Michael DeForge’s mysterious, ominous illustrations

Illustrator and comics artist Michael DeForge is a man of few words: “I draw comics in Toronto, Ontario,” he tells us by way of introduction. With a Cintiq tablet as his main tool, Michael draws a daily comic called Leaving Richards Valley which he tells us he serialises online. Elsewhere, he makes books and illustrations.

To date, Michael’s books include Very Casual, A Body Beneath, Ant Colony, First Year Healthy, Dressing, Big Kids and Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero, and the sometime-illustrator, sometime-comic book artist tells us there is a short story collection on its way which will be released by Koyama Press in 2018. Meanwhile, his commissions range from editorial for Lucky Peach and The New York Times Book Review and in-store drawings of Air Jordans for Nike.

Michael’s illustrations often have ominous undercurrents with many of his characters bearing expressions of anger or despair, his figures, attacking, running away, or simply breaking down in tears, all executed in a palette dominated by black and splashes of Pepto Bismol pink or acid yellow. Michael’s main influences “include Gilbert Hernandez, Derek Jarman, Lynda Barry and Saul Steinberg”.