Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder

@nilahmagruder

available for storyboard artist, revisionist, animation writing, and illustration opportunities. aka n. romaine white. she/her. OUT NOW: Creaky Acres. UP NEXT: Hex and Havoc, Reel Love. Work and stuff: nilahmagruder.carrd.co

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Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 12d

willing myself to finish literally a single illustration

Work-in-progress illustration of two women sitting on a rooftop surrounded by sleeping pigeons. One woman holds a cup with a straw and smiles at the other, who holds a mug in front of her face and looks annoyed.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 14d

Losing my mind, a baby bunny has moved into the backyard and I'm not thrilled bcuz I have dogs and I feel like this is a recipe for disaster but he's made himself at home, look at this little so and so

A young cottontail rabbit lying in the grass, eyes drifting closed.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 15d

was thinking of attempting to storyboard a scene from one of my short stories but to do that I figured I better design the characters first and wow this is an excellent case of what I'm picturing in my head not coming out of my stylus, anyway this was exhausting so I'll try again later

digital sketches of an ogre-like character with pointy ears, two horns growing from her head, piercings, an underbite, and some armor

digital sketches of a knight with a human form and a dragon form

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 16d

Dang I got some really nice color in this shot. 🌱 #bloomscrolling #flowersky #gardensky #flowerreport

Photo of purple coneflower surrounded by leaves of Allegheny blackberry brambles.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 24d

I am available for illustration work! This hasn't happened in years bcuz I've been grinding on graphic novels, but the graphic novels are DONE and now I can draw other things. For you! Hire me! Portfolio: www.nilahmagruder.com/portfolio/

Fantasy illustrator at work! Available for: book covers, magazine covers, tabletop games, digital games, commissions. My work: nilahmagruder.com. E-mail: nilah at nilahmagruder dot com.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 26d

I'm slowly updating the portfolio section of my website. Slowly bcuz I decided to include process and turns out formatting all those files plus digging through e-mail convos to remember why choices were made takes forever. www.nilahmagruder.com/portfolio/il...

Screen cap of process images from the development of the cover illustration for Star Wars: The High Republic - Quest for the Hidden City.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· 28d

Hi #portfolioday! I'm a storyboard artist, writer and illustrator, available for storyboarding/revisions, animation writing, and illustration opportunities. Head to my website to check out my books and portfolio! URL: www.nilahmagruder.com IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm92223...

Digital illustration by Nilah Magruder. A young woman and an elderly woman play a piano. The older woman is smiling and speaking. Her head is detached from her body and floats in midair on a metal propeller where her neck should be. Her right hand, likewise, is detached and reaches into the young woman's space to play the piano keys. The young woman smiles with a brow quirked at the older woman.

A digital illustration by Nilah Magruder from the picture book WUTARYOO. A wolf bows and speaks to a small squirrel-like creature with two small horns on her forehead. In the background is an imagined scene of wolves running and howling at a starry sky.

A black and white ink illustration by Nilah Magruder from the middle-grade novel DACTYL HILL SQUAD by Daniel José Older. A girl races to catch up to a wagon of children being pulled by a triceratops.

A panel from a storyboarded episode of WEATHER HUNTERS for PBS. A family with two parents, two girls and a small boy sits around a counsel, smiling and talking together.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jun 30

Centrist Dems and Republicans certainly believe this sort of leftist agenda is dangerous but they really need "extremists" on the left to exist in order to justify violence from the right. Just whataboutism in action. No one needs to entertain that narrative. Also min wage should be $30/hr.

Let’s move to the allegedly “extreme” agenda of the far left. Avila Chevalier, Mamdani, and other socialist politicians are pushing ideas like abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, cutting U.S. funding for Israel’s military, and limiting corporate monopolies. Much of their agenda is extremely popular because it takes on the rich and big corporations, as Americans desperately want. Some of those ideas are more contested.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jun 15

It's mainly cuz my pub was very specific about me using their template and I just could not figure out how to adjust the measurements to get CSP to do what my pub wanted. I'll try story mode again on a personal project, but for my book contracts this method was fine. Just a lot of file management!

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jun 12

Now with alt text.

Mike Young (@micyoung75) Let’s walk through what actually happened here, in order.

DOGE cut the USAID program specifically designed to prevent screwworm from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. DOGE cut USDA’s animal disease control and prevention funding. That funding had supported more than 180 outbreak investigations in 22 countries and capacity-building in more than 160 laboratories. The screwworm monitoring and response program that watched the border for exactly this parasite – cut.

Then screwworm showed up in Texas cattle. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a disaster for Zavala and Uvalde counties this week.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins went on CNBC this morning and blamed the Biden administration, 17 months out of office.

Her specific words: “obviously not much had been done to push back.”

The program that was supposed to push back existed. DOGE eliminated it in March 2025. Rollins has been Agriculture Secretary since February 13, 2025. The cuts happened on her watch.

Beef prices are already high. Ranchers in south Texas are now dealing with a flesh-eating parasite that was eradicated in this country in the 1960s – eradicated, specifically, using the sterile fly program her department defunded.

The files existed. The program existed. The budget existed.

Until it didn’t.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jun 1

I did this Six of Crows illustration as a gift to Leigh Bardugo ten years ago and wow how daring I was doing this traditionally lol. I do want to get back to working traditionally, now that I'm out of graphic novel hell and have time to SLOW DOWN.

Ink illustration by Nilah Magruder of the lead characters of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo in heroic poses.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· May 25

I'm so wound up tight over how close I am. The anticipation is almost unbearable. I'm tempted to tell everyone I've ever met in my life not to so much as think about me this week bcuz I can't bear a single distraction. Every brain cell is focused on this single purpose.

Screen cap of a graphic novel progress tracking spreadsheet showing a graphic novel 91% complete with 241 of 265 pages inked. With a goal of completion by June 1, 2026, the artist will need to ink five pages every weekday or four pages everyday including weekends.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· May 22

Drawing comics has been the background noise of my life since I started M.F.K. in 2012 and it's gonna be so weird after next week when I don't have to draw comics anymore

Screen cap of a graphic novel progress tracking spreadsheet showing a graphic novel 84% complete with 223 of 265 pages inked. With a goal of completion by June 1, 2026, the artist will need to ink six pages every weekday or just over four pages everyday including weekends.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· May 16

I was proud and deeply honored to give the undergraduate commencement speech today at my first alma mater, Hood College. I graduated 21 years ago! It was an emotional morning but I somehow made it through without ugly crying. Congrats class of 2026! 🎓🎉

Photo of an honorary doctorate degree and commemorative statue issued to Nilah Magruder, Hood College Class of '05, by Hood College.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· May 3

Scary thought: if I ignore everything else in my life and bang out 25 pages a week I’ll be done this book by the end of the month.

Screenshot of a Google Sheets titled “Reel Love Page Tracking,” charting progress of the penciling, lettering, inking, and coloring of a graphic novel. The spreadsheet shows that 177 of 266 pages are lettered with 88 remaining and 166 are inked with 99 remaining.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Apr 28

Animal anatomy studies that I probably did 15-17 years ago. The me of today can't believe I was ever this patient in my drawing studies but if I recall correctly I really got into doing these at the time.

Graphite drawings of rodent skeletons in various poses, and isolated rodent skulls drawn at different angles. Also drawings of bird skeletons and a diagram of the underside of a bird's wing.

Graphite drawings of lion, horse, and dog anatomy, with a closer study of a lion's foot.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Apr 27

Did you know that yesterday was Eeyore's 105th birthday? Neither did Hearth when I dropped him off at doggy daycare.

Photo of a black and white dog wearing Eeyore ears on his head sitting in front of an illustrated backdrop of Winnie the Pooh's house, a wooden door with a window set into a large tree.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Apr 21

with alt text

Our district just informed us they are prohibiting the teaching of full-length novels and nonfiction texts in all non-AP ELA classes, including Pre-AP English 1 and 2: We're to use only the excerpts in the SAVVAS textbook. They're going so far as to tell us to "DCR" our novel sets, meaning the books are loaded onto pallets and trucked to a distant warehouse, never to be used again.

Once the wave of nausea passed, I began wondering what College Board would have to say about upperclassmen showing up in Lang or Lit, not having read a book since elementary school. Suddenly they're supposed to start reading long, complex texts?

I don't teach Lit, but I'm looking for some help for a counter-argument. The strongest evidence would come from College Board's saying the students are expected to read novels and nonfiction on their way to AP.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Apr 9

I'm back on the market! Fifteen years of experience as an author and animation professional. I'm available for storyboarding, writing, and illustration opportunities. Hit me up! Website: www.nilahmagruder.com

Looking for work! Story, writing, illustrating. nilahmagruder.com. Credits: Disney Junior's Ariel, Weather Hunters, Polly Pocket, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventures, Cannon Busters, Dinotrux. Experience: Storyboards, revisions. Outlining, screenwriting. Preschool, bridge, teen. Musicals, action adventure.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Feb 14

Would you give her your heart?

Digital illustration of a Black woman wearing a dark jacket, pink shirt, and dark pink skirt cutting through a red paper heart with a rapier. She catches the bottom half of the heart in her left hand while the top half flutters away.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Feb 12

I just think it’s really interesting that the only way AI advocates know how to sell their product is to make it as threatening as possible.

Screen cap of a LinkedIn post. "The asteroid hit. Most of you just don't know you're dead yet.

The post links a Substack post: The AI Asteroid Has Hit Our Planet, What Is Your Response?

The opening lines of the post read: 66 million years ago, a six-mile-wide rock traveling at 45,000 mph slammed into Earth. The dinosaurs, apex predators who'd dominated for 165 million years, were gone within months.

They didn't die from impact. They died because they couldn't adapt to what came after.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Feb 9

I don't read much non-fiction, but I should, and so I'm currently reading The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk bcuz I'm feeling strongly lately that the only way forward for the United States is to center indigenous voices.

"Without books or narratives from actual native peoples, those describing America mythologized its history. They did so mostly in letters. Letter writing remained the primary technology for communications, as thousands of correspondence chains crossed the Atlantic world. Within such communications, writers appealed to a fictional past, one of simplicity and moral certainty. These writers were in fact participating in something larger than political commentary. They were helping to build the imagination of the nation itself."

Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 27

I use @georgerohac.com's graphic novel page tracking sheet so that I can properly visualize my slow descent into madness. (Also it keeps me on schedule) docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Screenshot of a spreadsheet tracking illustration progress on a graphic novel. 188 pages until I'm free.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 16

Was looking over editorial notes on my in-progress middle-grade GN about fishing and ended up just reading it. It's my big baby ace story that is also full of yearning, which is my preferred narrative weapon of choice. And also worms.

Three sketchy panels from an in-progress graphic novel of a girl holding and looking down nervously at a container of wriggling nightcrawlers. She says, "That is... so many worms..."

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 14

Hi I worked on THREE 57th NAACP Image Award nominees. Yes, that's how busy I am. Congrats to my crew mates on Ariel and Weather Hunters, and congrats to my partner in horse crimes @calistabrill.bsky.social!

57th NAACP Image Awards Nominees. Disney Jr's Ariel (animated show on Disney Jr.), Weather Hunters (animated show on PBS), Creaky Acres (middle-grade graphic novel from Penguin Random House).

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 14

Welp, don't like that!

Gmail's new front page promoting Gemini and AI-powered e-mail.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 13

Hi #PortfolioDay, I'm Nilah and I'm available for children's book #kidlitart illustration. Picture books, chapter books, middle-grade and YA! Animation studios, I'm also happy to chat about storyboard revisionist and writing opportunities. 👀 contact: nilah@nilahmagruder.com nilahmagruder.com

An interior illustration from the picture book HOW TO FIND A FOX by Nilah Magruder. A small Black girl sits with her back to a boulder, a camera in her hands. She looks ahead at the viewer with a determined expression. On top of the boulder, a red fox peeks out and looks down at the girl. The girl doesn't notice. In the background, a chicken leg has been set out as bait.

Interior illustration from WUTARYOO by Nilah Magruder. A small squirrel-like creature with long, fluffy ears and two horns on its head looks up at a mother wren, who talks to the creature from her perch on her nest of babies, nestled in a green hedge.

Cover illustration for DACTYL HILL SQUAD, written by Daniel José Older, illustrated by Nilah Magruder. A girl and a boy holding a sword ride a pterodactyl through the streets of Civil War-era New York. Two more children are on pterodactyls, following closely behind. The group is being chased by an older man riding a tyrannosaurus rex.

An interior map illustration for DACTYL HILL SQUAD, written by Daniel José Older, illustrated by Nilah Magruder. The map is drawn in black and white and depicts an alternate history Civil War-era New York.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 12

This is such a small thing in the face of everything else going on... but the 57th NAACP Image Awards nominations were announced today and they left off the illustrators of four out of the five graphic novel nominees. I remain dissatisfied with how comic artists are treated.

Outstanding Literary Work – Graphic Novel. Creaky Acres: A Graphic Novel – Calista Bril (Penguin Young Readers).
Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls – Rob Edwards (Stranger Comics).
One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel – Rita William-Garcia (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books).
Parable of the Talents A Graphic Novel Adaptation – Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damien Duffy, Illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts).
They Choose Violence – Sheldon Allen (AWA Studios).

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 11

Literally any.

Try again later. We limit how often you can do certain things on Instagram, like following people, to protect our community. Let us know if you think we made a mistake.

Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder@nilahmagruder· Jan 6

Ohhhhhh. They might actually be punishing me bcuz I'm a new account and I haven't posted anything yet.