User:Julesdorney/sandbox

Early Life
Walden was shaped by her childhood move from New Jersey to Texas.

Walden spoke of her father's influence on her entrance into the comics industry. As said in an interview, "My dad has been the behind-the-scenes guy for my entire comics career. I realized that when I start looking, he’s been everywhere."

Career
Originally, Spinning was Walden's thesis work for the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) during her second year of schooling there.

A workshop led by Scott McCloud had been a major turning point in her career, given it "really inspired [her] to draw some comics, and around this time [she] was also becoming increasingly bored with fine art".

In an interview with Paul Gravett, she dedicates the book to her twin brother, John. She describes the main characters as being a mishmash of her and John.

Her newest graphic novel, On a Sunbeam, came out on October 4, 2018. Set in space, a crew is in charge of rebuilding structures, which allows them to acknowledge the past. As Mia, the newest member, gets to know her team, a flashback occurs where she fell in love with another student there, named Grace. As time progresses and bonds are formed, Mia inevitably opens up about her reasoning for joining their ship - to find the love she lost. This piece is Walden's first take on science fiction.

Personal Life
While growing up, Walden read a lot of manga. From this, she gained a lot of major influence in her work, mainly on her artistic focus on line, more so than shape or color. The biggest manga artist that had an impact on her was Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of the manga Hunter x Hunter. Additionally, in an interview, Walden has even said "Studio Ghibli has completely shaped my visual vocabulary and how I think about stories."

Walden is said to have also been influenced by graphic memoirs, such as Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Blankets by Craig Thompson and Stitches by David Small.