Sarah Andersen

Sarah Andersen
Sarah Andersen at Lucca Comics & Games 2016
Sarah Andersen at Lucca Comics & Games 2016
Born1991 or 1992 (age 32–33)[1]
Norwalk, Connecticut
EducationMaryland Institute College of Art
Notable worksSarah's Scribbles

Sarah C. Andersen is an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for the webcomic Sarah's Scribbles. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, she has collaborated with artists and writers like Andy Weir over the course of her her career, and has been recently noted for her public opposition to the rise of text-to-image models and generative AI illustrations.

Early life

Sarah Andersen was born in Norwalk, Connecticut and lived in multiple countries during her childhood, "hopping between Denmark, Germany, and Connecticut."[2] While a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), she started drawing and uploading Sarah's Scribbles on Tumblr in 2013; after graduating in 2014, she worked on the webcomic full-time.[1][3] Originally, the comic was called Doodle Time, but GoComics asked for the name to be changed in order for them to syndicate it.[4]

Career

In March 2016, Andersen released her first print collection of Sarah's Scribbles comics, titled Adulthood is a Myth and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing.[5] They would go on to publish the follow-up Big Mushy Happy Lump the following year, as well as the subsequent volumes Herding Cats, Oddball, and Adulthood Is a Gift! in 2018, 2021, and 2024 respectively. The first book was described as "hilarious" and "relatable" by The Independent,[6] who also praised the webcomic's depiction of "that horrible realisation (...) that being a grown-up is actually pretty awful."[1]

Andersen collaborated with the novelist Andy Weir on the graphic novel Cheshire Crossing, which was released in July 2019.[7] Based on an earlier comic by Weir, the story follows Wendy Darling from Peter Pan, Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, and Alice Liddell from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at a boarding school called "Cheshire Crossing."[8]

In late 2019, Andersen began releasing a supernatural romance webcomic called Fangs on the Tapas platform.[9][10] In September 2020, Fangs was published as a book by Andrews McMeel Publishing.[11] It became a Publishers Weekly Bestseller that month[12] and a New York Times Bestseller in October 2020.[13]

In January 2020, Andersen painted a mural of her characters as part of a public art project in Mexico City, but it was graffitied over within days.[14]

On September 20, 2022, the book Cryptid Club[15] was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. It was nominated for two Eisner Awards in 2023 for Best Humor Publication and Best Writer/Artist[16] but did not win.

On December 31, 2022, she authored a guest essay in the New York Times about the rise of artificial graphist systems such as Stable Diffusion, pointing out threats it presents on graphic creators such as increased confusion, appropriation, reputational impact, and income reduction.[17] In January the following year, Andersen was listed as a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against AI companies Stability AI, Midjourney, and online art community DeviantArt.[18] On July 19, 2023, Judge William Orrick III stated he would dismiss most of the case, requesting they elaborate on issues and "provide more facts".[19]

Bibliography

Sarah's Scribbles

  1. Adulthood is a Myth (2016) Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9781449474195
  2. Big Mushy Happy Lump (2017) Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9781449479619
  3. Herding Cats (2018) Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9781449489786
  4. Oddball (2021) Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9781449489793
  5. Adulthood Is a Gift! (2024) Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9781524890407

Graphic novels

As illustrator

Awards and nominations

Published editions of Sarah's Scribbles won Andersen the Goodreads Choice Award in Best Graphic Novels & Comics three years in a row. She won in 2016 for her debut book, Adulthood is a Myth.[20][21] The following year, she was awarded for her book Big Mushy Happy Lump, and in 2018 for Herding Cats.[22][23]

In 2021, Fangs won two Ringo Awards for Best Webomic and Best Humor Webcomic.[24]

Andersen won the 2023 Silver Reuben Award in the category Best Online Comics – Short Form for Sarah's Scribbles. [25]

References

  1. ^ a b c Gander, Kashmira (October 11, 2016). "The illustrator whose cartoons sum up how hard being an adult is". The Independent. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  2. ^ sarahandersenart. "Sarah Andersen : ABOUT". ABOUT. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  3. ^ Seth, Rhythum (July 12, 2016). "Ten Hilarious Webcomics You Need To Check Out Now". The Quint. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  4. ^ "Interview with Sarah Andersen of Sarah's Scribble's". Things in Squares. October 23, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  5. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (December 13, 2016). "Sarah Anderson's Adulthood is a Myth wins Goodreads Readers Choice Award for Graphic Novel". The Beat. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Hoffman, Ellen (December 11, 2016). "The 20 best books of the year, according to readers". The Independent. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Cheshire Crossing". Kirkus Reviews. May 15, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  8. ^ Lu, Alexander (September 27, 2019). "Graphic Novel Club: Cheshire Crossing". Comics Beat. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  9. ^ Arrant, Chris (December 19, 2019). "What If SARAH from SARAH'S SCRIBBLES Grew Up? Author's Answer is FANGS". Newsarama. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019.
  10. ^ Puc, Samantha (March 14, 2020). "Weekend Webcomics: Shapeshift with Fangs, How to Be a Werewolf & Night Class". CBR. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  11. ^ "Fangs". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Publishers Weekly Bestsellers". Pique Newsmagazine. September 10, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  13. ^ "Graphic Books and Manga - Best Sellers". The New York Times. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  14. ^ "US artist's mural marred by graffiti in less than a week". Mexico News Daily. February 4, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  15. ^ Andersen, Sarah (2022). Cryptid Club. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-1524875541.
  16. ^ Codega, Linda (May 17, 2023). "Here Are Your 2023 Eisner Awards Nominees". Gizmodo.
  17. ^ Andersen, Sarah (December 31, 2022). "Opinion | The Alt-Right Manipulated My Comic. Then A.I. Claimed It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  18. ^ Canva, Michael (February 14, 2023). "Artists are alarmed by AI — and they're fighting back". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  19. ^ Brittain, Blake (July 19, 2023). "US judge finds flaws in artists' lawsuit against AI companies". Reuters.
  20. ^ Hoffman, Ellen (December 10, 2016). "The 20 best books of the year, according to readers". Business Insider. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  21. ^ "Best Graphic Novels & Comics 2016 — Goodreads Choice Awards". Goodreads. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  22. ^ Russell, Scott (December 5, 2017). "Women Win Big at the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards". Paste. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  23. ^ Jean-Philippe, McKenzie (December 3, 2018). "More Than Half of This Year's Goodreads "Best Books" Are Written by Women". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  24. ^ "2021 Ringo Award Winners Announced". Multiversity Comics. October 24, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  25. ^ "Winners of the 78th Annual Reuben Awards". nationalcartoonists.com. Retrieved August 26, 2024.

Official website