In my last two articles, “@freckledhijabi & Fairies Of Color” and “@themanwholovedflowers & Flora Photography,” I highlighted black artists I follow on Instagram and have admired for a long time. Artist Obi Arisukwu is someone I only recently became aware of and followed; I’ve quickly come to love his work and I feel that I have to share it! Like the two other artists I’ve mentioned, Arisukwu is bringing diversity and a new perspective to art in a fun, compelling way.
Arisukwu’s Instagram page is full of his artwork: cartoon illustrations. Every Friday, he posts a comic strip that features himself as the leading man. Often our beloved character is seen experiencing the awkward, goofy, funny, and sometimes unfortunate aspects of life. In an interview with VoyageHouston, Arisukwu said about his comics, “The comic strip parodies real life situations like dating, friendships, politics, etc. Even though I’m the main character in the strips, I’ve taken on the role as the “every man” so that the comic strips is relatable to everyone who reads it.”
And I’d say these comics are definitely relatable. Even more, representation matters. The viewers of Arisukwu’s comics can laugh along with this black comic icon and relate to him or see themselves in him in a new way. People can love Charlie Brown, but Franklin and Arisukwu’s character are needed in the world of cartoons. Arisukwu is another artist that is bringing diversity to art, a facet of life that should be full of color.
In addition to his weekly comic strips, Arisukwu creates illustrations portraying the events of today. Included in these, and more specifically, the happenings in the black community. Arisukwu describes his work, “There’s a lot of awesome things happening in the black community, so I like to showcase that in my art. My work varies from pop culture to icons who have done something incredible/who have inspired me to cartoons and superhero fan art.” Arisukwu celebrates black excellence with these drawings, what’s not to love? Hello, Queen Serena.
Arisukwu is an awesome artist that’s contributing to the world of cartoons in the best way. I highly recommend following him @ObiAris to keep up with these great comics and illustrations. I know I will be for a long time to come!
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