Not (Not) Lonely: Inner Lives

An interview with Meg Richardson on comics, inner lives, and whether or not "real" artists wear turtlenecks.

Hey friends,

Happy Tuesday. I’m excited to kick off this new project with a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine, Meg Richardson, a talented writer, translator, and illustrator. (A triple threat!)

I was lucky to meet Meg years ago when we happened to be standing next to each other in a long line of students waiting to enter an auditorium for grad school orientation.

Originally from Iowa, Meg lives in Brooklyn. She works at Scholastic Publishing as an editor for Storyworks 2 magazine, a reading magazine for second-graders. She’s a master at bringing people together for themed parties and is always up for a project or an adventure.

For this interview, I wanted to learn more about her journey as an illustrator because her comics have this special ability to make you laugh and feel less alone at the same time. She even drew a special one for the conversation below — I hope you enjoy!

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Hi Meg! Can you share a bit about your background and how you got started as an illustrator?

I’ve always loved to draw and write. Ever since elementary school, I’ve made comics in journals. I still draw people the same way I did in 4th grade, with big, round heads and expressive eyes and eyebrows. 

I’ve always liked making comics about my interior life and other people’s interior lives. I remember once in high school, I saw a girl at a dance who was really good at walking in heels and I went home and made a comic about her holding onto her mom’s shoulders and practicing walking in the heels every day before it. I think comics are a great medium for portraying the tender, unglamorous moments in life, and helping readers feel less alone in experiencing those kinds of moments. 

It’s interesting to think about what things you see in the world that make it into your drawings. This actually leads us nicely right into the next question which is about your process. How do you approach a project? What’s it like creating a comic? 

My comics usually come from an emotion I’ve felt. Often it’s a negative emotion that I try to squash down for a while and then it comes out as a comic. When I publish a comic about feeling a certain way and I hear other people say they have felt that way too, it’s so cathartic.

It also makes me happy to know that my comics can bring people solace, and maybe a laugh. For example–I made this comic when I felt frustrated while trying on pants. I made this comic when I felt annoyed about people’s wedding pictures on social media, and this one when I felt overwhelmed by friendships changing.  

I also love thinking about color when I’m starting a new project. Color is so helpful for communicating emotion. (In the one I drew for this newsletter, I used the beautiful colors on the cover of Loneliness & Company!)

I love the idea that your comics bring levity or laughter to others but also help you release whatever negative emotion was weighing you down, too. In a way, that’s a great way to connect with others, even if you never meet them.

So, I know the literal act of creating a comic takes time and focus, and can sometimes be a solitary craft. Along these lines, I wanted to ask you, do you think being an artist is lonely?

I do think being an artist can feel lonely, especially if you think that to be a “real” artist you’re supposed to know the “right” people or be someone different than who you are.  

Just because you and your friends aren’t wearing black turtlenecks and going to raves in Paris doesn’t mean you’re not an artist and your friends aren’t helpful for your art. (If you are living the turtleneck/rave life, that’s great too, but it’s not the only way to be an artist.)

Greta Gerwig talks about this idea beautifully in this interview. She says:

“The people that you know now might be the people you need to know. I think sometimes there’s this feeling that official people exist somewhere else…but maybe the people around you are the people.”

This is something I’ve thought about a lot as an artist. I used to spend time wishing I was a part of some imagined art scene. I don’t wish that anymore. Of course, it’s great to meet new people and learn from them. But I’ve realized that most of the people who are going to help me make the best art I can make are my friends and family–people I can talk to about buying pants or feeling weird about growing up, or loneliness. Those people are my art scene.

I’ve explored these ideas more in this comic:

For more comics like this one, you can follow Meg here.

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Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great rest of your week!