This illustrator, who goes by 5ish.art on Instagram, finds joy in drawing mostly female cartoon characters in a slightly spicy way. In addition to these illustrations, J. Findlay also creates lighthearted and funny comics. Most of the comics revolve around life as an artist, a mom, and a wife, topics to which a lot of people can relate.
In an interview with Bored Panda, Findlay shared how she balances humor with deeper messages: "Speaking strictly on the creative process of it, because it does highlight elements of my personal life and feelings a lot of the time, I use humor as a sort of funhouse mirror projection to appreciate the otherwise mundane instance of life.
Through a personal lens, it helps me appreciate my life and my family even more and never take either of them for granted. I like to consider these snack-sized comics as love letters to my journey navigating through life."
More info: Instagram | twitter.com
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Image credits: 5ish.art
We wanted to know what inspired the artist to start the 5ish Art Instagram account.
Findlay wrote: “I’ve had this art account as far back as I can remember as a means to share my art anywhere and everywhere. I feel that, exhausting as it is sometimes, it’s important to branch out across multiple major platforms and not put all your eggs in one basket.
Posting little comics loosely (and sometimes not so loosely) based on happenstances of my own life has been a cathartic experience for me and when it comes to sharing my art, I consider myself very candid and transparent. I guess one could say that the humorous hook most of my comics have is a sort of coping mechanism tailored for myself.”
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Image credits: 5ish.art
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A significant portion of Findlay’s comics content is based on her and her partner’s daily life. We were wondering how his presence influences the artist’s creative process and how he feels about being featured in the comics.
“My husband is a large part of my four-panel yapping because we’re always getting into silly back-and-forths because of our relationship dynamic. I often tell him that having living people as one’s muse can be dangerous because you’ll never know how fragile the relationship between creator and muse can be, yet here he stands; a fixture of our love and our life as a seemingly bottomless source of inspiration.
I ask my husband constantly whether he’s okay with being featured in whatever comic I’m working on next, especially if it’s based on things that happened between us in real life. One can say he’s sort of an editor in this way, but he tries not to impose on my creative process when it strikes. Overall, he’s very supportive of anything I do (even if he doesn’t understand it himself, sometimes). In fact, he was the one who encouraged me to pursue art as a career full-time 10 years ago! Aaaaand here I am. Full-time freelance illustrator and a (typically) four-panel yapper in between paid works,” shared Findlay.
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Image credits: 5ish.art
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Findlay’s characters are known for their large eyes and exaggerated expressions. The artist shared how she developed this distinctive style and what it adds to the humor and relatability of her comics.
“I get asked a lot about how I develop my style in any creative series I do and the answer is never cut and dry. Looking back at my older comic works, the style from then and now is night and day.
I’ll just say that my style across the board is heavily influenced by things I like and it’s just an amalgam of it. Big influences for my comic style would probably be Adventure Time and the little white blob mascot for Zoloft. A little bit of Invader Zim too,” wrote Findlay.
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Image credits: 5ish.art
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Nowadays, 5ish.art Instagram account is followed by over 54,600 people. We were wondering how the response from the artist’s audience has shaped her work and what kind of feedback or interactions have been most meaningful.
Findlay wrote: “The influx of followers only just this year since I started posting comics regularly again has been a great motivator. To see the caricatures of my life and my personal works be widely well-received has been surreal and humbling.
My favorite interactions by far have to be when commenters tag their significant others in my comics. My heart wells with joy to see that other people experience similar love, happiness, and silliness as me and my husband do. My heart also goes out to those who can’t personally relate but express a yearning for the type of love depicted in the comics. Hang in there!”
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