Alex Graudins
LightNews LightNews
banner
toonyballoony.bsky.social
Alex Graudins
@toonyballoony.bsky.social
2.8K followers 790 following 1.7K posts
she/they, hermit cartoonist
-creator of graphic memoir Improve
-artist for Science Comics: The Brain and History Comics: The Great Chicago Fire
🎨 toonyart.com
Rep'd by Charlie Olsen @ Inkwell Management
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
toonyballoony.bsky.social
Alex Graudins @toonyballoony.bsky.social · Oct 18
Hi BSky! I’m Alex Graudins, a cartoonist and comic artist always open for short-term work. I like DCOMs, write about topics like loneliness and asexuality, and talk way too much about my D&D party and not nearly enough about my own characters. ✌️💖

🎨 toonyart.com
💻 patreon.com/alexgraudins
The cover for the graphic memoir IMPROVE: How I Discovered Improv and Conquered Social Anxiety by Alex Graudins Alex stands on a wobbly stool, trying to grab the “E” in the title, resembling a lit-up marquee letters, which is noticeably dark. She is in front of a brick wall, illuminated by a circle, making the rest of the wall look dark blue. A box of props sits next to the stool. A blue-toned illustration of a rocky landscape. In the foreground, on a hill beyond bushes of flowers, an adventurer with a walking stick and big backpack has a hand stationed above their eyes to see three shooting stars better. In front of them is an older adventurer, one hand on his backpack strap and the other pointing at the aforementioned stars. In the negative space between the adventurers and the stars is the script “surviving is enough.” A brightly colored illustration of multiple photos spread out and overlapping one another, each depicting their own scenes. In the middle, with more detailed shading, the Bone Squad teens pose in their freshly picked party outfits. Other photos include Noname spewing soda from their ears and nose after mixing it with Pop Rocks at the lunch table, Robertcat and Birthday Wizard smiling, Rollo with a birthday cake, Jonathan and Darsi toking it up at a party, Piper and Darsi posing in front of a bathroom mirror, Jonathan doing a sweet kick flip and Tom wojak-pointing in amazement, Bruce performing at the school variety show with Piper on bass, a Piper duck-face selfie, and Noname, Robertcat, and Roll asleep on one another in what looks like the back of a vehicle.
Reposted by Alex Graudins
haradoshin.bsky.social
Bring this energy with you int 2026 (yes this is a threat)
Tumblr post that says “the world isn’t kind” OK???much more importantly are you? “the world isn’t kind” skill issue. I am “the world isn’t kind” not yet it isn’t. This is a threat.
December 18, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
cathygjohn.bsky.social
Providence Student Union released a statement addressing a lot of the things I've been concerned about being a reactionary response to the Brown shooting: lockdown drills can be harmful, we need school psychologists more than we need cops in schools. www.instagram.com/p/DSYAeSDjpG...
December 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
enbyexmachina.bsky.social
Call your senators when you can, folks. It's late for a lot of the US, but the fight's not over.
aclu.org ACLU @aclu.org · 1d
BREAKING: The House of Representatives passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 18 and put doctors in prison for providing this care.

This bill is an unjustifiable threat to the well-being of trans youth and their families. The Senate must reject it.
December 18, 2025 at 12:42 AM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
I have so much shit to draw before the holidays but my brain is too fried from the sickies to do anything, being forced to rest STINKS
low res jpg of Homer Simpson lying in bed with the covers up to his nose, looking angry
December 18, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
nilahmagruder.com
I do not want to use genAI I want employers to treat me like a living breathing person.
December 17, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
katyfarina.bsky.social
I am begging us all to get comfortable being bad at creativity.

You gotta be shit at something and you gotta practice because the process of Making will feed your soul so, so much
December 17, 2025 at 5:13 PM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
in case you’re wondering where my holiday spirit’s at these days, today my psychiatrist told me to pop on a christmas movie bc I‘m “sounding grinch-like” 😅
December 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
on day 3 of this cold and I’m real sick of being sick 🥲
December 16, 2025 at 10:02 PM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
ughh I was dreading this

any seven seas sailors wanna hook a gal up with some files? ‘cause only 3 seasons exist on DVD…
toonhive.bsky.social ToonHive @toonhive.bsky.social · 2d
‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’ is scheduled to leave Netflix on February 21, 2026.

(source: www.whats-on-netflix.com/leaving-soon...)
December 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
krisdobbinsart.bsky.social
✨ COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN AGAIN ✨

I've taken a very sudden financial hit and need to open commissions back up again. Please let me draw stuff for you!!

artistree.io/krisdobbinsart
December 16, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
quietsnooze.bsky.social
Artists support artists advent calendar day 16:

Alex’s enthusiasm is so infectious! Their characters are always teeming with life in every illustration and comic panel, and the way their stories are shared are glimpses at a rich internal world. I asked for her book for Xmas and can’t wait to read!
toonyballoony.bsky.social Alex Graudins @toonyballoony.bsky.social · Oct 18
Hi BSky! I’m Alex Graudins, a cartoonist and comic artist always open for short-term work. I like DCOMs, write about topics like loneliness and asexuality, and talk way too much about my D&D party and not nearly enough about my own characters. ✌️💖

🎨 toonyart.com
💻 patreon.com/alexgraudins
The cover for the graphic memoir IMPROVE: How I Discovered Improv and Conquered Social Anxiety by Alex Graudins Alex stands on a wobbly stool, trying to grab the “E” in the title, resembling a lit-up marquee letters, which is noticeably dark. She is in front of a brick wall, illuminated by a circle, making the rest of the wall look dark blue. A box of props sits next to the stool. A blue-toned illustration of a rocky landscape. In the foreground, on a hill beyond bushes of flowers, an adventurer with a walking stick and big backpack has a hand stationed above their eyes to see three shooting stars better. In front of them is an older adventurer, one hand on his backpack strap and the other pointing at the aforementioned stars. In the negative space between the adventurers and the stars is the script “surviving is enough.” A brightly colored illustration of multiple photos spread out and overlapping one another, each depicting their own scenes. In the middle, with more detailed shading, the Bone Squad teens pose in their freshly picked party outfits. Other photos include Noname spewing soda from their ears and nose after mixing it with Pop Rocks at the lunch table, Robertcat and Birthday Wizard smiling, Rollo with a birthday cake, Jonathan and Darsi toking it up at a party, Piper and Darsi posing in front of a bathroom mirror, Jonathan doing a sweet kick flip and Tom wojak-pointing in amazement, Bruce performing at the school variety show with Piper on bass, a Piper duck-face selfie, and Noname, Robertcat, and Roll asleep on one another in what looks like the back of a vehicle.
December 16, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
sabtherobot.bsky.social
Hey! I make characters!
I got hit by layoffs this year and Im currently looking for my next opportunity! If youre looking for some character art Id really love making some 3D people for you🫵!

#artvartist #artvartist2025
December 15, 2025 at 5:00 PM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
woke up terribly sick and honestly I’m more upset that it makes me ineligible to donate blood today 😢 if you’re able, please consider going to a blood bank, regardless of your location! donations are always needed
December 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
cathygjohn.bsky.social
Something I do want to point out is they used city RIPTA buses to transport students safely out of the area. A bus system that many people in our city government have been trying to gut. Buses are a public good that need to be protected.
December 14, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
sarabrinton.bsky.social
I am a PhD student at Brown University. As our community is still in the middle of this crisis, there are ways to help that go beyond thoughts and prayers.

A friend who works at RIBC said there is an urgent need for blood donations. In RI? Sign up to donate blood to RIBC: www.ribc.org/donate-blood/
Donate Blood
Check your eligibility to donate blood, learn about the process and why blood matters, and enroll in a RIBC Donor Loyalty Rewards programs.
www.ribc.org
December 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
Spent all day away from my phone making lovely little crafts with friends only to come back to the horrible Brown shooting news. I‘m not in Providence but the proximity has me sick to my stomach. Keeping an ear out for more ways to help for now, but forever livid this is the new normal.
December 14, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
jeleynai.bsky.social
"I wish all companies insisting on AI a very bankruptcy"
December 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
a better look at the zine now that MICE is over! 🎨✨
The front and back cover of a one-page foldout zine. The front cover, of Alex with sunglasses and headphones in an arms-crossed DJ-esque pose, sits on the nightside due to file/folding formatting. Its titled MY* 2025 MUSIC RECAP *Alex Graudins The back cover is a continuation of the song list, this time being Songs That Have Music Videos in My Head. These include What You Waiting For? by Gwen Stefani, 1800 by bbno$, and Perfect Pinterest Garden by Porter Robinson. A chibi Alex with headphones bobs her head while sitting and drawing on her iPad. @toonyballoony / toonyart.com / Made for MICE 2025 A spread from a one-page foldout zine. Left: A doodle of a nervous Alex includes a stamp-like border with the text “N-no judgement, okay??? I’m being vulnerable!” Alex’s persona rests her arm on a speech bubble: “The YouTube Music recap this year looks ugly as hell and I didn’t feel like it accurately represented my jams…so here’s a zine of stuff I just liked listening to in 2025!” Right: A mock notebook page with tape atop reading “New discoveries”. The list mentions bands in type and songs in handwriting: Radiohead (Iron Lung, High. Dry), The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt 2), The Front Bottoms (Rhode Island, Lonely Eyes), Cheekface (Sucked Out, Art House, Ted Talk City), They Might Be Giants* well more of their catalog (Ana Ng, I Should Be Allowed to Think) An embarrassed Alex offers the disclaimer, “…ya’ll gotta understand, for many years I only listened to Disney Channel pop, emo, and anime OPs…” A spread from a one-page foldout zine. The title FAVORITE ALBUMS stretches across both pages. On the left are sketched recreations of album covers, and on the right are stylized illustrations of Elphaba from Wicked and Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters. SMILE! :D —Porter Robinson *a more pop-punk vibe than his usual work, with heavy exploration of fan/artist relationships in today’s parasocial internet culture Tunnel Vision —Beach Bunny *refreshingly cathartic in its themes of growing older and being disappointed by the state of the world, wrapped in bubbly beats The Dancefloor at the End of the World —Tom Cardy *the funny internet man never fails to get me giggling, these songs have no right going as hard as they do (And OF COURSE I bumped the Wicked and K-Pop Demon Hunteres soundtracks repeatedly) A spread from a one-page foldout zine. Left: A mock notebook page with the handwritten title SOME SONGS I LISTENED TO A WHOLE BUNCH *Take Me With You —Neck Deep *All I Wanted (ft Mark Hoppus) —Avril Lavigne *cool —Michael Clifford *please put me in a medically induced coma —carolesdaughter *Different —Maggie Lindemann *Spiraling Shape —They Might Be Giants *Year of the Optimist —Beach Bunny *Locals (Girls like us) —underscores & gabby start *JOYRIDE. —Kesha *The Toybox —The Stupendous *Hokus Pokus —Insane Clown Posse Beneath this last bullet is a doodle of Alex dressed as a clown, with the speech bubble, “Uhh I can explain—“ Right: bubbly letters spell out MY TOP SONG. A chibi Alex holds out an overside hand, in which a threshold filter version of the Reset single album cover by Nick Lutsko sits. Beneath is a text box reading: “A pal worked on the music video and it stuck with me real quick. A perfect song formatting AMVs in your head and very relatable lyrics if you, too, feel in a rut and/or crave change…”
December 10, 2025 at 1:18 AM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
I was lucky enough to attend a few MICE panels this year! I love listening to cartoonists talk about their work 😊 🎨✨
Two photos of sketchbook pages combined into one due to the continuing subject matter. Rough sketches of panelists Aatmaja Pandya, Adam Syzm, Laura Terry, and Ned Wolfe, often holding microphones and sitting in plush swivel chairs, with various speech bubble quotes. (Apologies for the poor likenesses, you can tell I was still waking up during this morning panel…) Text and quotes read: 12/7/15 MICE PRO[FESSIONAL] PRACTICES PANEL, “Different Paths to the Industry” Ned: “I made a name for myself in doing a very niche thing.” “Making comics = making it in comics” Adam: “Self-publishing is a beautiful thing. Don’t feel rushed to be published.” “The audience you find online doesn’t equate to the audience you sell to at shows.” “Make the thing you wanna make and show them the finished product. It’s there. Take it or leave it.” “Do it for your own sake.” Laura: “Figure out what your voice is and find your home for it.” “I have two co-working days” Aatmaja: “Get a retail job and put all your effort into your passion project.” A photo of a sketchbook spread with various sketches of ND Stevenson—mostly from the back, bc my view was obstructed by the podium—and interviewer Brigid Alverson, both often drawn holding mics. Speech bubble quotes include: 1. “[During pandemic, after She-Ra, I was] struggling to find my voice again…so I went back to my first love. (Scarlet Morning.)” 2. B: “What was it like cracking it open again?” ND: “I was like, ‘If it’s bad I’ll cry…’” 3. “Prose is more a contract with the reader. It was a total reprogramming. So many new dimensions I haven’t worked with before.” 4. “I tried to use text in a visual way whenever I could.” 5. Comics [unlike movies] became more, ‘What does a line hold?’ A small mark can say so much.” 6. “[Like Viola] I was interested in the adults around me. Like, “Where are you going? Is it to get…a divorce?!” (sfx: HA HA HA) 7. ND: “It would be five years until I could put [being trans] into words…but I could see myself working it out on the page before then, in comics.” B: “It’s how you process things.” 8. “How do we try to write down our histories and make sure they don’t die out?” 9. “I didn’t think I was a writer until comics. I tricked myself into writing by thinking I was only drawing pictures.” “The quickest way to kill your passion is to write like someone else, or the good you in your head.”
December 8, 2025 at 5:12 AM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
-sobbing- I love comics and people who make comics!!!
December 7, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
toonyballoony.bsky.social
If you're at MICE this weekend, I'll have copies of the Bone Squad art book at table 51, alongside other incredible work from the Spin Rack Comics Collective! 😁 Come see the proof I've still been drawing, I'm just slow on the comics front, haha
the cover of Bone Squad Rulez: 2018-2024 D&D Art by Alex Graudins A map of MICE, with a star around table 51. A spinrack mascot stands in the bottom right corner next to text reading "Find the Spin Rack Collective at booth 51!"
December 5, 2025 at 7:52 PM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
the Youtube Music recap this year was so ugly and felt so inaccurate that I made my own zine version out of spite in just 2 days, lol
a photo of a stack of folded one page zines printed on orange paper. One is propped up and another splayed out. The cover reads My 2025 Music Recap and features Alex in a DJ-inspired pose. The spread lists Favorite Albums, with sketches of Elphaba from Wicked and Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters.
December 6, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
binaryandlove.bsky.social
Finishing prep for mice tomorrow!
December 5, 2025 at 3:11 PM
toonyballoony.bsky.social
If you're at MICE this weekend, I'll have copies of the Bone Squad art book at table 51, alongside other incredible work from the Spin Rack Comics Collective! 😁 Come see the proof I've still been drawing, I'm just slow on the comics front, haha
the cover of Bone Squad Rulez: 2018-2024 D&D Art by Alex Graudins A map of MICE, with a star around table 51. A spinrack mascot stands in the bottom right corner next to text reading "Find the Spin Rack Collective at booth 51!"
December 5, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Alex Graudins
theotherhappyplace.bsky.social
It's not our fault the whole scene is A MESS. If you are an artist too you aren't failing. The whole industry is getting messed up right now!!

I know a lot of the times I feel like "why am I not good enough?"

We are good enough. they are trying to hire NOBODY
pamwishbow.bsky.social Pam Wishbow @pamwishbow.bsky.social · 14d
For those not in those circles, I just need to remind you that losing a job to AI is not a vibes based idea. We are being told explicitly by art directors that we are being weighed against AI for jobs, people on teams fighting against the AD and you. It sucks. It’s demoralizing.
December 4, 2025 at 10:53 PM