We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful De Hootz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with De below.

De, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve always loved making comics, I used to have a friend in grade school who I would draw comics with and I just never stopped. I used to hang around 4chan draw threads in the 2010s when I first started doing digital drawing. I’ve been slowly writing a graphic novel over the years but during the pandemic and all the things that went with it, I got more serious about writing and making comics and started this instagram project as a way to keep myself active and to find other artists.

De, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I draw Sunday strip style comics with comedic socio-political commentary from a leftist perspective. In regular English I draw comics complaining about capitalism and the government but I use funny little birds to do it. I started out making simple four panel strips but I’ve slowly started to tell longer stories with more complex ideas. As of now I’m almost done with a one hundred page story about changing perspectives and seeking inner truths.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Collective action. In America art outside of a mass media machine is not seen as something that is profitable. Usually because art is something people consume in their leisure time. The less disposable income people have to support artists and the less leisure time people have to enjoy it means artists won’t be supported. And that comes through the collective action of workers fighting for the fruits of their labor.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

We live in a time where people are more connected than ever, but digital platforms designed for corporate profits have left us divided. I’m trying to make comics that entertain people but also make people think about themselves and their place in the world and in this wacky carnival show we’ve built for ourselves. I’ve always loved telling stories and how comics can be used to tell more meaningful stories than just art or literature could alone. I’ve been writing my graphic novel for almost five years now and I want to tell my stories while I still can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/dehootz
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dehootz/
• Other: https://dehootzcave.bigcartel.com/