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Tillie Walden is an American cartoonist and graphic novelist who is responsible for works like ‘Spinning’. She became one of the youngest authors ever to win an Eisner Award.

+Biography
Tillie Walden was born in 1996. She spent her childhood in New Jersey and Austin, Texas. Her life was shaped as much by competitive ice skating as it was by art. Tillie learned early on that she was named after a paternal grandmother who died.

Her first comic was about this great woman in whose footsteps she was determined to follow. When Tillie realized that she wanted to become a comic book creator, she did not hesitate to pursue her dream.

Not only did she create a website within which she presented her comics and drawings to the public but she attracted the attention of Avery Hill, a British publisher who helped her publish her first graphic novel.

Tillie Walden was just a high school kid at the time. ‘The End of Summer’, the comic that introduced her to the publishing landscape, was praised by critics, earning the rising star an Ignatz Award for her artistic skills.

By the time Tillie wrote and published ‘Spinning’, her first graphic novel memoir, she was well on her way to superstardom, earning multiple award nominations and doing more to further the cause of female comic creators that many of her predecessors.

+Literary Career
Storytelling always came naturally to Tillie Walden. She was always a quiet child. So much of her time was spent creating stories and characters in her head. Tillie doesn’t remember ever being taught to think narratively.

Of course, she had to go to school to master the art of creating comics. But her time at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont was made so much easier by her natural predisposition to storytelling.

She has also spoken of the influence other entertainment mediums have had on her career. Even though she is so heavily entrenched in the world of comic books, Tillie Walden doesn’t read that many comic books.

She blames it on her rigorous drawing schedule. Because Tillie spends so many hours of any given day drawing comics, by the time she puts her tools down, the idea of reading a comic book simply repulses her.

When Tillie does sit down to consume entertainment, it normally comes in the form of movies and television, possibly even a little poetry. The author doesn’t believe that cartoonists and comic artists have to read comics to master the art of telling stories through comics.

If anything, Tillie believes that aspiring comic artists are better off studying writing and film; it isn’t the best artists that make it in the comic book industry but, rather, the best storytellers.

Tillie Walden’s journey to literary success began with her father. The man introduced Tillie to manga. He was always leaving books around for her to find, encouraging her to consume literary material that would have never crossed her path otherwise.

No one pushed Tillie to do art. Like most children, she experimented with the habit from time to time. But, at the start, the art classes at school did not particularly appeal to her. She was happy to draw moody self-portraits when her teachers told her to. But otherwise, she preferred to pass the time with other activities.

Everything changed when she turned sixteen and her father took her to a workshop supervised by Scott McCloud, a very famous cartoonist.

The workshop was situated in Los Angeles, so Tillie and her father had to fly in to attend the two-day event. The things that Tillie Walden saw in that workshop blew her mind. And by the time she flew home with her father, the author knew for certain that graphic novels were her future.

Tillie cannot think of any particular occurrence or experience at the workshop that opened her eyes to the value and joy of comic book creation. All she knows is that after two days of talking about, thinking of and drawing comics, everything clicked.

The author’s comic books and graphic novels are inspired by her personal experiences. She isn’t much of a planner, though. The idea of scripting has never appealed to her. She used to thumbnail but she stopped because she realized that the process did nothing to improve the quality of her work.

She doesn’t pencil either. That often comes as a shock. It is commonplace for artists that create comics to first work with pencils before they ink. But Tillie Walden just draws with ink.

There is more risk attached to that approach but Tillie isn’t afraid. Her projects always start with an idea after which she proceeds to select the paper that best matches the mood of whatever story she wishes to tell.

The color of the pad of paper she will use matters to Tillie because it will inform the emotion she wishes to squeeze from her stories. The author has an easier time writing fiction than she does nonfiction.

There is a confidence that comes with telling stories coming directly from her imagination. Tillie Walden isn’t as certain when it comes to producing graphic novels like ‘Spinning’ which are almost autobiographical.

+Spinning
Tillie Walden gave ten years of her life to figure skating. She was awake before the crack of dawn to attend her morning lessons. And the moment school ended she would rush over to group practice.

The weekends found Walden at ice rinks all over the state. Her life was figure skating. It was the one activity that gave her sanctuary from the stresses of home and school. But then she changed schools and her world took an unexpected turn.

She found a new passion in her art, encountered love and begun to question whether or not figure skating had a place in her life.

+The End of Summer
Lars is bored. He is locked away in a secluded castle where he must overcome illness and the pressures that only family can exert. This is as a winter that will last for the next three years rages outside.

To pass the time, Lars plays with his siblings and their giant cat.