Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Hayes.
Hi Leah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always wanted to be an illustrator… from when I was a tiny kid I knew that I wanted to tell stories through images. I was obsessed with comics in high school, and college… then published my first graphic novel with Fantagraphics Books right after graduating. I think I won the award for Most Excited To Get The Hell Outta School and start in my field: I used to skip class to bring my portfolio to The New York Times and TIME Magazine offices for Portfolio Review day. Ironically I ended up back at my alma mater (Parsons School of Design), teaching Illustration.
Since then I’ve been consistently publishing graphic novels and doing editorial illustrations: both on the East and West coasts. I’ve kept up teaching as well. Now I’m dipping my toe into children’s books. I have my first children’s book coming out on Enchanted Lion Books in June 2023. Very excited about that… it’s quite a change from the darker adult narratives that I’m used to writing!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh man… not NOT a smooth road. So many twists and turns and luck and craziness had a lot to do with it. One thing that has been consistent since I was a kid was that I have had little fear of rejection. My thinking (when I was younger) was always: “who cares if I fail at this one attempt: no one knows who I am right now anyway!” So I would just put my work in everybody’s face all the time. Straight to the top, too. I never wanted to start small: if I was going to do editorial illustration, I wanted to be in The New Yorker, The New York Times. I mean…I could SEE their offices from my window, so I just knew I needed to be in there, you know? But I did get rejected a lot of times, and I just kept going back and going back and eventually, a very nice editor at The New York Times saw my work and gave me chance. And once I started doing work for the NYTimes, things just snowballed. I used this same ‘tactic” for getting my work to publishers, too. I still do, I guess.
I also write music and play music. It’s a whole other side of my creative life that I put as much energy into. The music is what brought me to LA. I write songs for other artists. I’m signed to a company called Heavy Duty Music.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an illustrator and graphic novelist. I’m also a musician. I have done years and years of editorial illustration for newspapers and magazines, but what I am most proud of are my books and the songs I have written for people. My last graphic novel was a heavy subject, but one that I am very proud of: it is a non-fiction illustrated novel about abortion. It was a New York Times Bestseller and was optioned to make a series out of it (still in the works). Music-wise…I’ve written for some of my favorite musicians, like Lil’ Wayne and Azealia Banks. That has been one of the weirdest, coolest chapters of my life, for sure. I love being “split” between music and illustration. I used to think I had to choose one path, but now I know that it’s really special to be able to do both at the same time.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I had a very sweet childhood. I love my parents. I have an amazing twin sister. I had a lot of fun… I don’t think I could choose one favorite memory.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leahhayes.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarymansion/
