Present Yourself
As of January 10th, I enrolled in an online Autobiographical Graphic Novel course with Marcela Trujillo Espinoza thru Domestika. (I highly recommend this for anyone who feels they are unable to afford to go to art school. Domestika classes are always on sale and range from just $11-20.)
For the first assignment, Espinoza requires we draw a four-panel introduction of ourselves which features some idea of how we came to illustration, or art in general.
I often struggle to understand lighting when I illustrate, so shadow work is a strategy I very much hope to improve upon.
Materials used include pencil, Artist Loft eraser, Manga-Comic Pro pen set from Pigma, and Dual Brush Grayscale markers from Tombow, all of which my mother bought me for the winter holiday (thanks, Mom!).
An Apartment of Her Own
Several months ago, I re-introduced myself to the art of illustration by tasking myself with a daily project: doodle one spot of my apartment. Rather than snapping photographs — which I have been meaning to do for the past three years — I decided to illustrate. Altogether, I find this practice to be gratifying for the time and attention it encourages.
Funny Foods
I drew food items and made them sultry, sassy, and altogether silly.
Products with Protest
Last year, I enrolled in an Art & Activism class with Cade Bursell at SIU. As I prepped for an assignment, I designed these images (though I later discarded them for a new idea).
From left to right: Crayola, Band-Aid, and Clorox.
It wasn’t until 2020 that Crayola introduced an array of crayons representing a wide range of skin types. “Nude,” a color formerly known as “Peach” remains problematic for how it discounts other skin types.
In a similar way, Band-Aid did not create adhesive bandages for BIPOC skin types until 2020 when they introduced at least four additional color shades.
Although the third image evokes Clorox, illustrate the seemingly universal trope which associates women with the domestic sphere (e.g. cleaning, laundry, cooking, childrearing, etc.) and, by consequence, severely limits their credibility in the public realm. (Vox means “voice” in Latin.)
Mad Girl Review 