We were lucky to catch up with Andrea Pearson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Andrea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil. I’ve been expressing myself through comics before I even had the understanding of what comics could be. Throughout school I would scribble in the margins of my class notebooks and sometimes fill pages with drawings and comics about my teachers during class. Growing up my family did not have a lot of money, so I would walk to the library and read any comics I could find there. I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to pursue a career in art, but didn’t quite know where I’d fit. I went to Columbia College Chicago to pursue film and traditional animation. I love film and animation, but I realized shortly after college that that was not the career I was looking for. I feel a bit like a late bloomer, because I did not realize until several years after college that drawing and self publishing comics was something that I could do, but not only that, that anyone could do it. I used to attend a drink and draw when I lived in New York City that was run by a small cartoonist collective. After seeing my sketchbook with my comics and they asked if I would ever be interested in printing and publishing comics. It was like a light clicked on in my brain. That is something I can do? I decided to collect a series of journal comics into book form, hand printed and bound them and that became the first “No Pants Revolution”. That was in 2014. In 2023 I decided I wanted to use any cachet I had in the indie comics world to help others like me bring their stories to comic conventions and I started Aquatic Panda Distro.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Chicago based cartoonist.

I draw a series of autobiographical comics titled “No Pants Revolution”. Each issue takes about a year to make. Each issue is a compilation of journal comics, sketchbook doodles and writing that I collect over the course of a year. I recognize an overarching theme and build up each issue around that theme.

I write, draw, print and bind all of my comics myself.

I often feel a bit selfish with the kind of comics I make. As a child growing up mixed race in Chicago’s South Suburbs without much access to comics outside of newspaper comics, I did not see many characters who looked like me or thought the way I did. As an adult I was diagnosed with Dysthymia, a sort of life long moderate depression. I was a kid who was in my head. I had a lot of social anxiety. I cried a lot. When I write and draw comics I try to be very honest about who I am, even if the comic I am writing is fiction based.

The comics I write and draw are comics that I would want to read. I’ve written a few different series of children’s comics. “Mito and Me” is a comic about a young panda who reads comics with his imaginary friend, a doll based on a character from a children’s tv show. The characters read comics together and imagine themselves turning into the characters in the comics. The panda character “Mito” is based on a version of myself as a child and the imaginary character of “Amiable Andi” is based on a more mischievous teenage version of myself. I draw and write stories that I think childhood me would want to read.

Throughout my career as a cartoonist I’ve developed a style of mixing serious topics and feelings, with silliness and absurdity. I think that is something that attracts people to my work. I’ve had people tell me that they’ve read my comics and they made them both laugh and cry. I do my best to infuse humor into mundanity and depression and it feels genuine, because that is who I am as a person. I laugh when I’m sad and I cry when I’m happy and like most people I am more than just one thing.

In 2023 I started Aquatic Panda Distro. Aquatic Panda Distro is a small press, comic and art zine distributor which highlights artists of color. All of the artists who consign with us identify as artists of color. Our goal is to bring underrepresented voices to more comic conventions and indie art shows. We act as a sort of stepping stone for newer artists to get their work out into more people’s hands. We also organize art and comic anthologies where we welcome artists from all walks of life to contribute. Aquatic Panda Distro also hosts a monthly drink and draw meetup at The Glenwood bar in Rogers Park, Chicago.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing about being an artist is connecting to other people. I’ve always been a very socially anxious person. Making art has created a way for me to express myself and share my story in ways that are often difficult for me to articulate in person. I make art and comics that reflect who I am and when someone else looks at my art and they chuckle or give that understanding nod and smile, I feel a great deal of relief and joy knowing that I created something, that someone else felt some kind of connection to.

One of my favorite shows to table at in Chicago is Pocket Con. For those who do not know, Pocket Con is a family friendly, free comic and pop culture convention that celebrates artists and characters of color. I am biracial, mixed black and white. As a kid I rarely saw characters who looked like me and I definitely did not know that there were artists out there that looked like me. I didn’t even really know that “cartoonist” was a job I could do one day. Representation is so important. It is important for children to not only be told that they can be whatever they want to be, but to see people like them doing those jobs. So Pocket Con plays an important role when it comes to representation. It’s become an event that young children and families of color look forward to and I am always so grateful to be a part of it.

I have a very distinct memory of my first year at Pocket Con in 2017, a young black girl around 10 picked up a copy of my comic “Mito and Me”. The blurb on the first page of the comic says “Meet Mito, a shy panda whose best friends are the books on his shelf…” The young girl looked up at her father and said “this is me”. I nearly cried. She is the reason I draw comics.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve had an on again, off again relationship with cartooning since I was a kid. I’ve always felt a drive to create art, but for most of my life I felt extremely insecure as an artist. I still often feel that sting of imposter syndrome. I never felt particularly talented and my art never looked like any one else’s, which I always felt was a bad thing. I tabled at my first comic convention in 2014. It was a large, two day indie comic convention in NYC. I was super nervous during the show. I tried to talk to a few artists who were making comics that felt similar to what I make and they all seemed sort of jaded. I think I sold maybe 3 comics over the two days. I had paid $150 to table at the show. The whole experience left me disheartened and like a failure. Maybe cartooning and comics conventions were not for me. I wanted to quit. I did kind of quit. A year later my father got sick and passed away. I became completely withdrawn and stopped creating art. I moved back to Chicago in 2016. I started occasionally making art for myself again. I joined a new artist drawing group in Chicago and I was again inspired by my peers. I signed up for Chicago Zine Fest in 2017. I self published my second issue of “No Pants Revolution”. Chicago Zine Fest was my second ever convention. Something about that show felt invigorating and inspiring. It felt much more like a community than the first show I tabled at. I’ve had a few dark moments in my life where I felt like art was not worth making. From a financial standpoint, my experience making comics can hardly be called a “career”. When you factor in time, materials and table fees, I’m lucky to break even money wise. What keeps me coming back to comics is the community of comics and zine creators who can be so giving and so inspiring.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aquaticpandadistro.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saturn2169/ https://www.instagram.com/aquatic_panda_distro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089860552599

Image Credits

Andrea Pearson