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Lauren Sparks

@wingedelfgirl.bsky.social

360 followers 420 following 1.7K posts

Comics illustrator/painter pretending to be a graphic designer🌻 she/her, age 38🌱 Covington, KY, USA🪴 has 2 cats and a garden 🐈🐈‍⬛ Married to @mtscomics.bsky.social🌿 https://linktr.ee/wingedelfgirl

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · Apr 10

Oh! It's #PortfolioDay? Who decides that? How does one know in advance? 😅

I'm a dorky comics illustrator who also enjoys poster and album designs, or anything else related to visual storytelling. I work primarily in ink and watercolor. Let us be dorks together 💖

Concept art, drawn by Lauren Sparks, for the graphic novel "Otis and the Sylva Beast" for Not So Super Publishing.
An 11-year old black boy with round glasses, black clothes, sandals, and a large backpack with sleeping bag tied on top, stands on the bank of a stream shielding his eyes from the sun.

Illustration by Lauren Sparks. An elf woman with brown skin, long thick hair, and ragged handmade clothes and boots, drags a cut-down pine tree along a mountain trail. She carries two bags, and a white squirrel sits on her shoulder. The land and plants around her are covered in snow and frost.

One-panel comic by Lauren Sparks, from the series "Cats Talking Words". Two cartoon cats sit on a grassy area in a semi-urban neighborhood. The first cat says, "The Donut Man. My, I wonder what that shop has". The second cat answers, "A man."

Watercolor artist trading card illustration by Lauren Sparks. The character Morpheus, from the Neil Gaiman comic series The Sandman, on a swirling background of rainbow colors.

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 3h

This is, pardon my language, FUCKING BULLSHIT! @leximcmenamin.com is a top tier journalist who had a great interview with Mamdani THIS WEEKEND!!! The kind the NYT could never do. It’s bullshit of Anna Wintour to destroy the TV politics desk on the eve of a mayoralty they were born to cover

Lex McMenamin (they/them) @leximcmenamin.com · 4h

I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.

certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Cheer Captain @cheercaptain.wang · 9h

I can’t emphasize enough right now that the millionaires tax in Massachusetts has allowed public schools to provide free lunch and breakfast for all students. We can take their money and do good things with it!

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 9h

Tapping the sign

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 8h

My coworkers in the Philippines this morning reported that for Halloween there were so many kids dressed as Kpop Demon Hunters characters that it was like a "Rumi Multiverse", and now I'm sad that I couldn't be in Manila for Halloween 🥲

Reposted by Lauren Sparks

victordlombardi.bsky.social @victordlombardi.bsky.social · 21h

New graffiti art in my Rogers Park, Chicago, neighborhood.

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Nate Powell @natepowell.bsky.social · 10h

Here’s the cover for my official Twilight Zone story, coming in issue 4– out from IDW on February 4, 2026! I’m just over halfway done with the art for the issue, and it’s coming together really nicely.

Please place orders with your local comics shop by December 15th & spread the word— thank you!

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Comics in the Golden Age @comicsinthega.bsky.social · 19h

Post-Halloween mood.

An Addams Family cartoon in which Gomez sees snow outside the window and says “Suddenly, I have a dreadful urge to be merry.”

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Comics in the Golden Age @comicsinthega.bsky.social · 10h

Today is the birthday of artist, writer, animator, & producer Osamu Tezuka (Nov. 3, 1928-Feb. 9, 1989).

A black and white photo of him sitting at his desk with several Astro Boy toys

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 8h

Pencil extender!! There's still at least .25" left on that red side!! 😤

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Gale Galligan @galegalligan.bsky.social · 9h

i don’t wanna give you up

Almost-fully-used pencil nub (a double-sided red and blue Mitsubishi) sitting on a sketchbook page with hand studies and miscellaneous face doodles.

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Andrew Turley @aturls.bsky.social · 1d

Look folks gen AI videos are out in the wild so if you weren't already being careful about sharing rage bait videos then now is a great time to start

If you can't trace a video back to a trusted source then I recommend leaving it where it is, like a slice of bologna you found on the street

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Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Pam Wishbow @pamwishbow.bsky.social · 1d

If you’re a working artist talking to other creatives I’m begging you to not hide this. I have a parter who makes more and I don’t hide that and try to be as open as I can especially one on one. It’s cruel to not be honest with your fellow artist and give them any kind of false hope or fear

Frank J. Barbiere @fjbarb.bsky.social · 2d

Many full time creatives have “invisible safety nets” like bread-winning partners, trust funds, external support, etc. No shame on anyone, but it creates a false vision of success. The cost of going to cons alone on top of hoping to eat as a freelancer are untenable, IMO.

Samantha Mash @samanthamash.bsky.social · 2d

When people hear that I'm returning to part time work they often ask "are things not going well with your art?"

The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 23h

Same!! Me and my partner both have full time jobs"pay the bills" jobs and draw comics on the side. Whenever we teach an art class or whatever, we tell the kids this up front. (And advise that if they want to do art full time, do not take on a house-size pile of student loans in college 😅)

Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Kasey Gifford @kaseygifford.bsky.social · 1d

Some 2025 Cryptids

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 1d

*person reading through all of these relatable situations, chuckling to herself*

Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 1d

Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!

Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.

Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!

#MundaneHalloween

Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Andrea Ritchie @dreanyc123.bsky.social · 3d

Although published almost 15 years ago, Queer (In)Justice by @kwhitlock.bsky.social @jmogul.bsky.social & I has a lot to teach us about the shapes criminalization of trans & queer folks has taken in the past - and the narratives that fuel it - that are relevant to current conditions. Worth a read.

Pup Victor @pupvictor.bsky.social · Aug 29

I was talking to my mom today about the narratives being run about the most recent school shooting, some she had observed herself scrolling through her news feed, and introduced to her to this book.

A tough read, but reality past and present.

A picture of a book titled “QUEER (IN)JUSTICE: The criminalization of LGBT people in the United States” by Joey L. Mogul, Andrea J. Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 1d

How sad is it to read that and find it entirely plausible, though? It's petty and childish, like most things he posts 🙃

Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Digit!!! @ Youmacon AA D2 @digitoonie.bsky.social · 2d

Binder clips are like Fallout bottle caps at my table. They're invaluable. My display is being held together by binder clips and prayers

A sign being displayed upwards by binder clips

Extra large stickers being supported by binder clips on the top shelf

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Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 1d

The "reading makes me smile" batman!!! AHAHAHA 😆 I hope the mini comic con in a few weeks is excellent!!

Lauren Sparks @wingedelfgirl.bsky.social · 1d

It's so hard!! I start everything in pencil and think about how it looks in grayscale first, where lines are so helpful... I've tried doing lineless sometimes, but always go back because I think in black and white first. I feel like lineless art works best when thinking of color first, maybe??

Reposted by Lauren Sparks

Razorcake @razorcake.bsky.social · 1d

Welcome to the 2025 Donation Drive

Check out the new sticker/shirt design by Jason Willis and learn how you can donate on the site!

razorcake.org/2025-donatio...