Artists and Tumblr go together, famously, like peaches and cream. Like Laurel and Hardy. Like Ratchet and Clank. Like the British and tea. Like Frodo and Sam. Like Columbo and a battered, beige overcoat. Like Solange Knowles opening a can of whoop-ass on (allegedly) unfaithful husbands in elevators. Like us, overdoing this analogy.
Forgive us, we digress. Beyond peaches and cream, Tumblr's gifted artists have something for every palette: witty, exciting, exotic, melancholic, beautiful, brooding, and queer as hell. And the same can be said for whatever medium or discipline—you talented folk have got it covered. This wide and wonderful community of artists, creators, digitalists, colorists, printers, illustrators... it's all you. What's more, if fandom is your thing, there isn't a space or community in which our artists and makers can't thrive. Comics, fanart, illustrations... you name it.
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Gilbert Baker (June 2, 1951 - March 31, 2017) was a gay American artist, designer and activist, best known as the primary creator of the rainbow flag. In 1972 Baker was living in Chicago as an openly gay man, he was taught to sew by a fellow activist, Mary Dunn, using these skills to create banners for gay-rights and anti-war protest marches. It was also during this time that he met and became friends with Harvey Milk, an influential gay leader, who challenged Baker to create a new symbol of pride for the gay community.
The first rainbow flags were produced by a team that included Baker, seamster James McNamara and artist Lynn Segerblom. Segerblom, who was then known as Faerie Argyle Rainbow, reports to have created the original dyeing process for the flags. Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags for the parade. These original flags flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978.
Though many variations have emerged in the decades since, the original design had eight stripes, with a specific meaning assigned to each of the colours: Hot pink for “sex”, red for “life”, orange for “healing”, yellow for “sunlight”, green for “nature”, turquoise for “magic” (though sometimes given as “art”?), indigo for “serenity” and violet for “spirit”.
I’m a little late for pride month, but I got all this done a lot quicker than I expected considering I only started working on it at the beginning of June (though I’ve been planning it on and off for a few years now😅). I did a lot of research and planning for each piece, and there was a lot I wanted to communicate with the project as a whole - it’s been a lot of work, and I challenged myself with a bunch of stuff I’m not familiar with, but I’m really happy with how everything turned out.
Happy pride, everyone, here’s to our community, to all the work that got us here, and to all the progress still to come! 🏳️🌈✨🏳️⚧️
A little late, but happy Lunar New Year!! It’s the year of the wood dragon, which is said to bring abundance, evolution, and improvement! Let’s make it count people!
Keep Your Shirt On is a White Noise minicomic about being transgender, giving away secret family recipes, and making zines. I completed it recently and I'm proud of it so I thought I would post it separately!
It's also on my site here, and if you'd like to read the whole comic featuring these characters (and more queer monsters) you can start here. Please mind the warnings on the About page!