Sofia

Go See Ethel Cain Or the Devil Will Get You

Inspired by the Coachella billboard and an engraving by Gustave Doré featured in “The Raven”.

it almost looks like a digital painting

I try to build up the values slowly and work in thin “layers”. Before I even sketch, I start by toning the paper with a light layer of black pan pastel so I have a smooth base to start from. I use a small fluffy (dry) paintbrush to buff out any hard lines during the rendering process. I also find that using a thin, textured paper helps the charcoal to apply more smoothly.

Figure study after “Female nude reclining on floor, head on pillow” by Thomas Eakins.

The barn swallow is a migratory bird species that engages in mobbing, a communal effort to ward off predators and protect their kin. Barn swallows and other similar species recognize that there is strength in numbers.

Abolishing ICE is something that should’ve happened a long time ago, and realistically won’t happen any time soon because this country values protecting whiteness more than anything. State sanctioned violence is not new—Indigenous people, Black people and people of color have been subjected to countless acts of violence on their own land, in the streets and inside their homes. This is important to recognize because abolishing ICE does nothing if this system of power still exists.

I’d also like to highlight that everything is connected, i.e. imperial boomerang. The US has been funding the genocide of Palestinians and silencing Palestinian journalists, so it’s no surprise that these practices exist on US soil as well. It’s been said many times before, but if you cannot find it in yourself to care about people in another country, you can also be convinced to not care about your own neighbors.

Although concrete change seems distant, that does not mean we can become complacent. Fascism thrives off silence, neutrality and indifference. Continue to resist by speaking up, staying educated, protesting in any way you can and loving thy neighbor.