Ashanti Fortson
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ashantifortson.com
Ashanti Fortson
@ashantifortson.com
5.9K followers 300 following 590 posts
Cartoonist, illustrator, embroiderer, color designer. They/them.
🇲🇽 ENG/ESP OK

NO AI. Get outta here

https://ashantifortson.com/
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ashantifortson.com
Ashanti Fortson @ashantifortson.com · Nov 10
Hi! I'm Ashanti Fortson, a queer Afrolatine multidisciplinary artist working as a graphic novelist & illustrator. I also embroider and needle-felt. I'm interested in color, texture, evocation, and emotion.

Available for freelance!
Check out my shop! 💜

🎨 ashantifortson.com
🛍️ seatoad.bigcartel.com
Illustration of an albatross pressing its weight down on a curled-up person, its huge wings closing in on them. The person has long dark hair that curls around them, around the albatross' feet, and tangles around the albatross' body. The person is surrounded by corals, seashells, and forget-me-not flowers. Comic page from my short horror comic, The Hue of Heaven. Cassandra, a disabled Black teenager housed in the Cardinal's supposedly-altruistic home for sick and disabled youth, anxiously wonders where her friend Antonio has been taken after the surgery that would cure him. She encounters the Cardinal on a walk and asks him if Antonio is walking. The page is tense and chilly, emphasizing the distrust Cassandra has for the Cardinal. Illustration in limited color showing various vignettes of people engaging in fun summer activities, like going to a concert, but they are all unmasked. A figure in the center is isolated in a dark void, ignored by the other figures. The central figure is the only one masking Photo of three needle felted little mushroom creatures in a line. The first has a square green cap and a surprised face. The second has a golden round cap and a smiling face. The third has a pink gilled cap and a blushing face. What you don't see in the photo is that all three have big booty cheeks.
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
redderbeanpaste.bsky.social
Gamers. It’s time
Almost Christmas means it wasn’t Christmas
December 24, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
ashantifortson.com
A illustration for The Baltimore Banner, about government rollbacks on protections for abused/neglected immigrant youth, and the fear, unease, and instability that those affected are experiencing.
Wide illustration of a silhouetted young woman facing towards her imagined future, represented by a series of vignettes: graduating college, buying a house with a partner, and starting a family. The vignettes are depicted in bright, soft greens and oranges, while the young woman in silhouette stands in a dark blue, textural space. A sharp divide sits between the young woman and her future.
November 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
ashantifortson.com
made a casual alt account so that I feel a bit more comfy posting silliness, doodles, chill life tidbits, etc…also Yugioh lol

feel free to follow it if you so choose 😌
starbeetles.bsky.social A. @starbeetles.bsky.social · 10d
turning Yugioh antagonists into a lesbian couple with virtually no effort whatsoever
drawing of Marik Ishtar and Ryou Bakura from Yugioh, standing next to each other. Marik is wearing a studded black vest and sleeveless purple top with khaki pants, gold sneakers, and spiked bracelets. Bakura is throwing a peace sign to the viewer and is wearing a big blue sweater, a blue pleated skirt, a brown fluffy bag, white legwarmers, and brown mary janes
December 19, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
ashantifortson.com
a little sculpture-jar that I got back from the kiln this week!
photo of a ceramic sculpture-jar resembling a cute dog or bear creature with a little face and a knitted hat for a lid. the hat and face have been painted with underglazes, and a clear glaze has been applied on top. photo of an unfired ceramic sculpture-jar at the greenware stage. the bowl of the jar has a cute face and the lid resembles a knitted hat. brown underglazes have been applied using the mishima technique
December 12, 2025 at 11:33 PM
ashantifortson.com
a little sculpture-jar that I got back from the kiln this week!
photo of a ceramic sculpture-jar resembling a cute dog or bear creature with a little face and a knitted hat for a lid. the hat and face have been painted with underglazes, and a clear glaze has been applied on top. photo of an unfired ceramic sculpture-jar at the greenware stage. the bowl of the jar has a cute face and the lid resembles a knitted hat. brown underglazes have been applied using the mishima technique
December 12, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
shecallsmecdawg.bsky.social
Once again it’s the time when I post the stack of books I designed which were published within this calendar year.

This was a year of many changes! Next year will look very different (full of manga lol), but as always I’m so grateful for every artists’ trust. I love making your books shine.
A colorful stack of 23 books of various sizes published by scholastic graphix, silver sprocket, bulgilhan, and self-pubbed authors.
December 12, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
shecallsmecdawg.bsky.social
All this to say if YOU 🫵 are a small press (or individual artist) and want to hire me to make something beautiful as well as make your life easier please reach out. I can have very reasonable rates that work for your life. I can chat paper and color with your printer!

I’ll help make cool things!!!
December 12, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
wolfskulljack.bsky.social
A heartfelt thank you to all who buy from independent artists, hire us, or even share our work or give words of encouragement. Even the most established of artists are feeling a decline in work and sales this year. Your support in all or any way is felt and appreciated amongst us! Thank you!!
December 12, 2025 at 2:29 PM
ashantifortson.com
catastrophe teen and winner of the #1 worst backseat gamer award 🏆
limited color drawings of Marik, Yami Marik, and Namu Marik from yu-gi-oh
December 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
binglin.bsky.social
we’re on season 3 of yugioh
drawings of simply colored yugioh characters: yugi, yami yugi, dark magician, kuriboh, kaiba, blue eyes white dragon, bakura and yami bakura, marik and yami marik (and namu marik)
December 12, 2025 at 12:37 AM
ashantifortson.com
today has been a “recline on couch and draw YGO fanart” kind of day
A page of line sketches with gray tones, featuring five characters from YuGiOh and their respective Millennium Items: Yugi, Bakura, Marik, Ishizu, and Pegasus
December 11, 2025 at 9:13 PM
ashantifortson.com
Knowledge and information should be free to all, and I’m always trying to weave that into my creative practice. Always happy to answer any artistic/creative/etc questions, either via email or on social media.

If you’ve got any questions, feel free to reply here and I’ll write up my thoughts!
lodrawsfilth.bsky.social Lo 🎨🔞 @lodrawsfilth.bsky.social · 24d
Share your knowledge if/when you can. Teaching other people how to do what you do doesn’t lessen your art - it just means more and better art for everyone.

I appreciate when people are willing to tell me about their brushes, how they study, etc… I want to put that back out into the world.
White text on a blue background, a yellow pencil, and a black blot of spilled ink. The text says “share if you welcome artistic questions”.
December 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
ashantifortson.com
troubled teens in possession of way too much dark magic (I adore them)
Line sketches of Bakura and Marik from Yu-Gi-Oh. Bakura looks moe in one drawing and is grinning malevolently in another. Marik is holding the millennium rod and also grinning malevolently. evil teens (tm)
December 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
binglin.bsky.social
I like him
a drawing of maximillion pegasus
November 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
hannahtempler.com
beautifully said
screenshot from the linked/quoted article. text reads: Sherald's advice to young artists: "A lot of times when you don't know what you're going to make, it's not because you have some kind of block, it's just because you haven't lived out in the world long enough, and so, part of making good art is having experiences, so maybe get out of the studio and don't put the pressure on yourself to make something... If you're out and you're living in the world with your antennas up and you're looking at movies and you're reading and you're having conversations, that's part of art-making as well. It doesn't happen in a vacuum." Image credit: Amy Sherald. A God Blessed Land (Empire of Dirt). 2022. Tymure Collection. © Amy Sherald.
November 27, 2025 at 6:19 PM
ashantifortson.com
My spouse and I have been watching through Yu-Gi-Oh for (more or less) the first time, and I’m struck by how much Pegasus looks exactly like this in every other shot
Image of a crude line drawing portrait of Maximillian Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh. His nose is very thin and long, his mouth is tiny, and his visible eye is comically proportioned. He looks relatively on-model, all things considered
November 27, 2025 at 7:45 PM
ashantifortson.com
A illustration for The Baltimore Banner, about government rollbacks on protections for abused/neglected immigrant youth, and the fear, unease, and instability that those affected are experiencing.
Wide illustration of a silhouetted young woman facing towards her imagined future, represented by a series of vignettes: graduating college, buying a house with a partner, and starting a family. The vignettes are depicted in bright, soft greens and oranges, while the young woman in silhouette stands in a dark blue, textural space. A sharp divide sits between the young woman and her future.
November 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
plaguingpossum.bsky.social
Absolutely do buy books if you can. And there’s a lot of ways you can pay without money. You can promote or write about or share work. I did an art trade recently with an artist in Chile bc we didn’t have mutual payment options. Or you can share with the author what the work made you feel. Etc
November 26, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
plaguingpossum.bsky.social
Let’s be so for real about who the real thieves in creative industries are. It’s not someone pirating a damn pdf. It’s the fucking parasites scraping yr work for an LLM, it’s algo-brained ghouls at the highest levels of major media who killed art as a career so they could pocket your living
November 26, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
minniesmum.bsky.social
Hooray we have a matcher who will match up to US$100 of donations. We can do this! 💕💕 like, share, donate if you can.
minniesmum.bsky.social Minnie’s mum @minniesmum.bsky.social · Nov 25
11/700 with only days to go, to ensure Maha and family stay housed in the cold, rainy winter of G@za. Our donations keep them alive. Can you help? ANYTHING HELPS
Saving lives on the frontline in Palestine - help Maha
My name is Louisa and I'm raising money for my dear friend Maha and her family in Gaza.
chuffed.org
November 25, 2025 at 11:02 PM
ashantifortson.com
More thermal printer stickers 💫
Photo of my hand holding two small strips of thermal printer stickers. One design features shooting stars, the other features koroks from the Legend of Zelda game series
November 19, 2025 at 9:03 PM
ashantifortson.com
Drew up a little sticker design and printed it on my thermal label printer! Baby.
photo of an illustrated sticker of a cute mushroom with a big booty. the word Baby is written on the mushroom’s cap. the mushroom has cute makeup on and has a tramp stamp in the shape of a heart photo of my hand holding a roll of several thermal-printed stickers, each with the same baby butt mushroom as in the previous image
November 18, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
tatianatrifan.bsky.social
"Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51
Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives"

"Ho called her friend a “luminary of the disability justice movement”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51
Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:58 PM
ashantifortson.com
Heartbroken to learn of Alice’s passing. I looked up to her immensely, and I was so grateful for her patience, grace, creativity, & insight as a collaborator. I will miss her fierce kindness & her sharp wit so very much.

I drew this portrait of us in 2021 for CommunityAsHome. Rest in power, Alice.
Illustrated portrait of Alice Wong and Ashanti Fortson, surrounded by dreamy purple clouds and shooting stars.
November 16, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Ashanti Fortson
prisonculture.bsky.social
Alice Wong, Presente. Thank you for everything.
thrasherxy.bsky.social Dr. Thrasher wants you to pre-order The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · Nov 15
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”
Black text on a yellow background - This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time. I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you. There are a few in progress that might come to fruition in a few years if things work out. I did not ever imagine I would live to this age and end up a writer, editor, activist, and more. As a kid riddled with insecurity and internalized ableism, I could not see a path forward. It was thanks to friendships and some great teachers who believed in me that I was able to fight my way out of miserable situations into a place where I finally felt comfortable in my skin. We need more stories about us and our culture. You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment. Our wisdom is incisive and unflinching. I'm honored to be your ancestor and believe disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.
November 15, 2025 at 1:31 PM