A local cartoonist and illustrator is drawing some life into Canadian heroes.

Diana Tamblyn is a London native who is inking up her first full-length graphic novel. Over the past 12 years, she has self-published short graphic novels about motherhood, fictional stories, the Nihilist Spasm Band and the secret lives of Canadian heroes.

To say her interests run the gamut is a bit of an understatement. "I get inspired by everyday, local things," she said. This year, Tamblyn is planning to do an art series on London, focusing on foliage. "I've been trying to think of what distinguishes London from other places," she said. "I think it's the trees." She's looking into screen printings images of the city's native and new species of trees.

Tamblyn's true love, however, is comics.

"Basically I've always been a comic book nut," laughed Tamblyn. After discovering her uncles' old comic book collection in her grandparents' house when she was young, she was hooked. She immersed herself in comic culture, spending lots of time at the Comic Book Collector store and working at Heroes comic book store on Dundas Street during her time at Central high school.

Though she wanted to continue her career down the comic path, "You can't get a university degree in comics, believe it or not," she said. "The closest I could get was film animation."

She attended Concordia University in Montreal, but said that continuing on the film animation path would most likely lead to a job drawing children's cartoons. "I decided I didn't want to draw Care Bears all day," she laughed.

Luckily, many of the principles are similar between animations and comics. She took what she learned at Concordia and began applying it to her graphic stories.

Tamblyn uses pen and ink to draw characters with realistic and expressive faces. When drawing a comic, Tamblyn first draws in pencil on Bristol paper, then inks the drawing with brushes and technical pens. "I do some colour stuff as well, usually in oil pastels," she added.

Tamblyn's self-published short graphic novels include The Rosie Stories, two autobiographical stories about the experience of being a new mother; The Toca Loca Project, commissioned by the new music band Toca Loca; and Duty Must Be Done: The Story of Frederick Banting, which includes many details about his life that many people don't know — for example, he painted with The Group of Seven, and was actually pretty talented.

Most of Tamblyn's work is self-published, and can be found in local stores like LA Mood and Heroes.

Today, Tamblyn is working on a full-length historical graphic novel called From Earth to Babylon: The Story of Gerald Bull and the Supergun. "His dream was to launch satellites into space using gun technology, rather than spaceships," she explained. Bull saw gun technology as a cheaper alternative to rockets, and, along with McGill University, built a gun the size of a kitchen. Bull's idea became an international sensation when Saddam Hussein became interested in the idea and commissioned a supergun of his own. "It's kind of like a spy mystery, but involving Canadian politics," Tamblyn said. "It's actually a really interesting story that many people don't know."

Tamblyn is opening her home studio to anyone interested during the London Artists' Studio Tour. It runs from April 15 to 17. "Twenty different London artists open their homes to the general public," she said. "People get to see the artisits' space. The artisits have all their work on display" This will be Tamblyn's second year on the tour. "Last year, I think I had 500 people through my house," she laughed. The tour is completely free and is a great way for people to immerse themselves in London's vibrant arts scene.

For more information on Tamblyn, or to check out or buy her graphic novels, visit www.dianatamblyn.com. To check out the London Artists' Studio Tour, visit www.londonstudiotour.com