Art…yay!

I’m completely falling for the bait here but. Really?

There’s nothing wrong with finding a partner sexy. But when literally all we see is a character go on and on about how sexy their partner is and nothing else, it’s just weird.

Maybe Hitomi genuinely does have other kinds of affection for Hitch. But because she has the misfortune of being written by Salem, all we ever see visually is her raving about her fat mouse boyfriend how sexy he is to her and how badly she wants to slob on his saggy tits and grab his tummy.

And unfortunately for Salem, showing will always be more impactful than telling. So no matter how many reblogs he adds yapping about how loving and domestic and affectionate they are in detatched scenarios, they’re all going to be void if he wants to take making his comic seriously.

No one wants to scroll through a hundred reblogs, ebegging and suibaiting on tumblr of all places in order to get crucial information about a story they’re reading and invested in because someone decided it’s easier infodump instead of actually working to incorporate the elements into their story.

We have seen Hitch showing Hitomi non-sexual affection in art before. Like the time he shared a bath with her. It shows he cares about her, and he’s showing her affection that she’s been starved of.

The only times Hitomi has explicitly shown Hitch non-sexual affection without making it about his body (like the art of her complimenting his brown fur) is the diaper comic (which is definitely something alright), the art of her chewing on him and commenting that he’s “chewy like pierogi”(which is on thin ice already), and the art of them swimming that was inspired by the csm movie.

(new oc he drew looks a lot like amanda young. sonion what is this foolish behavior)

pls have anon if breaks & yes i can say the word, im just personally still uncomfy about using it myself

Completely understandable, anon.

Salem is a performer in a lot of ways. He’s performative about his interests. About his politics and his activism. His living situation. Even his kinks (though that may also be to hide more sinister things lurking below). So it isn’t too hard to connect the dots and see that he’s performative about his blackness too.

He uses it when it’s useful to him, like drawing his audience in with his ‘authentic’ black expression which he uses in his art*, and keeping his audience both sympathetic (he’s a suffering black man in need of aid) and apprehensive (people like them are the cause of his suffering in the grander scheme of things, so they’d better start helping him now with asspats and money).

It lets him bash them without the risk of them ditching him, because what kind of leftist would they be if they abandon someone in need? No less someone like him? He obviously knows more than them because he’s living the reality of being black in america, so it would be being a better ally if they listened and endured, right?

And like you mentioned, it’s also an excellent shield to use when he’s being shitty. Because the people calling him out totally hate him for being black and not for being a shitty person. So that completely invalidates any point they make. Despite a lot of us also being black, but he won’t see that. Or he’ll call us ICE agents and coons.

*Speaking of his art, it’s almost astounding how nobody calls him out for the nonsense he does and the stereotypes he leans into because of the sheer hold he has on his audience.

Making darker characters more menacing or aggressive would usually get someone flamed in his rants (and he’s complained about this too in the past ironically ). But because it’s him it’s just a mistake and it’s okay because he’s learned from it.

When he constantly portrays most if not all of his black characters as sexual or in a sexual manner? We just don’t get it, he’s being subversive about pervasive stereotypes. Then the subversion never comes, but oh well.

When he’s an orientalist shithead who sexualises cultures he’s not interested in exploring (or respecting) in the slightest? Don’t worry! He actually has roots from there, so he gets a free pass!

And when he’s done shouting from the rooftops about how much he loves the fact he’s black and how he makes unapologetic art that doesn’t care about white feelings? He’ll whitewash himself and his ocs to hell and back.

I like how whenever Salem sees art critique he chooses, at every turn, to dunk on others (or so he thinks) and stroke his ego.

I didn’t know studying the fundamentals of art and applying them in your work is limiting artistic expression. Probably because it doesn’t (and it actually allows you to push the boundaries further and create in ways you never thought you could) but I digress.

You can obviously make art without learning any theory whatsoever. It is your art after all, and it’s for your joy (or numbers, in some cases). But it really is something when someone tries to get on a high horse because of that fact.

Literally every artist I’ve seen in this space has a unique style that has both personality and charm. Can’t say the same for everything he makes unfortunately. They’re also able to take art criticism and even ask for it.

(post this anonymously pls!!)

im not usually one for "fixing" art unprompted but I wanted to try my hand at this

I didn't want to spend too much time on this but I adjusted some colors and drew over the wing because it was missing a whole set of primary feathers?! it's still definitely too small for the body but it wouldn't really fit in the frame otherwise

if anyone wants to take this and edit some of the stuff I haven't go ahead lol

Speaking of shading, didn’t he shade in black at some point? Which is one of the myriad of art sins we all learn to avoid as we progress from being beginners?

The values in the second panel lack the contrast to make it striking, so it ends up all muddy. And most of the rainbow evaporates once it’s switched.

Hard agree on the flowers though. They look somewhat fake because of it imo. The fact the flowers serve no purpose in the piece other than to serve as a scenic censor isn’t helping the second panel’s composition at all either. Neither is the fact it feels like the swan is fighting for the viewer’s attention with Salem.

I mean, the sunflowers may be there to symbolise optimism, and the fact Salem is actively moving towards the light rather than staying shrouded in darkness (which is a lovely thought but unfortunately not reality).

The swan could also be there to symbolise his transition into a man and away from the identity assigned to him by society which made him feel alienated. The swan’s wings are too small for its body though. And facial structure doesn’t make it a swan at all, as pointed out by @bbblueberry-bunny (lmk if you want the @ removed)

The rainbow (Someone forgot about roy g. biv while making this) is a bit cliché but it gets the idea of new beginnings across well enough I guess.

The cutoffs at both the legs of Salem and the swan’s tail make the panel unnecessarily awkward to look at.

But, at the end of the day, the day ends. Salem isn’t going to take criticism of any shape or form. He isn’t going to learn anything unless he wants to.