Leyelle M.G., artist of “The Visitor” and “the weight of winter” in The Future Fire #75, joins us for another of this month’s microinterviews, talking about art, creativity and artists.
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| Art © 2026 Leyelle M.G. |
The Future Fire: What was the image that really stuck with you from “The Visitor”?
Leyelle M.G.: Body and gender dysphoria has been an ongoing battle of mine for nearly 8 years now, so when the central character of “The Visitor” described this self loathing and longing to be anything else (a bird, a tree) I immediately latched onto that concept and I knew I needed to make it the basis for the illustration. The goal was to give the whole image a kind of ghostly spirit-like imagery to give the viewer the sense that they were looking at something beyond the tangible – seeing the people we are beneath our skin.
TFF: How do you imagine early digital graphics will be seen by future art historians?
LMG: There’s no doubt in my mind that ten or so years from now, the digital art we are currently making will be considered outdated and low quality. I don’t mean that people of later generations will not value the art we created, but I expect that the way screens represent color and image clarity will have improved so much that modern digital art will seem to them like looking at a grainy polaroid.
TFF: Can you tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?
LMG: There are so many artists I admire that I couldn’t possibly name them all, so I’ll just name 3 modern artists who have been influential in my artist life most recently. Number 1 is Channah De Luna, who is a good friend of mine, and offered a lot of encouragement and advice when I was first learning how to draw digitally. Looking at her art constantly inspires me because I am both baffled and amazed that anyone could possess so much artistic talent. Number 2 is Colombe Art, to whom I credit the fact that I have cover art credits to my name at all. It was watching her cold call a jewelry company for a collaboration, which subsequently led to her designing the “Red Thread” jewelry line, which inspired me to start cold calling magazines to pitch my services as a cover artist. I’m not sure when I would have found the confidence to try that if she hadn’t done it first. Number 3 is JL Rayne, another good friend of mine who has invested copious amounts of time and energy toward helping other artists learn to create art professionally. Her dedication to making creativity about community is reflected in her art which always feels so healing and colorful.
TFF: What else are you working on now?
LMG: Currently, I’m working on a collection of animal themed digital paintings, with a whimsical twist. Every animal painting has something unusual about it that pulls it out of the realism spectrum and plants it firmly in the wonderland of weirdness. Whether the hummingbirds are part teapot, or the giraffes have Indian Paintbrush for horns, nothing is as it should be, but that’s what I love about it. I feel like I caged myself by spending too much time creating “important, serious art” and totally forgot to make art for the fun of it. So, between this animal collection, and my webcomic Sketchy Business, I’m trying to get back into making art just because it makes me smile, even if there is no deeper meaning behind it.
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| Art © 2026 Leyelle M.G. |
Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.
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