lb_lee | 2022's Year in Art Meme

Rogan: Yoinked from

armaina because she made it look so cool, how could I not?

A grid of a 2022 Summary of Art, with a thumbnail of art done for each month

General rule is, the less color in our art, the rougher the year, soooooo yeah, 2022 was not great. It was hard to see at the time, because I was so focused on just enduring and putting one foot in front of the other, but between the political climate, personal upheaval, and increasing body dysphoria from the tumors, it was just not a good year. I had locked down my blog, collapsed, and it wasn't until the ending third of the year, when Mori took over, that things started getting better.

A stupid simple cartoony pencil sketch of a pigeon holding a microphone with one wing-hand, going HA like a bad stand-up comedian.

A stupid simple cartoony pencil sketch of a pigeon holding a microphone with one wing-hand, going HA like a bad stand-up comedian.

January. A dumb thing I drew to illustrate something I was saying to my roommate about making "wing hands" for a bird. They were drawing a pigeon comedian, and this was my 5-second rendition. I drew other things that month, but most of it was just more figure drawing practice, and this stupid drawing makes me laugh, so here we are.

A realistic pen drawing of a mostly nude black woman with coily swirls of hair, reaching down and grabbing her own ass with an expression of astonished wonderful. A silly pencil speech bubble has her gasping and going, My butt is AMAZING!

A realistic pen drawing of a mostly nude black woman with coily swirls of hair, reaching down and grabbing her own ass with an expression of astonished wonderful. A silly pencil speech bubble has her gasping and going, My butt is AMAZING!

February. Figure drawing practice from the photo book Do It Yourself, by Uwe Ommer. In the book, this woman appears to be almost indignant at how amazing her ass is, while in my version, she looks more astonished. But the part I really wanted to practice was drawing squishing, and at that I succeeded.

Realistic, though improbable drawings of two pairs of women wrestling in fishnets and lingerie. The first set is trying to choke each other, one the old-fashioned way, the second by dragging her down by her pigtails against her fishnetted shin. The second pair has one woman cowgirl-riding the other while pulling her hair mock-ferociously.

Realistic, though improbable drawings of two pairs of women wrestling in fishnets and lingerie. The first set is trying to choke each other, one the old-fashioned way, the second by dragging her down by her pigtails against her fishnetted shin. The second pair has one woman cowgirl-riding the other while pulling her hair mock-ferociously.

March. More figure drawing practice, this time from Exquisite Mayhem: the Spectacular and Exotic World of Wrestling by Theo Ehret.

Seriously, this book was a blast to do ref drawing from. It had the most amazing ridiculous poses, most everyone was wearing tight skimpy clothes that wouldn't get in the way of the anatomy, and there was so many good reference for bare feet, which is surprisingly difficult to find in photography. If you want reference of this type, get a copy.

A short, wordless comic strip, depicting a scribbly white figure, featureless except for a big red heart on its chest with a black X over it, scribbles of black in its skull, and streams of blue pouring from its eyes. It weeps, tries to speak, but all that comes out is scribbly black. It gets more and more upset, and the black scribbles get tainted with red. Finally, it stops talking, puts its face in its hands, and cries.

April. Something happened that I felt I couldn't discuss with a lot of people, and this was a scribbly comic I made trying to express that.

May: No full image, because it's from an unfinished comic about Bob and Biff getting stuck fronting together. It's a funny comic, and everything turned out fine, in a comedy-of-errors way (Bob likened it to a TV episode where two people who don't like each other get stuck in an elevator all day), but in hindsight, it was a really bad sign. Biff can run 75% of our life fine by himself, but he and Bob should NEVER have been dragged out like that, and that they were the only people available... yeah. Not good. The image in the thumbnail is from the pencils, showing Biff when he was a teenager. You can't see the speech bubble, but it's his old man going, "You ain't fornicating homosexually, are you?" and Biff saying, "No sir." Eventually, the thing will get inked and posted somewhere.

June: Red and Blue. Things were already bad, but the Roe vs. Wade overturn certainly kept shit from getting better. I was screaming in my heart all the time by then. (See also, the "How Are You" drawing I did from then.)

Biff in black shorts, back to the viewer, showing off his tattoos, feathered wings down his back. His hair is up in a clip so it doesn't get in the way

Biff in black shorts, back to the viewer, showing off his tattoos, feathered wings down his back. His hair is up in a clip so it doesn't get in the way

July. The original, er, wasn't censored. I draw Biff's back way more than I do anyone else's, but can you blame me? The man has a gorgeous back with gorgeous ink on it.

This drawing is also digital, but the environment is all black and white. Under a clear dome stand the fronting team in color: M.D., ranting about something, waves a fist at Biff, who is making a snarky remark as he gestures with a spoon he's stirring batter with; he looks much better rested this time around, and M.D. has traded out her chelsea for some buzz with crewcut and earlocks. Gigi still hasn't aged, but she now has Dorothy braids and a green sailor dress; she's pointing up at the bony lady with a curious look, while Falcon puts a protective arm over her and looks up warily... or maybe they're both just paying attention to Sneak, who is nearly whacking Falcon in the head doing a happy dance; ze's hair is shoulder length, and ze is in a pink overalls dress with a blue T-shirt. Next to zer, Rogan is going over a comic with Mac; they are both in green, Rogan a T-shirt, Mac a dress. Rogan is now quite fat, while Mac's hair is past his shoulders. Next to them, Grey signs to Bob, who watches her with curiosity and attention. She wears a chain necklace over a white collared shirt and a swirly blue vest; a notepad is in her breast pocket. Bob wears a searing silk shirt with a sci-fi sunset, city skyline, with a ringed plannet in the sky. Miranda, with her ponytail, a white collared shirt, and a black vest, takes notes. Looking over the dome, all in black and white, are Rawlin, a huge giant in black with a domino mask, and a bunch of ghosts: a two-headed sludge being, a spiral eyed, grinning person with long hair, a featureless gray silhouette, a patchwork doll, a little girl with her face blacked out, a faceless angel with stains all down its front, a dark ghost clutching a Christmas present, and a boy with dreadlocks and shadowed eyes. An enormous oak tree spreads over the rest of the page, holding up a bigger dome, outside of which are the dark swirls of the black ocean. Nestled in the branches is the bony lady, a skeleton woman with robes all in the shades of sunset; she holds a beating heart in her hands.

August. The color is at least a positive sign, but this was also the first family portrait to not be full color, and it took me like a year to make. (And in hindsight... yeah, no actually Sneak and Mori were the ones to finish it, not me!) Soooo... yeah, still not great. Still damn proud of it, though!

Tiny pixel dolls of the whole system: Grey, in her waistcoat and tie, signing to Bob, wearing his florid silk shirts and adjusting his glasses. Mac tweaks Rogan's wing with a silly face. M.D. leans on Biff like he's a human bulwark. Sneak grins out. Gigi holds a godseed next to Falcon, who has his arm around her. Miranda poses like a slutty housewife trying to vamp you. The bony lady holds her walking stick and gives the high sign next to her cigarette. Next to her, a ghost looks up at Rawlin, who is curled up into a scowling gremlin ball so his sheer size doesn't break the image.

September. My headmates finally shovel my ass off the front, and Sneak makes adorable pixel sprites in the service of a game ze got distracted on.

a textured dark gray handprint, with a white circumscribed triangle and square on the palm. The outside of the circle makes a ring of symbols. Text reads Madgic: a sanity and sorcery zine by Mori of LB Lee. The title is written in spikey text, with a heart worked into the D, a spiral for the G, and an x dotting the I.

October: the cover for Madgic #1. Mori has taken over and is in way better shape than me. She starts chugging away like a tractor.

An ink drawing of a white skull, contained with Mori's silhouette

An ink drawing of a white skull, contained with Mori's silhouette

November. More Mori! She starts experimenting with brush pen.

A comics panel showing the bony lady, erupting from the black ocean while wearing the laurels of triumph, holding the sun and moon in her hands, encased in an ouroborus. A scythe is behind her, the handle sliding between her ribs. She says, I specialize in death, destruction, and protection, and you were all going to die, badly. Really, you could've chosen worse than me.

A comics panel showing the bony lady, erupting from the black ocean while wearing the laurels of triumph, holding the sun and moon in her hands, encased in an ouroborus. A scythe is behind her, the handle sliding between her ribs. She says, I specialize in death, destruction, and protection, and you were all going to die, badly. Really, you could've chosen worse than me.

December. Mori again, still using brush pen. A panel from one of the comics in Madgic #2: Psycho Pomp. The base design comes from the 1776 tombstone of Susanna Jayne in Marblehead, MA, which I went on pilgrimage to so as to make an illicit rubbing with my friend. (Look, I TRIED to get a graverubbing permit, I really did, but after getting bounced around various municipal phone trees, I gave it up.)

Seriously, this is only one THIRD of a supremely over-the-top headstone. Go check it out, it's great.

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2022's Year in Art Meme

2022's Year in Art Meme

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