A Canadian artist now living in Denmark with his boyfriend is changing the comic book culture one super cute illustration at a time. Simon Ip describes himself on his Instagram page as a “digital creator…I love to share snippets of my everyday life.”
The illustrator told Huff Post that he
draws inspiration from my life with my boyfriend, Patric. (We met) in the summer of 2019 when I was visiting Stockholm, where Patric lived, for the weekend with friends. On the train ride back to Copenhagen, I told myself, ‘I need to see him again,’”
The two were dating long distance for a while. Then the Pandemic hit, actually bringing them closer together. Simon said that,
“finally, in January 2021, we moved to a wonderful apartment in Copenhagen with a wonderful seaside view.”
Ip’s drawings became a series entitled, 100 Days of Happiness, beginning in March 2020. The series has struck a chord with the LGBTQ+ community for its straightforward (pun intended) depiction of a gay male couple. Simon added,
“Going on Instagram, I know I had difficulty finding other LGBTQ artists that drew same-sex couples doing mundane things together and enjoying sweet moments shared together. I’d say the majority of LGBTQ depictions are overly sexualized. We don’t oversexualize all straight relationships, so I thought it was important to continue these illustrations to normalize same-sex couples.”
Not only does Ip present a wholesome same sex-relationship, which is not often seen in the comic book world, the relationship is also interracial. This is important to Ip because,
“Denmark’s population is not as diverse as in Canada, and that’s made me realize the importance of showcasing my Chinese heritage and being openly gay,”
Ip says that one of the reasons he does this is for younger generations, to give them what he did not have,
I would have loved to see this type of representation growing up. With the rise of social media, I’m happy I have the possibility to do so for someone else.”
I for one love them and thank him for these! To see more of Ip’s illustrations check out his Insta feed at Simon Designs. More stories like this, please!
Sources: Huff Post
