Header by Prince Mahlangu
Being based on another current event, this could be considered a follow-up to βArtist Resources: So Your Con Was Cancelled.β
I wrote this one without asking or a guarantee of payment, just because I thought it would be the best use of the platform.Β Although Wacomβs social media team has done an excellent job signal boosting black creators and causes lately, I knew I had to pitch in however I could.
The journalistic infrastructure that covers black creators focuses on gallery art, especially when itβs political or about identity.Β Itβs concentrated in places like Brooklyn.Β Most grants are aimed at, and most black arts nonprofits serve, traditional artists.Β Good for them, but it tends to leave digital artists high and dry.Β There are entire subcultures of black creatives who are unknown even to woke media: like African animators and the black anime art community, which many other otaku donβt even know exists.
By Monte Miller
This list is intended both to help people whoβve gained an interest in black art from the massive wave of exposure weβre enjoying to help find our work, and to let BIPOC creators know there are more resources and ways to promote out there than they ever couldβve thought.
Digital artists live by word of mouth and online sales, so the first step to supporting them is facilitating those.
Promotion
Websites
Young Black Artists.Β Covers both traditional and digital.Β Also hasΒ an Instagram of the same name.Β If youβre interested in your work being shared with their 114k followers, you can tag it #youngblackartists and, their website promises, theyβll at least take a look at it.Β Although they get a lot, and quality will determine whether or not they share it.
Dope Black Art.Β A network of βhundreds of talented artists all over the worldβ that focuses more on younger artists, and as such, heavily incorporates digital.Β Their InstagramΒ has 700k followers, and like Young Black Artists, theyβll look at artists who @ them or tag posts with #dopeblackart.
Support Black Art.Β Focused on gallery and traditional art, but they also make a lot of space for digital artists, especially ones who make prints.Β They also have a monthly or annual subscription.Β Their Insta isΒ @supportblackart,Β with 205k followers, and two hashtags, #supportblackart (338k) and #supportblackartists (82k).
African Digital Art. One of the most exciting up-and-coming online communities Iβve seen in a while.Β Provides stunning examples of not just illustration, but film, 3d modeling, and animation, and photomanips, out of Africa.Β Instagram:Β @africandigitalart.
In case youβre wondering the kind of quality weβre dealing with.Β Β By Symone Seven.
Miscellaneous
- Cartoonists of Color.Β Not exclusive to black people, of course.
- Black Game Developers.Β A repository for any black freelancers in the games industry, but can be filtered for artists and animators.
- Women Who DrawβsΒ list of 207 black female artists for hire.Β See also their lists ofΒ Hispanic,Β Asian,Β Native,Β Arabic, and mixed ones.
- Society of IllustratorsβΒ list of articles and artist features on diversity.
- Afropunkβs art tag, although mostly focused on gallery and installation art, sometimes covers digital illustration.
- As a side note, checkΒ Rad Magpieβs list of black-developed indie games.
- AndΒ BoardGameGeekβs list of black board game and TTRPG makers and artists.
Black-run conventions
Some arenβt entirely black-run, and size wasnβt a factor in inclusion, although the bigger ones I know of are bolded.Β When real life becomes a thing again, simply attending or tabling at these will support POC-run events with both money and the attendance numbers that prove theyβre viable.
- African-American Childrenβs Book FairΒ β Philadelphia, PA
- Atlanta Sci-Fi & Fantasy ExpoΒ β Decatur, GA
- BAM Black Comix ExpoΒ β New York, NY; was suspended for 2020, uncertain whether it will resume in 2021.
- Black Comix DayΒ β San Diego, CA
- BlerdConΒ β Arlington, VA
- Diversity Comic ConΒ β New York, NY; not until November, but itβs uncertain whether it will be held this year.
- East Coast Black Age of Comics ConventionΒ β Philadelphia, PA
- Game Devs of Color ExpoΒ New York, NY
- J1-ConΒ β Atlantic City, NJ
- Khem FestΒ β Newark, NJ
- Motor City Black Age of Comics & MangaΒ β Detroit, MI
- Schomburg Center Black Comic Book FestivalΒ β New York, NY
- Sol-ConΒ β Columbus, OH
SeeΒ this list from The BlerdgurlΒ for intersectional cons, although itβs from 2017, so some of them are defunct.
On social media
Although I havenβt been involved in it, Iβm amazed at the number of black artists and resources @Wacom has been tweeting out.Β We canβt promote every POC artist ourselves, though.Β (You might have noticed there are a lot of them.)Β So here are some ways you can do it yourself.
Instagram accounts not connected to the websites already mentioned
These are all fair ones that credit the artists and link to their profiles, and are at least inclusive of digital art.Β Instructions for how to get featured can usually be found in descriptions.
- @blackart365Β (159k followers)
- @blackartexpoΒ (110k)
- @blackartistspaceΒ (258k)
- @blackartistsspeakΒ (1.5k)
- @blackcomicscollectiveΒ (2.9k)
- @blackgirlsillustrateΒ (32k)
Hashtags
The hottest current one isΒ #drawingwhileblack,Β although Itβs been going since 2017.Β Recently, its popularity has resulted in theΒ Drawing While Black Directory,Β a list compiled by the hashtagβs starterΒ Abelle Hayford, of participating artists who are available for hire.
[RT are appeciated] the #drawingwhileblack directory is now updated !β¨ This is a great resource to find a black artists in fields like Illustration,Animation, Graphic Design, Comics,etc! please check it out!https://t.co/EU3H2XvamK pic.twitter.com/rO2GPquy39
— Abelleβ¨(they/them)@commission open (@abellehayford) May 31, 2020
As of this publication, submissions are closed while they port it to a website, but once the site goes upβwhich Hayford says should happen in the next few days, theyβll be βopenβ¦FOREVER!!!!!!!!β
And for some general ones black artists can tag their work with, depending on what category it fits in.Β Numbers from Instagram, but all of them are used on Twitter as well.
- #blackartΒ (3.2m)
- #blackartistΒ (1.2m)
- #africanartΒ (1m)
- #blackartistsΒ (487k)
- #blackartmattersΒ (119k)
- #africanamericanartΒ (99k)
- #blackcomicsΒ (48k)
Most people donβt know that thereβs a burgeoning digital art scene and emerging animation houses in Nigeriaβin fact, more and more inbetweening and other production jobs are being done there.Β If you happen to be involved in it,Β #WeAreNigerianCreatives is for you.
Itβs much harder to find black art sharing accounts on Twitter than Insta due to the way their search function works, and I was running out of time by the time I got to this section, so I couldnβt give it the deep dive it deserves.Β If anyone has any they want to share, please DM me atΒ @thecsjones, and Iβll see if I can either edit them into this article or give them a section in another one.
Also, promotional and retweet threads for POC artists have been popping up all over Twitter for the past couple of weeks.Β Due to the fast-moving nature of Twitter, I canβt link these either, as theyβll be hopelessly outdated by the time you read this, but searching for βblack artists,β βblack creators,β and βblack illustrators,β or scanning #drawingwhileblack should yield some newer ones.
I want to do a thread here about some black people in comics that are amazing and deserve your support if you can. Some are people I have worked with, others are just folks I am in awe of.
Black creators, retailers, publishers, PLEASE add your work to the thread if you can!
— Gail Simone ππ (@GailSimone) June 1, 2020
And if you have any following or platform, please start your own.
Also, new artists interested in going into comics or animation would be well-advised to check outΒ #publishingpaidmeΒ andΒ #animationpaidmeΒ on Twitter, which were started to highlight the pay disparities between white and nonwhite artists; men and women.Β Thereβs plenty of advice for negotiating better ratesβand what constitutes a good rate in the first placeβthat will be useful to new artists.
Groups for black artists:
- Black American ArtΒ (43k)
- Black Artists ConnectedΒ (262k)
- Black Artists UnitedΒ (12k)
- Black Comic Book Artists, Writers, CreatorsΒ (3.4k)
- Black Writers, Readers, Artists and ThinkersΒ (1.8k)
- Buy Black Art HereΒ (4.9k)
And most art Facebook groups Iβve visited recently have had threads for BIPOC artists to promote their work.
Pages are thin on the ground, though.Β When I ran the various black art aggregators by my criteriaβlink/credit the original artist, over 1k followers, active in the last month, and inclusive of digital artβI came up with just two:Β Black Table ArtsΒ andΒ Black Girls Anime,Β although there are loads more for traditional art.
- R/BlackCreatives
- R/EbonyImagination
- R/Afrofuturism
- R/BlackladiesΒ andΒ r/blackfellas.Β General discussion subs, but art of and by black people are welcomed.
Organizations and funding
Specifically, those who make significant space for digital art, digital illustration, and computer-aided design.
Afrotectopia. Describing themselves as an Afrofuturist βsocial institution featuring interdisciplinary innovationβ in tech, it can be hard to discern what they do from that mission statement alone, but a deeper look into their actual programs reveals theyβre working on incredible things for digital art.Β In addition to leading summer camps for the underprivileged, theyβve started running a series of courses for adults called the School of Afrotectopia, in which black people in the tech industry led panels on 3D animation, data visualization, Cinema 4D, and printing custom face masks, among others.Β 2020βs has already passed, but itβs worth seeing what 2021βs will offer.
We Need Diverse Books.Β A POC-run, and black co-run, association of childrenβs book creators devoted to diversity.Β Currently offering a variety of services, including The Walter Awards for best representation in childrenβs books, mentorships, publishing opportunities, $2,000 grants for unpublished POC writers and illustrators, and emergency funds for creators whoβve been affected by 2020.
The Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Emergency FundΒ is offering stimulus checks of $200 to artists whoβve been put out of work by COVID-19.Β You can applyΒ here or donate to the effortΒ here.
Finally, author-illustrator Victoria Ying recently raised $50,000 in scholarship money for black artists, which will be used to buy subscriptions to the tutorial website Schoolism.Β So far, they have enough for almost three hundred people. Stay tuned.
Animation/Comics/Illustration Fam, we raised approx 50,000 dollars in scholarship money for Black artists. 50k! We will be able to gift a world class educational experience to more than 200 artists who I hope we will see in the industry very soon!
— Victoria Ying – Diana And Nubia -Nov8 (@victoriaying) May 30, 2020
Portfolio reviews and advice
Iβm over a week late to this trend, but a lot of arts industry professionals have opened their DMβs to black or other POC artists who need portfolio reviews or advice for getting into the industry.Β For example, animator, writer,Β small dog,Β burger clown, and most famously,Β previous interview subjectΒ Lindsay Small-Butera is doing it.
Hereβs the list of as many as I could find.Β Most were via @akemiartβsΒ excellent curated list, so thanks to her for that.Β Please check to see if theyβre still accepting portfolios or able to give advice by the time you read this. I imagine some of them have been overwhelmed.
- Bianca Ansems β storyboarding
- Stephanie Gonzaga β storyboarding
- Amy Hudkins β storyboarding
- Nord Storm β storyboardingΒ βΒ Note:Β Not currently open, but he says heβll be opening it up again in the future.Β Check in with him sometime.
- Layron DeJarnette β 2d animation
- Jenny Calabro β animation character design
- Nick Winn β animation character and prop design
- Dean Cunniffe β comics coloring
- Jason Rainville β fantasy art
- April Prime β fantasy art
- Justin Cherry β concept and VFX art
- Melissa Coleman β 3d modeling
- Benjamin Hale β video game background artΒ
- Marianne Khalil βbackground design and painting for animation
β
Important aside
This was supposed to be for all POC, but it turns out that the separate networks of resources for Hispanic and Asian artists alone, as well as the general sphere of QPOC, were too vast to fit into the same article, so I had to narrow my focus.Β Itβs also an Americentric list for the same reason.Β Apologies to all the people I couldnβt get to.Β Maybe in a future article.
β
About the Author
Iβm a West-Philadelphia-based freelance writer and illustrator. Iβve always used a drawn avatar because when I started freelancing in 2014, it was commonly said that black freelancers were less likely to be hired for writing jobs than any other raceβin fact, my 2019 avatar, seen in my other articles, was the first to represent skin tone. But this is the first time Iβve shown my face here, as well as the most personal voice Iβve used in a bio.Β Anyway, my writing is best seen at thecsjones.com and my art is best seen at @thecsjones on Instagram, both of which I’ll update soon.