We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Barry White a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Barry, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
Absolutely. From an early age, most of the people around me knew that I could draw. My teachers, classmates and friends always gave me my props. Everyone always came to me for help with art projects and commissions. But, I would feel a little “drop” in my heart when they would call me an artist, because when I thought of what an artist was, I envisioned what I saw in media: someone eccentric, holding a palette, wearing dark shades, a striped shirt, and a beret. Since I didn’t fit that description, I didn’t think it was me. I also doubted my skills because I didn’t have any formal training in the craft, besides a few electives in high school and college. But I loved those classes. I was stubborn and didn’t want to learn the real technical techniques, but they definitely paid off. With these newfound skills and confidence, I progressed from drawing Storm and Jean Grey and Emma Frost to what what I was really interested in: the nude male figure. I had drawn male superheroes before, but didn’t have a grasp on anatomy and in hindsight, was likely shying away from drawing them because I’ve always felt that my art was too “telling;” drawing anything associated with the male figure would show the outside world what my internal desires were. As I began showing more people my evolved, more expressive art, I was often met with reactions, from men and women, that ranged from awe, to confusion, to aversion. I began to get used to it. It felt like people were ok with just about any other art I created, but the male figure stirred an almost visceral reaction. Instead of taking these reactions as a negative, I forced myself to dive internally to see if there was any lingering discomfort or shame with ME. I turned that shame and those reactions into painting more of what I love, and it’s been really healing.
Barry, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got started in art at an early age. When I was in the first grade, and there was an art contest with the theme, “The Constitution of the United States.” I thought it was a regular class assignment. My teacher was really impressed with my piece. I don’t remember what place I won, but I did win a $50 Savings Bond! After that, I started drawing characters from popular cartoons in my own style. My real awakening was the first time I watched the pilot episode of X-Men the Animated Series. There’s a sequence where Storm changes her costume from her civilian clothes to her uniform… I’ve been in love with drawing since then. I started to create my own comic characters based off of my classmates and teachers. I was always drawing: in the margins of my workbooks at school, at Bible Study, at the kitchen table, my desk calendars at work, everywhere! At one point, I stopped drawing for years. Once I got back into it, I setup Artist’s Alley tables at Captain’s Comic Con in Charleston, SC, Heroes Mini-Con in Charlotte, NC, SC Comic Con in Greenville, SC, and Soda City Comic Con in Columbia, SC. Then, I stopped drawing abruptly. I didn’t really pick it up again until around the pandemic (2020), and then, it was more of a healing. It was part of a daily journaling process. My work evolved so much during that year, and around then I also began to dabble in acrylic painting. I do comic art more for personal/fun now, and most of my work is focused on acrylic pieces as commissions or gallery submissions.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I also have a background in IT, and it would surprise me when people would reach out to me to design webpages, wire their houses for networking, write programs/phone apps, hack their husbands’ email — ma’am, I install Windows and reset passwords. I think a lot of people think that everything IT falls under one umbrella. If you can clean viruses off of a computer, then you can write code to create an e-commerce website to compete with Amazon. I applaud the folks that can wear that many hats, but I typically focus on one area. I bring this up because I get requests from people to DRAW ME. DRAW MY TATTOO. CREATE MY LOGO. I usually don’t draw someone unless I know them first, even after a brief meeting. I have to feel something from them first. I promise them that if I don’t resonate with them/the piece, the finished product will not be something they love and that I’m proud of. It’s the same usually with character commissions. I have to be familiar with the character first.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I like to see people light up when my work speaks to them. The ones who get it and love it glow when they’re expressing their appreciation and gratitude. I also love when others tell me that they can see themselves in my art, and it expresses feelings that they haven’t openly expressed. It makes me feel seen and understood. I think acceptance and understanding are my biggest motivations.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @typheadamus and @maestrodamus
Image Credits
Dominique Hodge
Kami Ufford