils! It’s nice to have two creative projects to bounce between when one gets stalled. The third major project is planning and promoting the two books I have coming out this year– a picture book, Ride Beside me, that comes out in February, and a comic collection about my cat, Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair, coming out this summer. I have to help plan the tour stops, coordinate with bookstores, figure out my events and presentations, do promotion and interviews, and get all my ducks in a row for all that. It’s a full plate at the moment!
What is it that you want people to take away from your work?
I’m lucky that I have built my work as a way to communicate empathy– I try to make comics that let people not only read about someone’s life, but see their perspective through the artwork. I hope that readers really feel for my characters, and connect with me as an author/illustrator, and that it opens them to a greater empathy with the people in their lives. I think this is why so many comic artists are drawn to making comics for younger readers– we have a unique line to the developing hearts and minds of these kids, and it lets us make that connection. Even if the character you read is a cranky old cat or a mischievous raccoon or myself in comic form, I hope readers feel a sense of connection with my comics and it helps them feel less alone in the world.
You can find Lucy, her work, and how to pronounce her name at:
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