Quotes from Adrian Tomine

I think it's nice if someone respects whatever their endeavor is, whether it's dance or art or stand-up comedy, to not assume that they're gonna be an overnight sensation, that it's this great craft that takes a lot of hard work to get good at.

Sé que os vais a divertir mucho, que vais a vivir experiencias asombrosas y que encararéis cualquier reto con entereza y valentía. Por favor, haced todo lo posible por ser bondadosas, curiosas, peculiares y divertidas, y cuidad siempre la una de la otra.

Unlike everything else in these pages, my sketchbook was never intended for any sort of publication. In fact, it was never really meant to be seen by anyone. It's the closest thing I have to a diary, and it exists mainly for my own amusement, practice and mental health.

'Peanuts' is a life-long influence, going back to before I could even read.

Ninety percent of the time when I'm working, there's this very palpable sensation that I'm doing everything wrong and should just give up.

To be perfectly honest, if it was up to me, I would be invisible as an artist.

It's a strange thing to be a so-called alternative cartoonist, because in the early part of my career, I was really tethered to the superhero world.

When I started publishing my work, one of the biggest surprises to me was the recurring question about my background and why I wasn't doing more stories about Asian-Americans.

I grew up with a very romantic, idealized vision of New York, probably because of all the books I read and the movies I watched.

I would honestly be elated if I could wave a magic wand and eradicate my back catalog and then have a fresh crack at some of those ideas.

When I'm sitting at my drafting table in my studio, I could really be anywhere.

I'm getting to a point in my life where my whole attitude about the relationship between myself and the audience is totally different.

When people see me struggling on paper, I think it invites an almost collaborative relationship with the outside world, and that includes readers and other artists.

I love the idea of trying to do the work of old-fashioned novelists of plotting and of really making you curious about what's going to happen next and all that, but also trying to load it up with your weird thoughts and opinions.

All my stories take place on the West Coast - not the beach, but smaller inland towns. I feel homesick, and I find inspiration in capturing that.

New York is a brutally expensive place to live, and the kind of person who might have the dedication and esoteric taste to make the comics that I would really love is finding it more relaxing to live elsewhere.

I'm not the best person to analyze any kind of evolution in my work, but I do feel like it's been an ongoing struggle to basically teach myself how to tell the kinds of stories that interest me in comics form.

The basic work schedule for me is whenever I'm not doing anything more important, like taking care of my kids or something. So, it's most of the day, five days a week, most evenings and sometimes on the weekends.

My 20s were peaceful, privileged, but still I felt the desire to write angsty dramas.

There's never been a moment where I sat down at my drawing board and thought, 'I'm a pro!'

I think comics can be the basis for great films, but I think the focus of such a project should be on making the film as good as possible, not on painstakingly replicating the comic.

A lot of my fears come out in my work rather than life.

I'm always a little apprehensive about 'decoding' fictional stories.

'Shortcomings' was me figuring out who I am.