{"id":45741,"date":"2025-09-10T19:08:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T02:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theculturednerd.org\/?p=45741"},"modified":"2025-09-10T19:12:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T02:12:47","slug":"tcn-artist-interview-jeremy-tinder-on-the-lostronaut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theculturednerd.org\/?p=45741","title":{"rendered":"[TCN Artist Interview] – Jeremy Tinder On The Lostronaut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Welcome to The Cultured Nerd, and thank you for taking the time to do this interview. To start things off, can you tell us a bit about yourself as an artist and what first drew you into creating the kind of work you do today? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Thanks for reaching out. I have a degree in drawing from the University of Iowa, and an MFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve been making comics for a long time, over 20 years. Usually my comics are sort of transgressive or deeply pessimistic social satire. They are often science fiction in flavor, but very mundane in terms of actual story lines. Last year I made a comic about two teenage dirtbags stealing mystical, magical objects from an ancient creature inorder to sell them at a pawn shop and buy a PS5. Recently, I’ve been wanting to make comics my son can read, and when I realized the sketches I’ve been making of this little astronaut and his spaceship should be about a parent\/child relationship, Lostronaut started writing itself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Was there a particular moment or project when you felt your style \u201cclicked\u201d and became what it is today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Style is something I was chasing early on in my career, and now it is more something I just surrender myself too. Maybe the first comic that I was completely satisfied with was a short story called Loren that I made for Andy Rench’s anthology series Believed Behavior. The mix of the supernatural and the mundane, the unexpected turns, and the deadpan humor felt, to me, like they were all working together. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Your color choices are bold but cohesive. How do you approach building a palette for a piece?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I used to make a small color palette, like just 6 colors, and force myself to use only those. Now, I give myself a little more freedom, but I do have a set of guidelines and ways that I think about color and light that informs my comics, illustrations, and paintings. For Lostronaut, I want each chapter to feel like its own unique thing, and I’m trying to not repeat myself too much in terms of palette. I’m still drawing Chapter 2, so we’ll see how that goes. The biggest influence on my color choices in this comic is probably old science textbook illustrations. Oh, and a set of NASA stamps I got from the post office in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Your work has such a distinct, surreal personality. What were the biggest influences that shaped your art style?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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It’s a big mash-up of interests, none of which I think are super apparent in my work on the surface. As a kid, Garfield and Sesame Street were huge for me, and I would spend days in my basement drawing Garfield, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, etc. The Simpsons series began when I was in 4th grade, and that was big for me. Ninja turtles too around that time. I grew up in really small farming towns that were mostly devoid of art, so what I saw on tv, toy packaging, and comic books were my first tastes of art in any form. Mickey Mouse, too. In high school and college I discovered Dan Clowes, Pete Bagge, Steven Weissman, Jim Woodring, Chris Ware… all huge influences, but I don’t know if you can tell at a glance. That Jim Davis Garfield line quality probably shines through the most.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Can you explain your The Lostronaut series to our readers and maybe where the idea for The Lostronaut<\/em> came from? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Lostronaut is a science fiction series about the relationship between a little alien astronaut and his sentient spaceship. It started as a comic series that I wanted to make with a former student of mine, Bill Cleveland. I love Bill’s artwork, and I just like him as a person, so it was my little way of trying to spend more time with the guy. He got too busy with work (this happens, he is an in-demand background artist for animated series), but I kept doodling this little astronaut tethered to his ship. It was around March or April of this year when I realized that this pink tube tethering the astronaut to his ship looked like an umbilical cord, and shortly after that I made a drawing of Alonzo actually being a tiny guy piloting the astronaut suit from within the head. When I first drew this, I showed it to my college students excitedly. When the spring semester came to a close and I had a little extra time on my hands, I started writing and drawing it and couldn’t stop. Lostronaut feels like a story I could write for the rest of my life. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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The series blends whimsy with a sense of loneliness and wonder. How do you strike that emotional balance in the art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The vibe I’m always going for with Lostronaut is a very specific one. I try to conjure the feeling of a 12 year old left home alone on the weekend. They are happy to not be at school and they are happy to be alone, but they are still lonely. It’s a feeling that is crystal clear in my mind, but I’m realising right now it is a little difficult to describe. It’s feeling absolutely fine and happy with being alone… for now, not forever.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Do you imagine The Lostronaut<\/em> having a backstory, or do you prefer to keep it a mystery for your readers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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There is a backstory for Lostronaut, for how Alonzo became the sole passenger of this ship. There is also a backstory for how Connie (the ship) became sentient, These stories will be told, but I do want to wait for the right moment. I know a lot of readers are drawn to lore, and I am too, but I want to reveal these details at a point in the story that will be the most emotionally resonant. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How much of The Lostronaut<\/em>\u2019s world do you have mapped out in your mind versus what you let evolve as you draw?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Very little is mapped out. I know the types of things I want to happen. I have little inklings of ideas, or feelings, or frictions, just pages of these things to draw from. I know where things are headed generally, but I’m giving myself the freedom to explore. I want Lostronaut to be episodic, and for each chapter to feel like its own little adventure. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Do you see The Lostronaut continuing as an ongoing series, or do you have a specific ending in mind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Ongoing. When the thematic core of the series clicked for me, I realized I could write it forever. I would like it to be a book series with many volumes. I’m essentially writing about me, my wife, my son, and other sensitive sweethearts who feel things very deeply. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of real world experiences to translate into cute\/sad sci fi stories.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Millions of people have read or are currently reading this story. Chapter 1 Part 3 is currently sitting at over 2 Million views on Tik Tok. What does it mean to you as an artist and storyteller to have so many people appreciate your work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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It’s bizarre. I put the first part of Lostronaut on my TikTok as an afterthought. I had around 100 followers at the time, and didn’t think anyone would see it. When the numbers for part two kept climbing, I was dumbfounded. My family and I kept placing bets at where it would stop- 50,000 views, 100,000 views- it just kept going. That part is over 8.5 million now, and I’m certain I’ve never had that many eyes on my work. I don’t know what to think. It’s not like it becomes income or anything. TikTok doesn’t pay for non-video content. What is nice is seeing from the comments how many people understand what I’m doing. The comments have been so thoughtful and kind, even if I can’t keep up with all of them. You know, in the past I’ve almost had my own tv show a few times. I’ve pitched a lot and I’ve sold options for shows, but they never got made. I asked an executive after the 4th pilot I pitched didn’t get made if it was because I didn’t have a big following on social media. He said yes. So, at least I feel like I can point to this lovely fanbase when talking with publishers or tv execs or whoever I’m trying to convince to take a chance on my ideas.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Lastly, are there any upcoming projects you’d like to announce or anything you’d like the readers to know about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I’ll be at the Nashville Comic Arts Festival on October 4th. I’ll be selling copies of the first chapter of Lostronaut along with other comics and prints. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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