Toyin Odutola Quotes

For a while, I was nervous about portraying women because of the objectification that automatically comes with it, whether the artist intends or not.

The graphic style itself is influenced by a lot of very layered and detailed comics that I read as a kid, like 'Vagabond' by Takehiko Inoue.

I moved around a lot when I was a child; two of the houses I grew up in have totally disappeared. One was burnt in a riot, and the other was pulled down.

The social media bit is really about documenting process. I like the dialogue if it's constructive, but I'm now at a crossroads. I've accumulated a lot of followers, and it's great, but I'm also at that teetering point where people are feeling themselves a little too much, commenting a little too much.

I kept wanting to push my image as validity; I wanted to see my portrait on a wall and know it was okay.

I've always felt the portrait is an occasion for marks to happen. I've never viewed the portrait as about the sitter. Even when I go to the National Portrait Gallery, I'm not thinking about the sitter; I'm thinking about how the artist chose that color or that highlight. It becomes about the time, place, and context.

I needed to create something I could take with me wherever I went.

I'm really interested in independent publishers and memes and mini comics. But even before that, I was interested in Japanese manga and anime.

My identity is not based on performance; it's based on something that's pre-determined by someone else, and I don't even understand what that is because I'm an African who came to America.

I don't think about race before I start drawing. I think about how to make that mark to fit whatever purpose I need it to fulfill.

Being a black artist, the first thing people want to talk about is your blackness, the importance of your blackness, and your black presence.