studiojfishart:

What do you think about this artwork, my “Hawaiian Burgergal”? It’s been up for debate on the Tumblr blog “Fat Art”.

Now that you’ve thought about it, I’m going to talk a bit about myself to give you context and then I’ll tell you what I think about the artwork.

I’ve been attracted to fat women for as long as I can remember.  Growing up in LA and around brazen shame and scorn for fat, especially concerning women , I have had to deal with my own worries and guilt for finding fat women beautiful. As high school rolled along and I became braver and a little more confident and my interest in having a relationship grew, I still had trouble approaching fat girls out of fear that I would be shunned, turned outcast and ridiculed.

As I grew up and came into my young adulthood, I realized that my way of thinking was wrong and I was fully responsible for my self inflicted shame. I was getting in the way of my own happiness and building relationships with people over my own insecurities. During this time I was also developing as an artist. While I’ve been drawing my entire life, it was only within the last ten years that I began to dedicate myself to my artwork and try to make a living doing what I love (whether or not I actually “make a living”). As for the food thing, I grew up with a family that loved food so much it was their livelihood. I was around food always and I built a strong appreciation that went beyond the average interest of eating food to live. My love for food began to make it’s way into my artwork and the one entree that has stood out over all is the hamburger.

Skip ahead to 2009: Despite overcoming my own inhibitions, I’ve still not fully embraced my love for the fat female figure in my work. In fact, I haven’t draw much besides myself, monsters, food and anime/video game themes. Around this time I decided to pursue that desire and I introduced my first fat female character, Laurin from my webcomic Jaephisch and the Dark Rainbow:

This is the second page in which Laurin is an active character and the first time you see her almost full body. While she is bigger than most of the other characters seen in the comic, it was never presented as an issue or even as a point. She’s an alchemist, she’s concerned about the monsters invading the town, she’s strong and level headed and she’s fat. On top of that, the main character is swooning over her and it’s simple love at first sight.

A little before this occurred, I also decided that I wanted to make more artwork swayed towards the erotic. Granted, it’s a strange kind of erotic, but I decided to go with it all the same:

“Laptopgal”

“Percolatorgal”

Then, my first instance of going the burger head route “Cheeseburgergal and Skull Fries”.

It kind of all culminated together when I created the first character that would inspire the monster erotica comic series Junqueland, the matriarchal Rexa:

Cut ahead to now: I’ve been working for the last couple years in this kind of work. Creatures and people with things for heads, from men to women, fat to thin, burgers or not. I’ve still only made a small amount of artwork featuring fat women or the bodies of fat women, mostly within the Junqueland title. My most recent piece “The Taming of Birds” features a (giant) voluptuous woman:

Back to the Hawaiian Burgergal piece: This was my idea going into making this piece: An anthropomorphic combination of an amazing burger I’ve had and a human body I find very attractive. I made it for an anthology book themed after sandwiches that Star Gods Press is publishing.

What this work means to me: I make artwork that appeals to my tastes, standards and desires. While I do try to consider how it might make other people feel, how it makes me feel is most important. While it may offend some viewers, I know from experience that it makes other viewers excited and they enjoy it and look forward to more.

To close, I would like to get it out there that I appreciate any and all feedback and support my artwork receives. We all come from different life experiences and we’re all clumped together here on the internet. Many opinions and feelings cross paths constantly. I think it can be a positive experience with which to grow and learn and understand each other. It’s all possible by communication, which is why the internet is so valuable. Thanks Kristine, who asked me my opinion, so there it is!

So tell me, how does my work make you feel?