(Disclaimer that I’m not trying to start any fights. I just want to quickly inform everyone about this issue)
Friendly reminder that we have to stop drawing Del with big red lips.
I still see artists across the community draw Del with the red coil lips. As a black artist, it’s disappointing to see in 2025. This isn’t just part of his character design for no reason. These are coon lips, which are well known as anti-black imagery.
This racist caricature has a very deep history in America. Prevalent throughout the Jim Crow era from the 1870s-1965. This is a good article I’ve found about the history of the coon caricature that I recommend checking out. I just thought I’d bring this up because it’s disappointing as a black Gorillaz fan to see people still draw Del with this harmful and racist caricature that was made to mock people like me for years. Still to this day too! As much as I love Gorillaz, this issue needs to be addressed by the community. Especially since Del is still officially drawn this way as of 2022. REMEMBER! When you’re drawing Del, DONT draw the red lips. Please exclude them. There are plenty of tutorials online that teach you how to draw black peoples features correctly. It is 100% possible to draw a black character without racist and offensive imagery.
EDIT: I'm aware not every gorillaz artist draws del with the coon lips out of hate or malice. whether its malice or ignorance or they just weren't aware. remember to educate yourself! :)
