So this happened. I’ve been taking the time to process this thing and I’m still wonderi


So this happened.

I’ve been taking the time to process this thing and I’m still wondering how I convinced any of my comic friends I am at all deserving of this award.

I say that but this is the second colorist award I’ve won -
The first came from Publix Super Market (without a doubt, the best super market on Earth). I participated in a coloring contest. I colored something similar to the happy counting dinosaur you see above. Upon winning this contest, after trying to win the coloring contest for what felt like forever, I was granted a Jurassic Park birthday cake. It was a great day for a five-year-old and the cake was delicious.

The Eisner means a great deal more than a Jurassic Park birthday cake but the feelings upon winning were nearly identical - absolute surprise, maybe a little nervous someone will take it away saying “Oh, wait, we’ve made a terrible mistake!”, followed by feeling like the coolest person in the room but then finding it difficult to feel that way when you’ve maybe peed your pants.

I owe my thanks to my boyfriend, Declan, who picked up the award for me and always forces me to challenge myself. It’s exhausting but I clearly cannot argue with results. My friends and my parents are just great and even though I rarely saw them the past three years because my work commitments forced me to cancel nearly every hangout plan made, they were/are still supportive and caring - I owe them a lot there (looking at you Clayton Cowles, Maddie Bellaire, Aaron Fever, Stephen Mooney, Jacintha O’Reilly and Jeremy Lambert to name a few). Plus, my parents let me go to art school so that’s pretty great. Thank you my wonderful, beautiful parental creature folks!

My editors and my collaborators - I owe them basically everything. Eric Stephenson, Sana Amanat, Lauren Sankovitch, Tom Brennan, Sierra Hahn, Jim Gibbons, Ian Brill, Nate Cosby, Scott Dunbier and many others put me on all the right projects, regardless of the little experience I had and for that I am so grateful.

Tom Fowler, Chris Samnee, Ramon Perez, Declan Shalvey, Sean Murphy, Gabriel Hardman, Ming Doyle, Becky Cloonan, Mike Hawthorne, Matthew Dow Smith, Garry Brown, Walt Simonson, Chris Sprouse, Nate Bellegarde, Mahmud Asrar and Emma Rios - this partial list sounds like a ridiculous and wonderful convention guest list but these were my collaborators! I cannot even believe my luck. I am so humbled by these talented beasts and so grateful for the time we worked together. They are the best.

And without my flatters I couldn’t have finished as many books as I did. Thanks to Kelly Fitzpatrick, Jordan Gibson, David B. Cooper and others - I was able to complete all my books regardless of how late artwork came in. You guys are like the Three Musketeers.

And finally, my colorist peers! Every single one of them deserves an Eisner. They are amazing and ridiculously charming, wonderful people and they wow me with their work. Matt Wilson, Bettie Breitweiser, John Rauch, Jordan Boyd, Laura Martin, Shari Chankhamma, Dave McCaig, Nathan Fairbairn, Nick Filardi, Trish Mulvihill, Rachelle Rosenberg, Bill Crabtree, Rico Renzi and the other nominees! Whenever I pick up a comic colored by any of these titans, I want to pack my bags and quit!

But I’m not quitting anytime soon!