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nilahmagruder.com
I actually did a few more passes before we settled on the final design. I sketched these years ago, way before the book was done, but as we neared completion I wanted to take another crack at the designs, which is what you see in the post above!

#nilafflepub
A page with three thumbnail sketches for the cover of Creaky Acres. A girl rides a horse and together they jump toward the viewer. In the sketches, there are supporting characters in the background watching the girl and horse jump. A page with two thumbnail sketches for the cover of Creaky Acres. A group of kids face the viewer in smile. In one sketch, the girl in the center stands close to a horse, also smiling.
January 7, 2025 at 2:09 AM
nilahmagruder.com
Drawing comics has exactly one redeeming quality and it's that every now and then I get to draw a silly face

#nilafflepub
Digital sketch of a girl lifting her face from the ground - she has left an imprint of her face in the dirt - and spitting dirt out of her mouth.
December 22, 2024 at 10:02 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Looking too far back in my art folders means looking at all the art I did when I was trying to become a picture book illustrator.

Art directors would say "make it more commercial" but couldn't explain what "commercial" meant. It was a really frustrating time.

#nilafflepub
A digital illustration by Nilah Magruder. Two children stand under a gray, snowy sky. The older girl fixes a scarf around her little brother's neck. The little brother is in a puffy coat so puffy that his arms stick straight out at his sides, unable to bend. A digital illustration by Nilah Magruder. A little girl crouches on a gray, rainy day, in rain boots and matching coat wearing a backpack. She holds a giant red umbrella over her own head and over two mice sitting in a leaf like a boat, being carried along a moving stream of water.
January 3, 2024 at 1:54 PM
nilahmagruder.com
CREAKY ACRES hits bookstores four months from today! For fun, here are some sketches I did for the cover. I wanted Nora and her pal Hay Fever to be front and center, happy and confident.

Creaky Acres is available for preorder! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/558467...

#nilafflepub
A page showing four thumbnail sketches of cover ideas for Creaky Acres. Each sketch features a smiling girl riding or leading a horse.
January 7, 2025 at 2:05 AM
nilahmagruder.com
whaddaya mean it's the 35th anniversary of The Little Mermaid

#nilafflepub
A digital re-painting of a still from the "Part of Your World" song from Disney's The Little Mermaid. A Black mermaid with red dreadlocks swims smiles as she twirls in an underwater cavern, accompanied by a yellow and purple fish.
November 18, 2024 at 2:28 AM
nilahmagruder.com
This year I published a story (as N. Romaine White) about a vampire whose clan make her an offer she should probably refuse.

I was inspired after reading BURN IT DOWN by Maureen Ryan and my own experiences in Hollywood. The story is funny bcuz we must laugh to keep from crying.

#nilafflepub
fiyahlitmag.bsky.social FIYAH Literary Magazine @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social · Feb 16
Carolyn finds herself face-to-face with the leader of her undead clan, entirely ignorant of why she was summoned to his office. Is it possible to die of shame and embarrassment when you’re already dead? Check out: "D.E.I. (Death, Eternity, and Inclusion)" - N. Romaine White
Snippet from "D.E.I (Death, Eternetiy, and Inclusion)" by N. Romaine White in white text on an olive background. Below reads: Read issue NO. 29 at FiyahLitMag.com in same formate. Behind the text is a snippet of the issue NO. 29 cover.
November 26, 2024 at 5:47 PM
nilahmagruder.com
And now I take a break. I have text to add to a few pages but I'm not going to start inking until March. Gives me time to rest and also focus on other things. #nilafflepub
Screen cap of a folder of image thumbnails in grid format. The thumbnails represent files for a 265-page graphic novel.
January 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I am suddenly fully invested in this group of emotional teens that appear on 5-6 pages in the middle of the book to further the main character's development and are never heard from again.

#comics #graphicnovels #wip #nilafflepub #reellove
A sketched spread in progress from the upcoming graphic novel REEL LOVE. The main character, a twelve-year-old girl, watches as a group of teen boys and girls help their friends work through a breakup in the middle of a country diner.
November 15, 2024 at 3:08 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Four teen girls are goin' through it in a country diner and our intrepid acearo hero has just discovered she's going to have to sit through an untold number of love songs before the jukebox plays her request. #comics #graphicnovels #nilafflepub
A sketch comic page. The main character, a 12-year-old girl, selects Tag Team's "Whoomp! There It Is" on a diner jukebox. The jukebox, however, plays Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight." The girl turns to her mother and says: this isn't the song I requested! Mother replies: it's a queue. Everyone requests music at their tables and the big jukebox plays it in the corner.
November 14, 2024 at 3:53 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I was invited to contribute to FIERY DEEPS, part of a sapphic fantasy anthology series, and it's on sale now! My story (by N. Romaine White) is about when you accidentally fall out of love with your job and in love with a dragon. #nilafflepub

www.spacewizardsciencefantasy.com/book/fiery-d...
Book cover for Fiery Deeps, a science fiction/fantasy story anthology. A woman, dark hair in a ponytail wearing a T-shirt and form-fitting pants stands on a rock with her back to the viewer. She is surrounded by rock, gears, and flames. Before her, in the distance, is an expanse of lava, a volcano, and a phoenix flying in the sky. Text reads: FIERY DEEPS: Ten Stories of Underground Caverns, Fantastic Technology, and Female Power Edited by J.S. Fields and Heather Tracy With stories by: Rosiee Thor, Maya Gittleman, N. Romaine White, Sara Codair, William C. Tracy, N.L. Bates, Robin C.M. Duncan, Dee Lyle, Heather Tracy, and J.S. Fields
December 29, 2024 at 6:12 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I posted this Persona 4 fanart on DeviantArt and someone commented, "Don't you think this is too violent for the tone of the game?" BRUH the game is 40+ hours of killing monsters and solving murders! 😭

I wanted to do a whole "versus" series but didn't get around to it lol.

🦊🐎
#nilafflepub
A Persona 4 fanart illustration by Nilah Magruder. The image is divided into two panels with "VS!!" superimposed over the middle gutter. In the top panel, Chie has her fists up, cuts and scrapes on her knuckles and face. She's grinning. In the bottom panel, Yosuke is similarly grinning, wearing cracked glasses and a bloody nose, spinning sharp blades in his hands.
January 3, 2024 at 2:08 PM
nilahmagruder.com
It took me forever to find that holiday card and now I'm just digging around in folders I forgot I had. This is back from my webcomic days. I miss these kids. #nilafflepub
A digital wallpaper illustration. Two teenagers walk across a desert in a wide shot, their figures small. Super-imposed over the landscape are two vertical images showing a closer shot of each child's face.
December 24, 2024 at 11:14 PM
nilahmagruder.com
#artvsartist #nilafflepub
Nine-panel grid of several ink drawings of cartoon horses with a photo of a real horse in the center.
December 16, 2024 at 12:47 AM
nilahmagruder.com
Whoopsie, after proofing and approving all the art for CREAKY ACRES, I caught a mistake on the cover and made the team let me revise it lol. I CRAVE PERFECTION.

Drawn by me, colored by @boxfulthoughts.bsky.social! Coming May 2025!

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/558467...

#nilafflepub
Full-color cover illustration for upcoming graphic novel Creaky Acres. A 10-year-old Black girl wearing black helmet, black blazer, tan riding pants, and black boots sits astride a light brown horse. The girl is smiling at camera. The horse looks up at the girl fondly.
November 13, 2024 at 6:19 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I am drawing like the wind to meet my deadline.

I rather like this pair of panels.

#comics #graphicnovels #nilafflepub
A sketch of two panels of a comic page. Four teen boys walk through a diner entrance. Four teen girls eye the boys entering with concern and annoyance.
November 14, 2024 at 3:49 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I sold a short story! D.E.I. (Death, Eternity, and Inclusion)! D.E.I. is what happens when you read Maureen Ryan's BURN IT DOWN and also ask yourself, "Why are mainstream vampires always white?"

Check out D.E.I. and other excellent stories in FIYAH Magazine Issue 29!

🦊🐎
#nilafflepub
fiyahlitmag.bsky.social FIYAH Literary Magazine @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social · Jan 1
Happy New Year Folks!

#FIYAHLitMag issue no. 29 edited by Nelson Rolon is now available for only $3.99.

🎨: Jordan Penland
✍🏾: Olumide Manuel, Jo Telle. P.C. Veronne, Carol B. Duncan, & N. Romaine White.

Start the new year off right: fiyahlitmag.com/issues/issue...
Issue #29
Visit the post for more.
fiyahlitmag.com
January 3, 2024 at 3:50 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I've been drawing fish and mermaids for 84 years and I needed a breather

#nilafflepub
A digital drawing by Nilah Magruder. A Black woman with short black hair and pointed ears looks over her shoulder. Her hand is on the back of her neck and a sword and scabbard hang from her left side from a belt. She wears a yellow jacket with blue stripes down the sleeves, orange pants cropped mid-calf, and sneakers.
February 10, 2025 at 10:39 PM
nilahmagruder.com
It's a "semi-autobiographical" graphic memoir so there are some parts I made up for the sake of a satisfying story arc.

But this

the best scene in the book

this is 1000% real.

....I also was not clear in the script about how to draw this section so that's gonna be fun.

#nilafflepub
A screen cap of a panel from the script of REEL LOVE, an upcoming graphic novel. Text reads: They look out across the water. They see the two ducks, but the problem is not immediately clear. DUCK: QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK NILAH: Wait a minute. . . .
December 24, 2024 at 12:34 AM
nilahmagruder.com
This is my graphic memoir REEL LOVE, based on my pre-teen years, and this part of the story is absolutely brutal.

#nilafflepub
A sketched panel from an in-progress graphic novel. The line of a fishing rod with sinker, bobber, and worm on a hook flies through the air. "Voiceover" dialogue in the panel reads: I didn't... I shouldn't have... I'm sorry.
December 23, 2024 at 11:17 PM
nilahmagruder.com
A snapshot of my high school days.

You remember that TV commercial from the 1990s inviting you to send away for an art test? Yes, I did it, and I was an Art Instruction Schools student.

🦊🐎
#nilafflepub
Photo of the front of a large letter envelope sent by Art Instruction Schools. Crude Sailormoon-style pencil drawings are doodled on the envelope.
January 3, 2024 at 4:18 PM
nilahmagruder.com
just a ton of work doodles in this folder #nilafflepub
digital sketch in grayscale of a girl with long, flowing white hair, eyes closed digital sketch in black and white of a woman's face, side profile, with curly hair digital sketch of an anthropomorphic fox wearing a hoodie, a braided rat tail, and piercings in one ear digital sketch of a sloth perched on a tree branch
December 24, 2024 at 11:24 PM
nilahmagruder.com
I love an opportunity to draw knights in armor! #nilafflepub
fiyahlitmag.bsky.social FIYAH Literary Magazine @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social · Nov 26
🙌🏾🙌🏾
and lest folks forget
FIYAH magazine #17 cover art featuring two warrior women snuggled while riding an elk
November 26, 2024 at 9:00 PM
nilahmagruder.com
One of my upcoming projects is REEL LOVE, a graphic memoir about my childhood, asexuality, and fishing. I'm just getting started on pencils. Please enjoy the best panel I've ever drawn.

🦊🐎
#nilafflepub
A sketch of a comic page from the upcoming graphic novel REEL LOVE. A 12-year-old girl steps onto a school bus and looks out the window. She sees her best friend kissing a classmate right outside the school building. She grimaces so hard her face looks like an old man's.
January 6, 2024 at 12:45 AM
nilahmagruder.com
"Motivated flour sack jump" assignment from my sophomore year of art school, in which I overdid it by leagues bcuz I really enjoyed animating the traditional way.

Unfortunately I was in a 3D animation program ahahahahaha. #nilafflepub
December 9, 2024 at 1:14 AM
nilahmagruder.com
Mad that this was working well enough as a sketch but then fell apart when I started refining it ahahahaha WHICH IS WHY I NEVER FINISH ANYTHING

#nilafflepub
Digital sketch of an angry woman running toward the viewer with what could one day be a sword but at the moment is a line sketched with the shape tool
January 23, 2025 at 7:12 PM