Samurai Sketchbook of Butch-Femme Art
 

The Butch-Femme community is like sparkly lights and that gets me drawing. My goal is to capture the kaleidoscope of butch and femme expressions, the fun, the curious, the smexy :cool: and most of all, the love :love1:. At first, I'm gonna stumble into things, but I'll get better!

Do you have a BF sketch request? Share your idea and I'll see if I can sketch it for you. It's not a toaster, but hey it's free! I also do commissions for those special occasions.

In the spirit of BFP, comments are always welcome :)

Enjoy!
Mika

Evening Wear
 

http://i.minus.com/j1cuX1F6RfTRn_xs.jpg

Dabbling in the butch-femme dynamic. It feels kind of surreal.

PS. Most of the time, I'll use 'butch-femme' generically, like in "Butch Femme Planet", for simplicity.

At Your Service
 

http://i.minus.com/jWv2LewDN10wq_xs.jpg

It takes a lot to let myself draw a maid outfit, so this was a personal achievement.

"You're on my tractor."
 

http://i.minus.com/jbquQa0XRYoIjX_xs.jpg

It is a cute tractor. ;)

Awsome drawings.... im a artist myself... and love checking out other artists works, ... keep em coming.. :)

Thank you, I'll keep working at it! I'm also hoping to see more BF-themed art around.

I love this idea and you are a great artist!

I can only speak for me but I do hunger for butch-femme images.

How about a good kissing one?

:)

A fine choice, M'lady. Interestingly, this theme just came up on this thread too.

Request: Red Kiss
 

http://i.minus.com/jcgxlb5Lw0QZy_xs.jpg

Here you go! Thanks for the request. I got distracted a little - just a little - while browsing around for references. *ahem*

Thank you, Dee. Your photography work is awesome! Creative professionals are so inspiring.

Very impressive work and as I said in a rep, you should really consider doing a comic book of sorts. have several characters and make a storyline.

And holy... you're fast with the requests!

You are very talented! Thanks much, I love your work:)

Thank you for the vote of confidence! I don't know how you read my mind, but comics is what I'd really like to do. However, I'm new to this genre. While I'm doing my best to educate myself about fellow butch-femmes and their extraordinary experiences and outlooks, there's so much to read and ponder on. It would be considerably faster to collaborate with someone who's already knowledgeable and has a story in mind. We could do comics or illustrated stories, both would be fun. If you or someone you know might be interested in doing a mini project, shoot me a PM!

I try to pace myself :)

That sounds like a great idea! I do write, as a matter of fact.

We'll talk :)

Beach Splash
 

what an amazing gift you have
:]

Flower Faeries
 

Embracing Forever
 

http://i.minus.com/jiwqN49mvn5q1_xs.jpg

Continuing my exploration of the genre. Comments are always welcome.

horses? Something with horses?

I love your style. Not everyone can draw in perspective and even fewer develop their own style. I would recognize yours now if I ever saw one elsewhere!

Horses are majestic creatures, aren't they? I'll have a go, Miss Tia. Thank you for the suggestion.

And thank you for your kind words. I used to feel like a chameleon hopping from style to style. Perhaps it reflected my search for identity. In some curious way, I learn about life and things through drawing. And I do feel that I'm beginning to find myself.

I actually used art in therapy, Samarai. I use to be a children's therapist. I could tell when a child was breaking through by the progression of his or her art. Art doesnt come from the hand..it comes from the essense of someone.

I am thrilled you will attempt a BF horse drawing for me. I love horses and need them in my life. To me they represent love and freedom but most of all, self empowerment.

LOVING your artwork!! It's beautiful!

I am not entirely certain how it is that a person manages to create images of human beauty with that kind of... organic-ness, with both technical details and emotional signals being that spot-on, but I am very glad it is a thing that happens.

translation: holy shit your art is amazing. more of this kind of thing please

I'll also say that both the butches and the femmes look fantastic enough that I can't say for sure whether it's being drawn from the perspective of a butch gaze or a femme gaze. (Or, perhaps, another perspective entirely.) And that is a very good thing.

As for ideas, hmmm. You've posted images with a variety of themes already, from real-world to fantastical, so I'll pitch something out of left field. Something heroic or triumphant. Perhaps a strong young butch woman or girl who has just prevailed in a physical conflict, or one protecting her beloved?

That's fascinating. I once had a conversation about what it might mean between a child who colours well within the lines (eg in a colouring book), one who scribbles over the lines. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on that.

PS. Am currently working on the request pic.

Thank you both :)
Have I mentioned how I admire those who can write? ;)

Wow, thank you for your amazing words! I attempt to portray the characters in the light that they'd wish to be portrayed, to the best of my understanding. It's my way of respecting my bros and sises.

That is a totally awesome idea. I've wondered more than a few times if such themes have gone out of fashion. I'm glad it's not! I've also wondered how women.. mm, damsels... feel about it.

I do! I do! :cheer:
I'm rusty on horses, so might not be able to fit a lot of elements in one pic. There'll be more horsey pics, to be sure.

Thank you for the ideas!

Admittedly I may still be at the age where I am far too attracted to violent behaviour and physical strength (well, and strong women who could protect me physically); perhaps that's it. But if you're up for drawing it, well, I can't stop you, can I? :D

in or out of the lines
 

Samarai...it all depends on why they are coloring wherever they are coloring. Outside of the lines can be independence showing, creativity, or stubbornness, rebelliousness, or even a neurological disorder. It could mean they are exploring feelings or having too many feelings stuffed.

What I looked for was color selection, pressure, thickness of lines, movement and images freely formed subconsciously.

I always asked them their interpretation first, before I would examine it closer. I can see red as a color of anger and to the child, it could be a memory of the red blanket he carried around as a child and lost...which is tied into the grief now over losing his mother to alcoholism..(true story).

And for the record, almost all anger has a sense of loss attached to it. So sometimes even if they dont see the anger it there and sometimes its all about the blankie...

I had a child who would only color with greens. I gave him a box of crayons with no greens it and told him to draw me a picture. if you could have seen the torment on his face and how hard he processed this for such a long time...he simply could not do it without green. OCD. So I got finger paints and we explored putting colors together and seeing them change colors. Then we got water and food coloring..and he watched blue and yellow turn to green. By the time we were done with my therapy with him, he was using a couple more colors. Not all of them but lil steps is good. And not everyone has to use all the colors. In one culture, (I dont remember where) they only see three colors. Period. Shades of them but no other colors. So perceptions play a big part of it. If he had been older we would have explored this too. But I only had a few week with him...

You are so talented! I love your drawings! Feel like they should be in a comic!

I have to make a request :) A pinup inspired femme and a dapper butch.

Cannot wait to see more of your art!

Oh I love that idea!!!

I'm going to ask a question - what if anything makes this image queer other than we know it to be queer. While studying queer art sometimes all that made an image queer was the knowledge that the artist was queer (and there is nothing wrong with that) - other times there was a subtle tell - other times more obvious.

Your mileage may vary.

I really, really like this concept and approach to your drawings. I so often hear authors talk about how their characters in books would react to something or "what would character x do/think/feel" but I am trying to remember if I have ever heard a visual artist approach the subject like this. Maybe...I have no art degree so won't claim a broad knowledge. What I so often read about is the many visual artists stating they painted/drew the figure because they (artist) were trying to convey a thought/feeling/idea. Almost a voyeuristic experience with the subject which can sometimes leave the viewer feeling a coolness or almost clinical approach to the work. Your drawings are very engaging and seem (to me) intimate without being intrusive. Thank you so much for sharing these with us!

Oh...and agree with Sunshyne above...the dapper butch, pinup femme idea sounds fab!

:balloon:


Katniss~~ (the above emoticon being the extent of my artistic ability...)

My BDSM personas/role-playing characters/etc. get like this. It's like my issues develop issues.</tangent>

(speaking of the first commission I got done of one of said characters/personas was recently finished and delivered to me; I am not sure where to show it</supertangent>)

I would be into seeing a drawing of a butch or a femme or some combo where one or more is full-figured :)

Loving this thread as well as all the great conversation your mad talent is generating.

I like good ol' chivalry. Just that sometimes it seems politically incorrect nowadays to show "damsels in distress" so blatantly. It's still around when men run the show, but don't women find it degrading? ... And now Twilight comes to mind. I dunno LOL.