Femmetober

My new zeen* is ready to share! Femmetober compiles 31 portraits of women, nonbinary and trans folks, my daily sketches based on front page photos in October 2023. “Femmetober” (Femme + October = Femmetober) emerged serendipitously as a daily practice. Scrolling through the New York Times front page online on October 2, 2023, I saw the portrait of the new United States Senator from California, Lafonza Butler. I sketched her and her quotation from the accompanying article. She’d said: What are you doing for freedom today? With that drawing, Femmetober was born. Every morning in October, I searched the New York Times landing page for a photo or video portrait of a woman or nonbinary/trans person. I set myself creative constraints, making most drawings quickly and intentionally sketching more than finishing. This zeen is a compilation of the month of drawings. This page shows three black-and-white photos from the zeen: (1) the center spread, including two portraits; (2) a stack of four printed copies, showing front and partial back covers; and (3) a two-page spread with sketches of groups of protesters. *Note: I’m starting to spell “zine” as “zeen” with two E’s because screen readers can pronounce it correctly.