Ash

@draculing.bsky.social

2789 Followers 234 Following

Butch lesbian, cartoonist & art teacher. I make comics about lesbians and cool monsters in historical settings! Sometimes 🔞 portfolio: https://avmccammon.com webcomic: https://obeliskcomic.com behind the scenes: patreon.com/draculing

A sketchbook page comic depicting Henry and Nicky, two 1950s butches, sitting in Henry's cramped bathroom. Henry is cleaning and bandaging a cut on Nicky's forehead from the contents of a small first aid kit on the bathroom counter. "Ow-" Nicky yelps, "Y'know, I'm fine, Blondie." She winces as Henry wipes at her injury, holding her head in place with the other hand. "Yeah, yeah-" Henry dismisses. "It'd be too much, havin' *two* scars on your head, right?" Henry teases, making Nick laugh and agree. As Henry closes the first aid kit, Nick considers her - that she's lived alone til now, the people she seems to hang around with... "D'you do this a lot?" Nick asks her, to Henry's surprise. "What," Henry smirks, "pick the winnin' dyke in the bar fight?" She leans smugly against the counter. Nick stifles laughter from her seat on the toilet lid. "No-"
A title card illustration for "A Longshot Out of the Birdcage", featuring Nicky and Henry, the central characters, looking like they're about to make out. (Logo design is by Rubri! vgen.co/rubri )
Nicky, a latinx butch with a dark pompadour, and Henry, a white blonde butch with ruffled short hair, make out in an alley behind the nightclub they work at. The door behind them is slightly ajar, letting a faint strip of light into the dark space.
Nicky and Henry framed by heart-shaped carabiners that are interlocked, one red and one orange to suggest the butch lesbian flag colors. Nick is a tan Latinx butch with a dark pompadour, and wears a bomber jacket over a button-up shirt. Henry a blonde white butch in a brown sport coat.
Three black and white comic panels cropped from the prologue of "A Longshot Out of the Birdcage". Panel 1: Henry, a young (teenaged?) butch is crumpled over herself, panicking and near tears. Her hands are bared in front of her, grabbing at nothing. Panel 2: Birdie's arm reaches from out of frame, her hand curling under Henry's chin, not yet touching. Panel 3: Birdie's hand grasps Henry's jaw firmly, pulling her head up to make eye contact. Henry is wide-eyed in shock at the gesture.
Liz "Birdie" Drummond, a fat and glamorous woman approaching her 50s, offers a drink to Henry - a teenage-ish butch who looks worse for wear, her clothing stained and her nose bloodied. They stand in a dreamlike, disorientingly spare room with enormous windows that overlook Birdie's nightclub. "What's your name?" Birdie asks. Henry stumbles over herself to answer. "H- Henrietta." She adjusts her plaid shirt like she's embarrassed, defensive. "Call me Henry." "Henry," Birdie repeats, putting the untaken glass on the windowsill between them. "Do you know who *I* am?"
A black and white line art series of comic panels. Henry, a young butch with close-shaved hair, is stooped over and crying in desperation. A hand reaches out to her, cradling her jaw to lift up her face...
Henry, a young butch with close-cropped hair, grimaces and sniffles harshly - she's tending to a bloody nose.
A black and white line art comic. Nicky, a butch with a pompadour and wearing a waiter's tux,is serving a cocktail to an older woman with a poodle haircut. Nick: Here you go, ma'am. Patron: oh! Thank you dear! She hands over a small fold of bills. "Here! For you!" Nick takes it, flustered. "Oh, uh-" The woman continues, "I insist!" Her soft hands cup her face as she blushes, swooning. "It's so nice that they finally hired a *real* young man here! And so handsome!" Nick stares at her, stunned. "Uhhhh.... sure is." Across the room, Henry chokes on laughter as the old woman asks Nick "have you thought about cutting your hair, though?" Nicky, frozen to the spot, grimaces some kind of polite smile. "N.. no I.. haven't..."
A vibrant, pulp-cover style painted illustration of two butches playing pool. Nicky leans over the pool table toward the viewer to make her shot, while Henry chalks her cue in the background - clearly looking at the view of Nicky's ass instead of the game at hand.
Blue and black oil pastels gesture drawing of a figure lunging with one arm up in the air
a black and white drawing of a muscular butch, cropped to show only the torso. Their arms are folded and they wear a bulldog harness over a sleeveless shirt, and a spiked wrist cuff. The background is vibrant purple, pink and orange hatching.
development art of Nicky in her bomber jacket, one in black and white and one in color
A stark black and white comic page. Across the top, an elegant queen in a black dress stands in a spotlight, arms extended out to her audience. [Birdie's nightclub, 1940.] She bows, diffused light and stage curtains swirling around her in a dreamlike state. In close up, Henry - a scruffy teenage butch with bruises on her face - watches from a window far above. Her fingers barely touch the glass, momentarily distracted from her own dangerous predicament. "Are you nuts??" someone behind her snaps, too loud, and Henry flinches away from the view. Back to reality.
an old movie trailer still that reads "THIS is a kind of WOMAN you've Never seen before!"
A stark black and white comic page. Across the top, an elegant queen in a black dress stands in a spotlight, arms extended out to her audience. [Birdie's nightclub, 1940.] She bows, diffused light and stage curtains swirling around her in a dreamlike state. In close up, Henry - a scruffy teenage butch with bruises on her face - watches from a window far above. Her fingers barely touch the glass, momentarily distracted from her own dangerous predicament. "Are you nuts??" someone behind her snaps, too loud, and Henry flinches away from the view. Back to reality.
Screenshot from the documentary "PS Burn This Letter Please". A vibrant technicolor still of 1950s or 60s drag queens up a stage with a white curtain backdrop, can-can dancing in massive colorful skirts. The subtitle reads "It was girls, drag queens and butch lesbians.", referring to the staff at Club 82.
Birdie - a fat, older woman with short-cropped silver hair - yanks Henry forward by her tie until they're nose-to-nose. Both of them are flushed, Henry wide-eyed and startled. She has a heavy bandage over the right side of her face, covering the corner of her slightly parted lips. It's spotted with blood.
A front and back look at Nicky in her warm leather bomber jacket, the front-facing drawing in full marker color. Nick's a tan mexican-american butch with a dark brown pompadour and faint mustache - she passes more easily as a man than Henry does, and regularly uses it to her advantage. She's in a yellow shirt and tan slacks, and her warm coat is brown leather with a peacock-blue plaid across the shoulders.
a stark black and white line drawing of Henry against a crosshatch-textured black backdrop. She's a white butch woman with fluffy, short blonde hair and a crooked smile, a scar clipping from her upper lip to her chin on her right side. She wears a checked blazer over a darker button-up shirt, and leans against a countertop with her folded arms. She's smiling at the viewer and saying something in unfilled speech bubbles. What a rascal : )
Tony Soprano looking at his watch, standing on the Asbury Park, NJ boardwalk, in front of Convention Hall.
A stark black and white comic page. Across the top, an elegant queen in a black dress stands in a spotlight, arms extended out to her audience. [Birdie's nightclub, 1940.] She bows, diffused light and stage curtains swirling around her in a dreamlike state. In close up, Henry - a scruffy teenage butch with bruises on her face - watches from a window far above. Her fingers barely touch the glass, momentarily distracted from her own dangerous predicament. "Are you nuts??" someone behind her snaps, too loud, and Henry flinches away from the view. Back to reality.
A marker and colored pencil drawing of Nicky Flores from "A Long Shot Out of the Birdcage". Nicky is a tan-skinned butch with a dark brown pompadour and very faint little mustache. She leans on a boardwalk railing, overlooking the beach and hazy ocean in the distance, the night sky a deep blue behind her. She wears a warm brown leather bomber jacket and tan trousers - the jacket has a peacock-green plaid panel across the shoulder blades. Nicky looks over her shoulder at the viewer, smiling warmly. There's a lit cigarette in her left hand, casting faint yellow light from the pinprick of its ember. Faint smoke filters behind her into the distance.
a sketchbook page of doodles of Kira Nerys and Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, largely centered on events of the terrible season 3 episode "Meridian". Clockwise from the top: Kira places a rough hand on Odo's wrist, holding him in place. "This is Odo," she says, "He's my *lover*." Odo looks incredibly startled by this new knowledge of Fake Dating. Plant time! Odo smiles like a happy-face french fry while turning his arm into a plant, cradling his gifted house plant in the other, humanoid arm. Odo hands Kira a padd with a stern look, saying "It seems Quark is cyber-stalking you, Major." Kira looks at this information with equal severity, responding - "let's kill him with a gun." Tiny Kira and Odo hugging with their foreheads pressed together - Odo is slowly becoming goo from the waist down, puddling around Kira's feet. And, center: Odo twists around in a far-too-bendy-to-not-be-made-of-goop move, glowering at Quark trying to take photos of Kira. Kira hasn't caught onto what's happening yet, and raises an eyebrow at him. "Uh, Odo?"
A black and white lineart drawing - Henry (a slightly shorter butch with fluffy, short dyed blonde hair) and Nicky (taller, also butch, with a now-mussed dark pompadour)snuggle on top of a patchwork quilt in their underwear. Nicky has her right arm around Henry's back; the knuckles of her right hand are conspicuously bandaged, as is the bridge of her nose. She's drooling in her sleep, though, so it can't be all bad. Henry's curled up on her side in the crook of Nicky's shoulder, sleeping soundly.
black and white pen drawings of Enabran Tain and Elim Garak from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Tain is wearing his canon turtleneck/cardigan/slacks outfit and holding a glass of kanar, and it says "evil peepaw energy" next to him, because that's true and correct. He also has a chunky lizard tail that rests against the floor. Garak has a bishop-sleeve tunic shirt with a boxy Cardassian collar and angled color blocking at the shoulders, with vaguely suit-material slacks. His shoes reference spats in their design. (But like... space spats. Spates?) He steeples his fingers in front of his torso thoughtfully.
a stark black and white line drawing of Henry against a crosshatch-textured black backdrop. She's a white butch woman with fluffy, short blonde hair and a crooked smile, a scar clipping from her upper lip to her chin on her right side. She wears a checked blazer over a darker button-up shirt, and leans against a countertop with her folded arms. She's smiling at the viewer and saying something in unfilled speech bubbles. What a rascal : )
A stark black and white comic page. Across the top, an elegant queen in a black dress stands in a spotlight, arms extended out to her audience. [Birdie's nightclub, 1940.] She bows, diffused light and stage curtains swirling around her in a dreamlike state. In close up, Henry - a scruffy teenage butch with bruises on her face - watches from a window far above. Her fingers barely touch the glass, momentarily distracted from her own dangerous predicament. "Are you nuts??" someone behind her snaps, too loud, and Henry flinches away from the view. Back to reality.
A crop of a black and white comic page from "A Long Shot Out of the Birdcage", my graphic novel. Henry, a 19 year old baby butch with scruffy short hair and a bruised face, stands at an oversized observation window with Birdie - an older, elegant fat woman who's smoking a cigar. They're watching the floor of Birdie's nightclub, which is bustling with patrons and the crossdressing staff. "Henry..." Birdie muses, having just learned her companion's name. "Well, Henry. If you work for me, you'll need to work hard. Pull your weight, and then some. This isn't a charity service." Henry scoffs at the idea. "I'm no moocher," she snaps. "I can work." Birdie only smiles knowingly as she turns away. "I'm sure you can."
a cartoony black and white drawing of Julian Bashir and Garak from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, roughly how they appeared in season 1. Garak leaaaans into Bashir's space with a smug, flirty smile and a delicate pinky finger touching the collar of Bashir's Starfleet uniform. Bashir looks deeply flustered, visibly sweating. Garak also has a chunky lizard tail that coils around the back of Bashir's legs. (They're gay, your honor)
a small black and white pen drawing of Evelyn - a young white woman in cartoonish style and early 1900s blouse, skirt and spats. She has black hair that's pulled up into a bun and wide poufs on either side of her head. She's dashing intently to the right, clutching a suitcase under her right arm. In her haste, some papers have fallen from her bag, and flutter behind her.
a crop of a comic page, thin black line art on white paper. Birdie - a stout, older white woman with sleek curls brushed all to one side of her face -glances over her shoulder at the reader, and at Henry. Henry - a disheveled teen here, her bluntly short hair mussed and face bruised - stammers over a few panels, clutching at her open shirt. It's missing a button, revealing her white undershirt beneath. She seems to stumble, though Birdie only asked her name. "It's- " She settles finally, folding her arms tight over her chest and looking away defiantly. "Just call me Henry."
Nicolasia "Nicky" Flores, a latinx butch with a dark pompadour, leans against an unseen countertop with her arms crossed. She wears a cozy plaid coat that just barely shows her shirt underneath, her thin gold necklace awkwardly tucked into the collar. She looks off into the distance at something with an amused expression on her face, mouth pulled into a soft smile.
a rough comic panel sketch of Henry, a young butch teen with short, mussed hair and bruises on her face. She's scowling at the viewer, saying "I'm no moocher."
an offwhite sketchbook page full of vintage car related drawings! A green 1949 Oldsmobile 88 is at the top with some tiny color swatches and notes about the sloped roof being part of the early muscle car vibe. Below that, Nicky works under the hood of her car while Henry... supervises? (We'll call it that.) Along with some rough sketches of car dashboards.
A black & white + grayscale drawing of two butches in their nightclub uniform suits smooching against a brick wall. Nicky has a dark pompadour, while Henry has short, mussed blonde hair.
A tiny doodle comic of me with a 5th grader passing me her artwork. "Miss Ashley, can I work on this more later?" "Sure, bud." With EXTREME earnestness, the kiddo says "I just think I can push myself and reach my full potential." I cry on the inside in a good way, thinking omg. You're like 12. That's so precious. Also, same. "I have a lot of ideas!!!" The kiddo continues. "I love that for you!"
a black and white inked close-up of Nicky and Henry, leaning in and making eyes at each other. Nicky is a taller, latinx butch with a slicked-back pompadour that has a single curl falling in her face. Henry, smaller, is a white butch with short, messy blonde hair.
white background with black text reading: what do you like about my art style? and/or stories
a crop of a comic page, still in pencils - Henry, 19 years old with shorter, darker hair and no facial scar to be seen, snaps to attention in a close-up as someone offscreen says "Look-" But they're not talking to her. The large man who hauled her in here - broad shouldered in a double-breasted suit - has his hand curled over the shoulders of Dickie, the thin MC of the nightclub. They both face away from Henry, walling her off from their conversation - even though it's *about* her. "Dickie," the bigger man continues. "I don't wanna spend my night buryin' this kid." His hand tightens - amicably? - against the back of Dickie's neck. Henry fixates sharply on this detail - she's still bruised from that same hand.
A black and white/grayscale drawing in the style of a comic panel. Against an abstracted brick wall, small staircase leading up to a slightly open door in the background, Nick and Henry steal a brief and needy kiss. Both of them have a hand bunched in the other's shirt, eyes shut and oblivious to whoever might stumble across them...
A black & white doodle comic in which Nicky & Henry have a conversation over fast food. "So, what," Nick is asking, "Did he *hurt* you?" Henry looks uncertain, confused, as she takes a bite of her burger. "Huh? Why? You're so *serious*, Flowers." A moment of quiet stretches out, before Nicky says- "It *is* serious."
Nicky, a dark-haired butch in a bomber jacket, and Henry, a blonde butch in a brown suit, make smug eyes at each other. They lean in over interlocked, heart-shaped carabiner frames, which are red and orange colors pulled from the sunset lesbian flag. The #Butch4ButchArtFest template/concept is by Natsuo Mutsumi!
A crop of a comic panel - against a dark night sky and the ocean in the distance, Henry rests a hand on Nicky's shoulder. Despite everything, somehow, she's smiling. Nicky looks wide-eyed, uncertain, as Henry tells her, "I wanna buy you a drink."
"-Said no fighting, god dammit--" The bartender's voice drags the world back into focus, even as Nicky's heart thunders in her ears. Oh, she thinks. You- you did it again, Nick. Would you look at that. The room looms large around her, a narrow trail of blood dribbling off her fingertips, to the floor between her boots. No, her thoughts continue sharply, don't look back--
CRACK-- Nick's whole body arcs into her fist - twisting in a punch that connects with Henry's cheek, toppling her, a fraction of a second showing her eye wide with surprise. Tears leak from Nicky's eyes as she snarls in the aftermath. "Just what the hell do you know, anyway??"
a black and white + grayscale comic page. Henry, a shorter butch in a loose-cut suit and buttonup, clips elbows with Nicky - a taller butch with a dark pompadour of hair, who seems near tears. Startled out of crying, Nicky coughs into her fist. "Watch it." Henry's already brushing imagined dust off Nick's bomber jacket. "Well, 'scuse me, handsome." She says, "Don't think I've seen you around before." "Why the long face?" she continues, as Nicky turns to look over her shoulder. Behind them, at the far end of the bar, the woman she'd been fleeing from is leaning against a tall figure by the pool table. "It's-" Nicky stumbles. ..."It's nothing."
a black and white + grayscale comic page. Henry, a shorter butch in a loose-cut suit and buttonup, clips elbows with Nicky - a taller butch with a dark pompadour of hair, who seems near tears. Startled out of crying, Nicky coughs into her fist. "Watch it." Henry's already brushing imagined dust off Nick's bomber jacket. "Well, 'scuse me, handsome." She says, "Don't think I've seen you around before." "Why the long face?" she continues, as Nicky turns to look over her shoulder. Behind them, at the far end of the bar, the woman she'd been fleeing from is leaning against a tall figure by the pool table. "It's-" Nicky stumbles. ..."It's nothing."
A polaroid-frame painting of Henry against a peacock blue square background. She leans her right arm against a countertop, her other hand gesturing with a cigarette between her fingers. She wears a brown suit with a light blue buttonup, her blonde hair mussed. She's definitely selling you something you probably do not need or want. She knows a guy who knows a guy.
A black and white lineart doodle of Nicky giving Henry a surprise smooch on the temple, yoinking her close with an arm around her neck. Henry looks wide-eyed at the viewer in pleasant surprise.
A black and white comic page from A Longshot Out of the Birdcage. Henry and Nicky bump into each other for the first time at a dive bar, clipping elbows- Henry looks startled, if faintly amused (someone new, something novel!). Nick, on the other hand, is somewhere else - choking back tears trying to get out the door. She coughs into her fist to collect herself. "Watch it." But Henry's already dusting off Nick's coat. "Well! 'Scuse me, handsome." She smiles, leaning in. "Don't think I've seen you around before." This *is* unusual. "Why the long face?" Henry asks, even as Nicky looks back - back to the booth she'd been sitting at, the now-ex-girlfriend chatting with other patrons by the pool table. Finally, she manages - "It's... It's nothing."
Nicky, a dark-haired butch in a bomber jacket, and Henry, a blonde butch in a brown suit, make smug eyes at each other. They lean in over interlocked, heart-shaped carabiner frames, which are red and orange colors pulled from the sunset lesbian flag. The #Butch4ButchArtFest template/concept is by Natsuo Mutsumi!
a crop from a page of "A Longshot Out of the Birdcage", in black and white line art. Henry runs pathetically after Nick, sweating and disheveled. Her panting precedes her as Nicky turns around in alarm, fist clenched. Henry: "Hff... huff...huff..hf- Boy- You sure walk fast!" She doubles over to catch her breath, leaning on her knees. "Haa... I- I didn't get your name, pal." Nicky, tense and uncertain, glowers down at her. "It's Nick," she says after a beat, hands still clenched. "What *is* this?"
a colorful sketchbook page of Nicky- a 1950s-styled butch with dark pompadoured hair, posing idly in work clothes, and sitting on a beach topless in a leather jacket.
Margot, a black vampire with wild curls, is cradled against Eve's chest - Eve buries her face into Margot's hair, her own long black hair pouring over Margot's shoulder. Margot's shirt is undone, and blood stains her entire torso, neck and jaw - just beginning to soak into her shirt around her breasts, as if she's put the shirt back on without cleaning up. She idly smudges blood onto the back of Eve's hand in reaching for her.