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When we asked whether everyday situations immediately register as potential comic material or only become funny in hindsight, Alyssa explained that years of keeping a daily illustrated diary have made thinking about comics a natural part of her day: “Because I've been keeping a comic diary daily for eight years, I do often think about what I'll draw throughout the day. My friends and family will joke ‘I hope this isn't going to be in a comic’ when they say or do something silly. In some ways, keeping this comic diary has made the gloomier parts of life have a bright side. When my car won't start, or I drop a pot of quinoa on the floor, or I get an unfortunate sunburn, at least I have something to draw about! Sometimes I do sit down and have nothing, especially when I am a few days (or weeks) behind and trying to catch up. That's when I end up drawing about what I had for breakfast or something that happened in a dream, haha—not everything can be exciting!”
Since Alyssa’s family, partner, friends, and dogs regularly appear in her work, we were also curious about how the people closest to her feel about becoming recurring characters, and whether some experiences are simply too personal to share publicly: “My family and friends are very used to appearing in my comics now, and I'm proud to say that in general, they love to be drawn and documented. It's definitely become one of the ways I show people I love them and that their interaction was a memorable part of my day. When it comes to personal stuff, I am pretty open about my own life, thoughts, and feelings, but I am mindful of the privacy of the people closest to me. There are absolutely awesome, funny, humiliating, or exciting things that have happened that I decided not to share for one reason or another. But I also have ways of anonymizing people or being symbolic in my art; I have ways of drawing things so that I personally know what I am documenting but strangers would not.”
After documenting her life for so many years, Alyssa told us that the habit has also changed what she values in the moments around her. Rather than focusing only on major milestones, she has developed an appreciation for the small incidents that can easily go unnoticed: “I think that drawing my life for so long has just made me appreciate the charm of the small things in life. Drawing about big events, like graduating, getting married, changing careers, or moving is fun, but my favorite comics aren't about anything ‘big.’ Recently, my mom wore a skirt backward, my husband and I forgot to buy groceries, my dog peed in my bed. I like to pay attention to things that seem mundane and turn them into their own little stories.”
Finally, we asked Alyssa how she decides whether an experience needs only one image or a much longer sequence, and what she finds most challenging about turning something deeply personal into a story that strangers can still understand and enjoy. “My comic lengths do vary (some are one panel, some are ten or more) and really, the format just depends on the content. Some stories take longer to tell, sometimes I'll do a comic one day and realize the next day that I have more to say... or, sometimes things just take more than a day (I have a very long saga about the time I ordered a 200-lb chest of drawers online and decided not to pay to get it delivered up the stairs of my house, which ended up being a lot more trouble than it was worth).”
“I think the biggest challenge in turning my life into comics is feeling like I'm doing things justice. I hope my comics can convey how important my family is to me, how caring my partner is, and how much my dog sheds. Being able to look back on eight years of illustrations is so rewarding. I've been able to draw through some very difficult times, and while that's always hard, it is really meaningful to reflect on how I've grown (both as a person and as an artist).”
“I honestly can't believe that some of my comics are funny to people who weren't there, people who have never met me or any other ‘character’ in my world. But I think my everyday life is relatable to other people living their everyday lives. People will see a comic I've drawn of my dad and send it to their siblings because their dad does the same thing. It's so incredibly weird to feel intimately known in cartoon form by total strangers, but I'm grateful that people care about and connect over my work!”
