#CreateWithPride: Your Favorite LGBTQIA+ Icons

To celebrate Pride Month, the Domestika community has paid tribute to their favorite icons

Design and creativity are powerful weapons of communication that have played a key role in the fight against gender and sexual oppression. #CreateWithPride is a Domestika forum action in which the community has been sharing artwork celebrating equality, self-love, tolerance, and freedom by paying homage to their favorite LGBTQIA+ icons. This year, digital illustration, lettering, and embroidery have been the most popular mediums.

From singer Freddy Mercury and poet Federico García Lorca to Brazilian activist Marielle Franco, discover a selection of some of the most interesting projects that have been posted in response to this call-out. Thank you very much to everyone who participated!

David Hockney by Daniel Torrent (@danielitorrent)

Illustrator and writer Dani Torrent has created this tribute to David Hockney. As well as depicting Californian landscapes and living spaces, Hockney’s paintings have portrayed the lives of gay men living in Los Angeles, especially in the 1970s. At a time when sexual liberation was still oppressed, Hockney challenged social norms and refused to hide his homosexuality.

Dani Torrent, who teaches the Domestika course Expressive Illustration Line by Line, works in the field of children’s and young adult literature. His portrait shows off his signature expressive strokes.

Marielle Franco by Fábrica de Texturas (@fabricadetexturas)

On March 14, 2018, Marielle Franco was murdered in Rio de Janeiro. A great defender of the LGBTQIA+ collective, the one-time councilwoman for the Socialism and Liberty Party also dedicated her life to defending the Afro-descendant population and denounced police brutality in the country's poorest slums.

Gabriela Rodríguez and Xavier Robledo, founders of Fábrica de Texturas and teachers of several Domestika courses, including Cyanotype: Printing with Light, created this piece paying homage to Marielle and her resistance.

Federico García Lorca by Naiara Zalbidea (@naiarazalbidea)

Federico García Lorca was coincidentally born in June (although in 1898). One of the most important Spanish poets of the 20th century, he is the author of works such as Canciones, Poeta en Nueva York, and Bodas de Sangre. His poetry, as well as his paintings, is full of symbols. The moon often represents death, but also eroticism, fertility, or beauty. Rumors about his homosexuality circulated, which was one of the reasons that he was eventually executed by firing squad during the Spanish Civil War.

The poet's heart blooms in Naiara’s very personal illustration paying tribute to her favorite LGBTQIA+ icon.

Marlene Dietrich by Studio Variopinto (@minhoca)

Minia Banet defines herself as a photographer and embroiderer specializing in embroidering onto photographs. She combines thread and pixels to create pieces such as this portrait of Marlene Dietrich. The enigmatic star never felt a need to hide her bisexuality. As she sang in the film Blue Angel "from head to toe I was made for love, I was born this way and I can't help it.”

For her piece, Minia has embroidered an elegant leaf-print dress, a bracelet, and a handbag over a photograph of Marlene Dietrich, her LGBTQIA+ icon. You can learn more from Minia, who is the founder of Studio Variopinto, in her Domestika course, Photo Embroidery on Fabric.

Grace Jones by Nubia Navarro (@nubikini)

Nubia Navarro, better known on Instagram as @nubikini, works as a designer and is a visual artist and photographer in her spare time. Lyrics are a passion of hers and in this illustration featuring singer, songwriter, model, producer, and actress Grace Jones, they are a key element. In the 70s and 80s, Jones became an androgynous icon who would defy sexual norms and stand up against racial prejudice.

The designer chose intense colors and a fresh and powerful style for her illustration of Grace Jones' album cover for "Island Life". Nubia teaches the Domestika course Calligraphy and Lettering for Instagram with Procreate.

RuPaul by Marcos Chin (@marcoschinart)

As a child, they loved dressing up and now RuPaul is one of the biggest TV stars in the United States. For their show RuPaul's Drag Race, they were awarded Primetime Emmy awards in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. They are considered the most successful drag queen in North American history. In interviews, they state that they feel indifferent about which gender pronoun they use. Author of three books, they have been awarded the GLAAD Media Award for promoting LGBTQIA+ equal rights.

Marcos Chin is from New York City, where they live with their dog Shalby. He teaches the Domestika course, Composition and Color for Creative Illustration, and is an expert in telling stories full of color and texture, just like this stunning illustration of RuPaul.

Cristina La Veneno by Carlos Rodríguez Casado (@carlosrodriguezcasado)

Carlos is an editorial illustrator specializing in portraits and caricatures. His work has filled the pages of national and international print publications. He also teaches several Domestika courses, such as Watercolor Portrait Sketchbook. For #CreateWithPride, Carlos has created this portrait of Cristina La Veneno, who was a transgender singer, actress, sex worker, and media personality from Spain and influential face of the collective in the 90s.

Carlos has captured La Veneno’s personality with great detail.

Ian McKellen by Ibon Arribas (@ibbbon)

Ibon is an illustrator with more than five years of professional experience in character design, digital painting, and concept art. He is currently working on his portfolio, developing different comic and storytelling projects. Ibon has chosen British film and stage actor Ian McKellen as his LGBTQIA+ icon. Aside from a successful acting career, Ian is a well-known gay rights activist. He is also the co-founder of one of the UK's leading LGBTQIA+ rights organizations.

In his digital sketch of Ian, Ibon plays with shadows to achieve more realism.

Freddie Mercury by Javier Dominguez Navarro (@javierzeugnimod)

On his Domestika community profile, Javier explains that he has dedicated his life to creative activities. Although he started with music, he later arrived in the world of graphic design and illustration. He chose to draw a singer who, for Javier, "inspired millions of people and helped a great number of them to accept their sexual orientations as well as showing many others that they should understand and respect everyone's decisions and choices." It’s none other than Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, considered one of the greatest singers of all time.

Javier has drawn him with a microphone in his hand while capturing the strength he always exuded on stage.

Elton John by Jimbo Bernaus (@jimbobernaus)

The world of music has inspired another #CreateWithPride contributor. Jimbo Bernaus captures legendary British singer Elton John, who has released more than 30 albums. Although he recently announced his official retirement, Elton’s voice will continue to inspire his fans and all the people who consider him their LGBTQIA+ icon. The singer has always stood up in defense of LGBTQIA+ rights.

Elton John’s Rocket Man was inspired by astronauts going to the moon, and so is Jimbo's illustration. Using powerful colors and elements of outer space, the lettering artist and graphic designer has experimented with different letter shapes, giving them character and creating the sense that they are in motion.

Pabllo Vittar by Helder Oliveira (@holiventrae)

Helder Oliveira is from Castanhal (Brazil) and teaches the Domestika course Fan Art with Style. For #CreateWithPride, he has delivered this portrait of Pabllo Vittar. The Brazilian drag queen and singer-songwriter has more than 7 million followers on Youtube and is one of the country's biggest LGBTQIA+ icons. Pabllo is constantly defending different identities, stating that "the fact that an effeminate gay guy and drag queen is on TV, in soap operas, and touring the world is already a fight against homophobic society".

Helder's fan art illustration, created with Adobe Photoshop, perfectly capture’s his icon’s bold personality.

Willow by Silja Goetz (@silja)

If you like the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will appreciate this illustration of Willow, one of the main characters and a queer icon from the show, by Silja Goetz. Willow was in one of the longest-running lesbian relationships in U.S. television history. The LGBTQIA+ community celebrated the fact that the show set out to normalize a romance between two ciswomen.

Silja teaches the course Book Cover Illustration: Unraveling the Essence of a Story and is an expert in arousing curiosity in her work. Experienced in creating book covers for publishers such as Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, and Gräfe und Unzer, she played with conceptual elements and digital techniques to capture Willow's personality in her illustration.

We also have two other contributions that we’d like to share. First, a digital painting created with Procreate by Ivan (@ijustdot). We don’t know who the protagonists are but this photo clearly captures love.

Secondly, we have an illustration by Adelacreative (@adelacreative), who originally had doubts about sharing her piece featuring the colors that the LGBTQIA+ community identifies with most.

Which art piece did you like the most? Which LGBTQIA+ icon would you like to create a portrait of? Share your answer in the comments and tag #CreateWithPride, even if June is already over.

English version by @eloiseedgington.

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