Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Edith, and I'm an artist and writer. I send out a hand-drawn newsletter called Drawing Links, with comics and stories from my life. (Here's a recent sample.) I also illustrate The Small Bow, a newsletter about recovery and addiction. And I post drawings and comics on Instagram, too!
In the past I ran the website The Hairpin, and I've written for The Cut, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Apartment Therapy, and The Awl.
My greatest hits online have probably been the blog post Women Laughing Alone With Salad, which became a meme, and a GQ profile of Chris Evans in which I got super drunk. Also a comic on Imgur about menstrual cups!
What hardware do you use?
I draw every morning using pen and pencil on paper. I use Pigma Micron Pens (sizes 01 and 03), black Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Markers (in Bold and Big Brush), and Staedtler ergosoft colored pencils (the 12-pack). For paper, I use Borden & Riley #234 Paris Paper for Pens, in a 9x12" pad. Afterward I scan in what I like and tweak it on my laptop. I have a Canon CanoScan LiDE220 scanner (I always boost the exposure to get the background white), and a 2017 MacBook Air.
I can fit the whole set-up into my backpack pretty quickly, which is great because I like to be portable. The backpack is from Patagonia, and I've been using it since 2015. It's excellent!
And what software?
I tweak the comics on my MacBook in Preview, the application that comes with the computer. I keep thinking I'll eventually get Photoshop, but so far I've been able to do everything I need on Preview.
What would be your dream setup?
A wooden desk in a bright room with nice windows looking out onto something natural -- trees, sky, maybe a birdfeeder? There would be plenty of shelves and lots of empty space. It would be quiet, warmish, and close to a source of coffee. It would also be where I keep all my yarn (I love to knit), so maybe there wouldn't be so much empty space after all...