


Gilded Lilies (2006) is Tamaki's first published book and is a collection of Tamaki's illustrations and comic strips. Being shaped by feminism and race, her work aims to include diverse characters that readers can better identify with. She is interested in the female experience and viewing women as whole human beings in an industry that often sexualized women’s bodies. In multiple interviews, Tamaki explains that her identity shapes the lens that she sees through, but she does not make conscious effort to work these themes into her illustrations and designs. She also grew up in an area of Canada where she was the only mixed-race child in her school. She also worked on boarding for the popular television show " Adventure Time ".Īs a self-proclaimed feminist, Tamaki is often questioned about the role this plays in her work. Tamaki often acknowledges her influences as inspirations for beginning her work as they helped her learn the basics of cartooning. She began making mini-comics after graduating in 2003, and her very first mini-comic appears in her first book, Gilded Lilies, which was published in 2006. Some of her favorite comics during this time include Bipolar by Tomer Hanuka and Asaf Hanuka, a few Drawn & Quarterly artists including Julie Doucet, Chester Brown, Seth, Michel Rabagliati, as well as books by Will Eisner. Her interest in alternative and indie comics began while she attended college. In high school she made zines for fun, but she had stopped reading comics after outgrowing Archie. Her parents also had anthologies of other popular comics, including Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and Herman.

She submitted outfit designs into contests for Betty & Veronica comics.

Tamaki read Archie comics and newspaper strips as a child. Jillian Tamaki photographed in 2017 in Montréal, Québec, Canada at the Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore.
