How to Draw (Mental Health): An Interview with Keezy Young

Keezy Young chats about their powerhouse book Sunflowers, making autobio comics, changing the narrative about how mental health is represented in art, and more.

Howdy, friend.

Ooh wee, this is a special one. I recently discovered Keezy Young’s work: their autobiographical book Sunflowers was published online for FREE by publisher Silver Sprocket in honor of World Bipolar Day. I was floored by the openness of the narrative, Keezy’s life laid bare before us like that, but also by the dynamic illustrations and how the form communicated their story in a way—I’m convinced—a traditional book would not be able to capture.

A panel from Sunflowers

I’ve spent a lot of space in this newsletter talking about mental health in comics (previously: navigating our traumas in our work; learning to draw yourself when dealing with body dysmorphia)—what the form brings to the table, how it can be a buffer between creator and hard truths, allowing for art and story to take the spotlight. Think about it like this: Sometimes, we’re ready to talk about these difficult parts of ourselves, but the stark reality of seeing your issues in plain text, can be a deterrent. This is where comics swoop in.

Rather than just hearing from me, I thought it prudent to talk to Keezy directly about their work and what it means to make autobiographical comics dealing with mental health. Below is our conversation; I hope you’ll find something to connect with here as I have. And, seriously, check out Sunflowers: it’s an important, powerful read.

If this is your first time visiting How to Draw, a hearty welcome. You can check out our archive of posts here. And if you haven’t already, please consider subscribing so you don’t miss a thing.

Take care of yourself, friend. ♡

– RJR

The following interview took place in April 2024.

Keezy Young is a queer cartoonist and illustrator from the Pacific Northwest, currently in Seattle, WA. They create young adult graphic novels and short comics, including their first book, Taproot (Oni-Press; 2017/2022), and their second book, Hello Sunshine (Little, Brown; 2025), as well as several short comics and artbooks such as Sunflowers (Silver Sprocket; 2024), I Only Have Eyes For You Dear (2023), the July Fashion Issue (Beyond Press; 2020), and Smoke (2018). Keezy is represented by Kurestin Armada at Root Literary.

Robert James Russell: Why comics?

Keezy Young: I’ve always loved drawing, and my art always had some kind of story connected to it, whether it was just a one-off illustration or a repeating character. I also grew up reading comics, everything from Calvin and Hobbes to Spider-Man and X-Men, and later manga like Fullmetal Alchemist. We didn’t have a comic shop in my hometown, but I read anything I could get my hands on. So I think in some ways making comics was inevitable—it’s where I’ve always been headed, on some level! 

I made my first comic in high school (it was fully a Naruto knockoff), and didn’t really try again until I was in my early 20s. Taproot (my first graphic novel) was actually only my second complete comic project, believe it or not. But working on Taproot was what made me realize that comics is exactly where I want to be, and where I belong, and I’ve never looked back. 

RJR: Sunflowers details your mental health journey while educating readers about living with bipolar disorder and its common misconceptions. What inspired you to make this?

KY: It was a little bit of catharsis, a little bit of reaching out to others like me (and to those without the illness who just want to understand), and a little bit of wanting to do what I can to combat the misconceptions around the illness, which are rampant. Most people truly don’t know what bipolar disorder is, even if they think they do, and it’s frustrating trying to navigate a world where people misunderstand you so badly! 

But mainly I decided to make this comic because…I can talk about this stuff all day long on social media, or even in person, but comics are how I communicate best, and I think comics are an easier format to have that conversation in a lot of ways. I was able to put stuff in Sunflowers that I haven’t even ever discussed with my parents or siblings. When I decided to be open about my diagnosis, it was a way of being more myself, and of growing closer to the people who know me, so this was just another step in that process (which I’m guessing will be a lifelong thing). 

RJR: Sunflowers is beautiful and harrowing, using your dynamic linework and color palette to tell us unabashedly about you. Did you have any anxiety about being so open on the page? If so, how did you overcome this?

KY: I tried to be as honest as possible and not shy away from the more difficult aspects of the illness, but there’s certainly more to tell, and some things I may never be comfortable with sharing so openly, even if I discuss them with my loved ones. Which I mostly say just to reassure anybody else who wants to do autobio—you don’t have to say everything all at once, and you’re allowed your secrets and privacy as well. 

But yeah, I had a ton of anxiety about this comic honestly! I sat on the thumbnailed pages for this project for about a year before I decided to finish it, and then I waffled a lot on whether I wanted to release it at all, then whether I wanted to release it publicly, and later, when Silver Sprocket reached out to me about publishing it, I waffled on that, too. I had a lot of discussions with my close friends, as well as colleagues who also struggle with bipolar, about whether any of this was a good idea and how it might impact me and my career.

In the end, I decided that it was important to me that other people be able to read Sunflowers, and I realized that if that wasn’t what I wanted, I wouldn’t have made the comic to begin with. I felt that there was something that needed saying, and I wasn’t just saying it to myself or a select group of people; I was saying it to everyone who was willing to listen.

RJR: How do you navigate the balance between authenticity in depicting your experiences with bipolar disorder and ensuring that your work is accessible and relatable to a wider audience?

KY: Honestly I’m not sure if I did or not! I like to think everything I do is fairly accessible, but it’s true that if I was writing this just for other people with bipolar or SMI*, Sunflowers would be a very different comic. I think mostly I just keep in mind who might be reading my work, and consider how they might feel about it, and what they might get out of it. For this comic, I had to consider not only people with bipolar but also their loved ones, my loved ones, my colleagues and professional connections, as well as readers who don’t have any personal connection to the illness. It was a tall order, but I hope I did an okay job!

*Serious Mental Illness—a term that defines any chronic, lifelong illness that has major impacts on functioning. It mainly encompasses bipolar, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and psychosis in general.

RJR: Silver Sprocket made Sunflowers available online for free to commemorate World Bipolar Day so more people could access your work. What impact do you hope Sunflowers will have on readers? Are there any changes in the comics industry you'd love to see changed in how it portrays mental and physical health? 

KY: I hope that people who read Sunflowers will come away with a better understanding of what bipolar actually is, and what it means to live with it, and especially that it doesn’t mean we’re dangerous monsters or immature drama queens. We’re just people, like everyone else, despite our episodes. 

I would love to see more acknowledgment in comics of SMI in general, but particularly in terms of empathetic, compassionate, and loving depictions of people with SMI. We tend to be portrayed as serial killers and villains, and at best, unstable problems to be dealt with (lots of this in cape comics). And of course, if we’re going to go there, I want depictions of SMI to also be accurate and well-researched!

RJR: Why do you think comics can work so well as a medium/tool for increasing understanding of mental health conditions in ways other forms of art may not be able to?

KY: I think all art forms are capable of this honestly! I would say that comics certainly have unique qualities that can reach different audiences in a different way than other mediums, but that’s true of every medium. I do think that comics are special in that they’re very accessible compared to something like filmmaking or music, which both require specialized tools and often other people. With comics, an individual can tell their story both visually and narratively, on their own, with very limited tools. I draw digitally these days of course, but all it takes is a piece of paper and a pencil. I’ve seen comics made with stick figures that hit harder than gorgeous professional art, so don’t feel like you have to “be able to draw,” either! 

RJR: What specific moments from Sunflowers do you feel are particularly powerful in conveying the realities of living with bipolar disorder?

KY: For me, the realest page is 16, where I talk about being so afraid that every feeling and every night I lose a little sleep is a symptom. The backdrop I used for the character (me) plunging downward is my own mood-tracking app. I changed up the colors so you can’t tell which are my ups and downs, but each panel depicts at least one episode. I think this page is more subtle than some of the others, particularly because not everybody will recognize the app I used, but it does a better job of depicting what my daily life is like, how much attention I have to pay to everything, and how the illness impacts me even when I’m not suffering symptoms.

Page 16 of Sunflowers

I also like the psychosis page (although I talk about psychosis elsewhere in the comic as well), not because it’s especially powerful visually, but because it’s the one that I think people learned the most from. Psychosis is so stigmatized and misunderstood and feared, and I think it’s meaningful for people who know me or know my work to recognize that yes, I have heard voices, I’ve hallucinated demons and bugs, I’ve had delusions about street lights and ghosts and spots telling me what shorts to wear. But I’m still me. I’m still (I like to think, anyway haha) friendly and loveable and creative and hardworking. I’m a good friend and a good colleague and a good sibling, etc. I make jokes on social media and take pictures of flowers and make pretty good comics on occasion.

Psychosis is awful, don’t get me wrong, and not everybody recovers from their episodes as fully as I do, but it doesn’t take those things away from me. It’s important for people to recognize that it doesn’t mean the end of someone’s humanity, even for chronic sufferers. We are all people with hopes and loves and personalities, even if those things are sometimes overwhelmed by our illness. 

A piece from Young’s forthcoming Hello Sunshine

RJR: What advice would you give to aspiring comicsmakers who are interested in exploring personal or sensitive topics in their work?

KY: I would say, don’t feel obligated to share your work with everybody, publicly. You can start small. You can even just write it for yourself, and keep it to yourself forever. You can share it with a small group of trusted friends, or put it under a paywall so that only people who truly want to read it have access. You don’t have to publish it for everybody to read-—I made that choice for my own personal reasons, and you have your own reasons for doing this, and you should listen to your instincts.

This is especially true if you’re writing about something like SMI. I was in a good place to not only be open about my diagnosis but also to write about it because there’s enough stability in my life that I could weather the stigma it might invite. I have a good, solid relationship with my family and friends and colleagues, I’d been open about my illness for some time already, I’m in the middle of writing my second graphic novel with a big publisher, my first book did and is doing well, my agent and editors and publisher already know about my bipolar, and most importantly, I work in a creative field full time, so I don’t need to worry about my boss at my day job finding out.

Because make no mistake, there is definitely still stigma around these issues, and there are repercussions. I’m certain that I have faced invisible repercussions just from being open about it, ones that I may never be fully aware of; publishers who choose not to work with me because they wonder if I’m reliable; people whispering behind my back about whether I’m ‘losing it’ every time I get a little fiery about something on social media; colleagues or potential friends who keep their distance because they’re afraid of me; romantic prospects who look me up before a date and decide they don’t want to bother with someone with my problems. People can and do lose their dignity, the trust of others, their friends, jobs, volunteer positions, family support, partners, living situations, and even their children or pets when choosing to be open about a diagnosis of SMI.

So please, just know what you’re getting into, and go into it with that in mind. I wish we lived in a world where it was safer for all of us to be as open as I am, but we don’t (yet), and it’s no less brave to keep your illness to yourself or a small circle of trusted loved ones if it means you’re safer and more stable because of it. 

RJR: What kinds of topics are you interested in exploring next?

KY: I would love to continue to explore mental illness and mental health, honestly! The book I’m working on right now, Hello Sunshine, is very much about that, although it’s a YA coming-of-age supernatural mystery about a missing teenager instead of an autobio work. Its focus is on mental illness and family, both found and blood, and the ways in which mental illness can both bind and break those ties. 

Outside of mental illness, I definitely have a keen interest in the use of horror as a method of storytelling and exploring complex issues. I’ve always loved horror, loved scary stuff, ever since Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? And watching X-Files through the stair railings after I was supposed to be in bed. But horror traditionally has a very fraught (to put it lightly) relationship to mental illness, and I’ve really been enjoying digging into that dichotomy in Hello Sunshine, which is in some ways a confrontation of how mental illness has been treated in horror, while also being a love letter to the genre. I definitely see myself continuing to explore horror both as a genre and storytelling device in the future, whether the focus is on mental illness or not!

A piece from Young’s forthcoming Hello Sunshine