Decolonizing my own work...

When I drew a cat character back in high school, this was around the time I began to formulate characters for my Tabber the Red series. One of the more important female characters, a male student called her 'thunder thighs'. A male character 'looked gay'*.When working on characters for my scifi dog comic, one athletic-looking female character 'looked like a lesbian', as if one's body type determined one's orientation! 

I have gotten a lot of flack, criticism, and insults towards my OCs (original characters) since I could put pencil/pen to paper. And when people attack my characters, I feel as if they're attacking me. One particular hurtful comment was when a close friend and fellow artist told me to kill off my main female character because she wasn't 'good enough for the main male character', who happened to be a gangster! 

Now you probably noticed a pattern here. Most of the harshest critiques are towards my female or femme looking characters. We already know why this is and I can discuss it another time, but, the point of this post is to understand how important it is to me as an artist to show diversity even within my speculative fictional worlds. That's why even my anthro cat characters will have locs and braids. That's why I make sure that this October artist month, when I show my Tabber the Red fantasy-sword&sorcery characters who happened to be tattooed, scarred, or wearing mendhi and/or henna, I put a footnote that all those body markings have nothing to do with war or becoming a warrior and everything to do with cultural/ethnic/tribal/national identity. 

Since I pull inspiration from real-life beliefs and practices, the same respect I will accord to others, I will do so for my fictional people. To me, culture and ethnic identity is important and not to be appropriated as gimmick or 'trendy'. I'm doing my research. I'm speaking to others. I will learn, so that when my characters express themselves, the identity will be as seamless as the 'air they breathe'.

There will be more 'decolonizing' for my OCs and in my writings. Just you wait and see.

*That character that was called gay? It seems that even if that person meant it as an insult, I realized while writing the character that he is indeed QUILTBAG and I'm writing in his sexual identity and orientation into the story. So, I guess that long ago person did me a favor by 'outing' my cat character! 

2016 was tough...

Right now, I'm at my hairdresser's house, typing this. The hair dryer just finished. 2016 has been a rough year and I look forward to 2017 with anticipation and trepidation.

I'm concerned, frustrated, and angered by the political climate in this country. As a creative person working in the profession, there is a real concern that the present administration will cut funding for the arts. It's what many in political circles do when they lean more towards conservatism and are not moderate or progressive.

This angers me because it will directly affect me and many other creatives (aspiring/intermediate/professional) while ricocheting to other industries tied in.

What I can do is continue my art, become more civically aware, educate others, and turn away from those who are narrow-minded, obstructionistic, and who actually believe that because they have the same rights as I, can try to take away mine because I am NOT in their group. I hate being political but when I know there are fellow citizens out there threatening my way of life (healthcare, reproductive, education, government funding, etc.) and the lives of others, I'm going to FIGHT. And FIGHT as an artist/writer/creative I will.

Another Tweet & FB post

Am a member of a color pencil and pastel art group & the other members' pieces are DRIVING me INSANE! But my writing is taking off so...

This is what happens when you're an artist & a writer! When you're in the middle of one, the other is always calling. How do others who are both keep it together?

In order to satiate my art hunger (Lord, I sound like a vampire), I may need to do some more pieces of my fantasy series' cat characters & continue a few more pages from my school-related comic! That'll feed the beast!

Manga can be life...

Since in 'thesis-mode', I have been re-reading a lot of my favorite ‪#‎manga‬ series in order to keep in creative mode to finish even half of this novel.

"Winter vacation is needed... even for this exhausted love affair. The North wind is blowing strong... in the space between us that can't be filled. We can't stay warm anymore just by holding each other." - 'Paradise Kiss Vol. 5' by Ai Yazawa. ‪#‎Ilovemanga‬

Character "by any other name..."

My mom has been getting exclusive access to my WIP because
1) I still live at home and
2) she, being a retired educator, can be objective to the grammatical mechanics of what I have written.
My mom just loves my character, "Slash" Castellano!

"Slash Castellano - in work mode and suited" (c)

And she isn't the only one. Since creating the character in sixth grade summer school, and with his numerous incarnations after, my canine gangster has impressed and awed numerous people over the years.
Junior high classmates adored him. High school friends thought he was cute/handsome/gorgeous.
I had a fellow-Caribbean girl friend tell me she was jealous of my heroine because she would get to be with my dog mobster! I told her, "But he's a dog! You're human!"
"Who cares? He's still cute!"
I even had a male friend, who was Russian-Jewish, ask for a simple line drawing, so he could have my dog gangster tattooed on his upper arm after he entered the military!

"Slash" has also impressed head-banger classmates, (that's 80s-90s speak for fans of Heavy Metal) because of the obvious nickname association with the guitarist of "Guns-N-Roses"! 
Someone asked me if I wasn't afraid of people assuming I fashioned the character after the famous guitarist, and I said "No!", because I got the nickname from growing up on classic gangster films and mob flicks. In these black-and-white reels, there was always a "Slasher", "Spike", "Whitey", "Smiley", and even a "Gimpy" (I apologize that this particular term offends, but this was an actual nickname for many regular folks, underworld figures, criminals, and even street urchins, back in the day!).
I once watched a 40s Western where the criminal who went around shooting people was named "Slash"!

It is how I see that an unpublished character has affected so many, from differing backgrounds, why I know I have a fully-realized person. I've lived with this character since age 12, and now I'm in my mid-thirties!
My sincerest wish and hope is that, once published, "Slash" Castellano will continue to impress, awe and enliven many more soon-to-be fans!