Eleanor Davis
{{Short description|American cartoonist and illustrator}}
{{for multi|the American women's rights activist|Eleanor R. Davis|the American painter|Eleanor Layfield Davis}}
{{Infobox artist
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| image = Eleanor Davis 2019 Texas Book Festival.jpg
| image_size = 250px
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| caption = Davis at the 2019 Texas Book Festival
| birth_name = Eleanor Davis
| birth_date = {{birth date and age | 1983 | 01 | 16 }}
| birth_place = Tucson, Arizona, USA
| death_date =
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| nationality = American
| field = Cartoonist
| training =
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| awards = Society of Illustrators Gold and Silver
Eisner Nominee
Ignatz Outstanding Graphic Novel Award (2018)
Ignatz Outstanding Anthology or Collection (2015)
Print Magazine’s New Visual Artists (2009)
Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor
Russ Manning Award
Best American Comics (2008, 2013, 2015)
| website = http://doing-fine.com/
| education = Savannah College of Art and Design
}}
File:SPX 2017 Panel - Eleanor Davis and Jillian Tamaki in Conversation.webm in discussion, 2017]]
Eleanor McCutcheon Davis (born January 16, 1983) is an American cartoonist and illustrator.
Early life
Eleanor Davis was raised in Tucson, Arizona{{Cite web |title=Eleanor Davis |url=https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/eleanor-davis |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=Fantagraphics |language=en}} by comic-enthusiast parents who exposed her to stories like Little Lulu, Krazy Kat, Little Nemo, and the Kinder Kids. She attended Kino School, an alternative K-12 school in Tucson. In high school, she began drawing seriously and self-published her own comic. She studied sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.{{Cite web |date=2009-06-20 |title=Eleanor Davis |url=https://www.printmag.com/designer-profiles/nva_2009_eleanor_davis/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=PRINT Magazine |language=en-US}}
Career
Davis has self-published many comics, including The Beast Mother.{{Cite web|url=http://doing-fine.com/?p=1039|title=The Beast Mother|last=Davis|first=Eleanor|date=2014|website=|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601001752/http://doing-fine.com:80/?p=1039 |archive-date=2012-06-01 |access-date=2019-09-26}}
Davis's work has also been included in five issues of Fantagraphics' anthology MOME as well as Houghton Mifflin's Best American Comics in 2008.{{Cite web |url=http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/eleanor-davis.html?vmcchk=1 |title=Fantagraphics author page |access-date=2014-09-13 |archive-date=2015-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329004916/http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/eleanor-davis.html?vmcchk=1 |url-status=dead }}
Her easy-reader book, Stinky, was published in 2008 by Françoise Mouly's Toon Books and won an ALA Geisel Honor Award, a Booklist's Notable Children's Books Award, and the Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year in 2009 as well as the Association for Library Service to Children's Graphic Novels Reading List award in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.toon-books.com/stinky.html|title = Stinky | Level 2 TOON Book}} The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook, published by Bloomsbury Children's in 2009, was a collaborative book created with husband Drew Weing, who inked Davis' illustrations. In 2009, she won the Eisner's Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award and was named one of Print magazine's New Visual Artists.[http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2014/upcoming-eleanor-davis-how-to-be-happy/ "Upcoming: Eleanor Davis' How to Be Happy.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914025419/http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2014/upcoming-eleanor-davis-how-to-be-happy/ |date=2014-09-14 }} Forbidden Planet. April 19, 2014. In 2013, her short story In Our Eden received a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators.[http://www.societyillustrators.org/The-Museum/2013/SUMI/Illustrators-55--Part-One.aspx "Society of Illustrators award announcement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914043649/http://www.societyillustrators.org/The-Museum/2013/SUMI/Illustrators-55--Part-One.aspx |date=2014-09-14 }}. January 2013.
In August 2014, Fantagraphics published Davis' first collection of stories How to Be Happy. Slate described the collection: "a mix of evocative, geometric watercolors and fluid pen-and-ink cartoons, How to Be Happy tells stories of sad people, lonely people, strong people, confident people, all trying to find a tiny bit of happiness in life."Kois, Dan. [http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/07/eleanor_davis_cartoon_collection_how_to_be_happy_reviewed.html "How to Be Happy."] Slate. July 2014. Upon publication, comics critic Richard Bruton described Davis as "without question, a major young creator."Bruton, Richard (April 19, 2014). [http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2014/upcoming-eleanor-davis-how-to-be-happy/ "Upcoming: Eleanor Davis' How to Be Happy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914025419/http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2014/upcoming-eleanor-davis-how-to-be-happy/ |date=2014-09-14 }}. Forbidden Planet International.
Her 2017 graphic novel You & a Bike & a Road, published by Koyama Press, won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Anthology or Collection.Koyama Press. [http://koyamapress.com/projects/you-a-bike-a-road/ Koyama Press >> You & a Bike & a Road] Koyama Press. May 2017.
In March 2018, Fantagraphics published Why Art?, a graphic novel in which Davis examines the concept of art.Fantagraphics . [http://www.fantagraphics.com/whyart/ Artists :: Eleanor Davis :: Why Art?] Fantagraphics. 2018. Her most recent graphic novel, The Hard Tomorrow, published by Drawn and Quarterly, was released in October 2019.{{Cite book|url=https://www.drawnandquarterly.com/hard-tomorrow|title=The Hard Tomorrow|date=2018-12-13|language=en}}
Davis has taught comic book storytelling summer classes at the University of Georgia.[http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/youth/summer-academy/comic-book "Comic Book Camp A: Beginning & Intermediate"]. University of Georgia. Retrieved September 16, 2014.{{Cite news |last=Gallant |first=Andre |title=Young cartoonists learn skills from pros |language=en-US |work=Athens Banner-Herald |url=https://www.onlineathens.com/story/news/state/2012/06/08/young-cartoonists-learn-skills-pros/15607944007/ |access-date=2022-10-12}}
Personal life
Davis lives and works in Athens, Georgia, with fellow cartoonist and husband Drew Weing.Vigneault, François (2014). [http://www.scoutbooks.com/artist-profile-eleanor-davis/ "Scout Books Artist Profile: Eleanor Davis".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914032615/http://www.scoutbooks.com/artist-profile-eleanor-davis/ |date=2014-09-14 }} 2014.
Selected works
- Stinky. Toon Books. (2008) {{ISBN|0979923840}}
- The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook. (2009) Bloomsbury. {{ISBN|1599903962}}.
- How to Be Happy. Fantagraphics. (2014) {{ISBN|1606997408}}.
- You & a Bike & a Road. Koyama Press. (2017) {{ISBN|9781927668405}}.
- Why Art? Fantagraphics. (2018) {{ISBN|9781683960829}}.
- The Hard Tomorrow. Drawn and Quarterly. (2019) {{ISBN|978-1770463738}}.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official}}
- {{LCAuth|n2008073361|Eleanor Davis|8|}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150905235857/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/06/talking-comics-with-tim-eleanor-davis-on-how-to-be-happy/ "Talking Comics with Tim: Eleanor Davis on How to Be Happy" (June 30, 2014)] by Tim O'Shea, Comic Book Resources (CBR.org, archived 2015-09-05)
{{Russ Manning Award}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Eleanor}}
Category:American women illustrators
Category:Alternative cartoonists
Category:American female comics artists
Category:American female comics writers