Artists I Like: Donna Barr

I know very little about the iconic 80s/90s comics artist Donna Barr. I know she is famous for The Desert Peach comics, which is a series about the youngest brother of the German WWII general Rommel. But don't be discouraged... Barr creates a gay character charged with commanding misfits and, as far as I can tell, does his best to undermine the evils of the Holocaust.

I have not read it, so I can't comment further. But according to Wiki, she simply took the name of Rommel's brother who died in infancy and imagined The Desert Peach into existence. A sort of "what if" kind of treatment. Very unique and original idea, if you ask me.

Oh, she also illustrated Pauli Kidd's Lace & Steel roleplaying game. And she created Stinz, a comic about a centaur society.

Barr is a creator I need to look into a lot more.

 

Hypergraphoid

Drew this silly comic this past week. Made a little mini of it. I have a bunch of little minis so maybe I'll eventually put a batch up for sale if you wanna have copies. Zines!

Now enjoy the intense cartooning. Or go read it on my website.

 

Artists I Like: Daniel Strickland

Artists I Like.... Daniel Strickland! I encountered his work on Insta and fell in love. He draws fat girls a lot, and I appreciate that. It's a morally good thing.

This post might be more comfortable over on my Blood Red blog... and I might do a mirror version featuring more of his art over there. But hell's bells, y'all. If you don't know my proclivities by now you ain't never gonna learn. I'm a package deal.

Anyway... Daniel Strickland seems to work mostly in ink with digital color. His website says he's a professional comic book artist. Looks like he also makes adult coloring books*.

I love his delicate lines. Almost an animation style. Of course his forms are fabulous as well, capturing the volume of a body in an elegant way. This is my kind of thing. So check him out.

*"Adult" coloring books sounds dirty, right? But it just means coloring books created for grown ups, not kids. So it can be anything from hot rods to flowers.

 

Random or Focused?

For quite some time I feel like I've been in a "slump". Typically, for the past few years more than ever, I draw a lot, sketching something almost every day. Usually multiple somethings. But maybe a month ago I slowed down and was immersed in RPG thought. I went a full week without touching a pencil.

The past few days or maybe since last weekend the trend has shifted. I'm drawing a lot more, starting to feel like my old self.

This is good. But it also means I need to address one of my biggest hangups: Lack of focus.

Namely... is lack of focus a problem or not? It feels like one, because I badly want to finish projects. But at the same time I'm happiest just doing something - anything - creative. So if I'm drawing my ass off all weekend and none of the drawings are "for a project", is that really a problem?

Something for me to ponder.

Here's some recent work.

Vaughn Bode or Weird Al?