A few weeks ago, I did an article about 7 Female Authors you should be reading. So now, I want to take some time to talk about female artists you should be on the look out for too! It was pointed out to me in a comment that there are male authors to be following as well. I am aware. Just like I am aware there are amazing male artists out there. The difference is that most of them (not all) already have their name out there. Right off the top of my head: Jock, Rafael Albuquerque, Frank Cho, Greg Capullo, the list can go on. And they're all super talented. However, in my experience, I have found more people can spout off male artist/author names without having to put in much thought, as opposed to female artists and authors.

1. Babs Tarr -

Babs Tarr's career really took off following her work on Batgirl during DC's New 52 (she was the artist for issues 35 through 52). She has also done a number of variant covers for different titles such as Harley Quinn, Doom Patrol, Black Canary, Power Rangers: Pink, and many more. Her art is like...a blend of comic and anime. It's absolutely gorgeous. Not only does she love comics, she also loves anime and other nerdy things! So she has a LOT of different artistic versions of recognizable characters. For instance, she has this amazing Bosozoku Sailor Senshi series. If you haven't seen the original artwork, you've probably seen the cosplays. She is also launching her own series along with Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher (who were also with her on Batgirl), it will be called Motor Crush.

2. Marguerite Sauvage -

Marguerite Sauvage is another name you've probably heard before, but you may not realize just how many covers she has done. She's been the variant cover artist for titles such as Red Sonja, Josie and the Pussycats, Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, Angela: Queen of Hel, Patsy Walker a.k.a. Hellcat!, and several others. She has also been a regular artist for titles such as DC Bombshells, Scarlet Witch, and Faith. Her covers are always so vibrant and colorful, they almost look like paintings. There's so much detail in them. Oh, and if you look at her independent artwork (which you should), it's absolutely breath-taking. She creates true works of art in and outside of the comic world. Her art for Red Sonja has been my favorite so far. She brought a new style to the character, and even though they changed it to be more like her original look, Marguerite Sauvage's version still remains at the top of my list.

3. Siya Oum -

Siya Oum is the creator, artist, and writer of Lola XOXO, published by Aspen comics. While Lola is kind of her main comic, she has also been the variant cover artist for a TON of other comic titles (mostly Marvel) such as Invincible Iron Man, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Gwen, All-New Hawkeye, the list can seriously go on and on. Like I mentioned with Marguerite Sauvage, Siya Oum has that super artsy feel with her covers. It's more like you're looking at an art piece as opposed to a comic cover. They aren't as cartoon-like and they're more stylized. Like, if you took the text off of her Marvel covers and showed them to someone, they probably wouldn't even realize it was meant to be a comic cover. Her art for Lola has this anime feel to it. It doesn't look like manga, it's more detailed and shaded, but it still somehow retains that feeling. It's a different look than what you see in most comics.

P.S. I have all of her female portrait variants (

color and sketch) except the one for Squirrel Girl. But one day. One day it too, will be mine.....I may be slightly obsessed. They're just so beautiful.

4. Fiona Staples -

Fiona Staples is a Canadian comic artist who most probably know from Saga, which she is the artist and co-creator. However, she has also worked on titles such as North 40, Archie (2015), and her work as a cover artist on DV8: Gods and Monsters (2010), and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (2011). Have you heard of Saga? Have you read Saga? Because if you haven't read it, you should. If you haven't even heard of it, you must live under a rock. Pretty much everyone has at least heard the name of the comic series Saga. And when you think of Saga, you think of Fiona Staples. She has won a crazy amount of awards for her work on Saga. Eisners, Harveys, Inkwells, British Fantasy, Hugos, she has won almost all of these due to her art. Best artist, best colorist, best painter/multimedia artist, best penciller/inker, she's basically won a “best” in every category pertaining to the artistic field. That's how freaking talented she is.

5. Sana Takeda -

Sana Takeda is a name people really didn't start to talk about until her work on Monstress, which is gorgeous. But she is and has been on a number of other known titles like Venom (Rick Remender's run), X-23, Civil War II: Choosing Sides, and Web of Spider-Man. Honestly, it didn't even hit me that she had been on these titles until I started doing more research on her and I was like “Oh shit! She's the one who did the art on that?!” I seriously don't know how it passed me by, but it did. So I'm making sure her name doesn't pass by anyone else. Her art gives me a Jim Henson-y feel. I don't know if that's what she was going for, but the first time I read Monstress, I could absolutely see it being done as a movie similar to Labyrinth. She has this dark and eerie feel to her art. At least from what I've read, which is X-23 and Monstress. Granted, that can probably also be attributed to the feeling she's trying to capture in the comic she's currently working on, but damn, she nails it every time.

6. Leslie Hung -

Leslie Hung is an up and coming artist and boy, she's coming up fast (see what I did there?). She is the current artist for Snotgirl, a comic published by Image and written by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Seconds, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Lost at Sea). For those who don't know, Bryan Lee O'Malley usually writes and draws his comics, so it was kind of a big deal when he passed the drawing portion on to a new artist. But holy crap, I see why he did. Leslie Hung's art is perfect for O'Malley's style. She has this cute, model-like feel to her drawing style. Like when you see her characters, you can totally picture a real model standing in their place, wearing those clothes, sitting in that position or making that face. It's so....modern? I think that's a good word for it. She's very modern. Honestly, I find her style to be a breath of fresh air. It's new and it's different and it's not what you see in every other comic book.

7. M. Victoria Robado a.k.a. Shouri -

Victoria Robado is the colorist for IDW's Jem and the Holograms series. She has also drawn several of the covers. I talked before about a couple of these artists giving a bit of an anime feel? Victoria Robado is full blown anime feel. I absolutely love it. She has done manga covers as well for D-Frag and Monster Musume, and on top of that, she created, drew, and wrote her own manga series, Fragile (its super cute and if you like manga you'll definitely like Fragile). The best way I can describe her art is cute. It's cute. It's kawaii. It's vibrant. It literally makes me say “awwww!” out loud. I have bought art prints from her and I'm in love with them. Zero regrets on that purchase. I genuinely hope we start seeing her as the artist in more comic titles because she deserves it.

Ok, friends. That's my list of 7 female artists you should be on the look out for. These women are seriously so talented and amazing. They deserve our support, their stories deserve our support. There are plenty of other talented female artists out there as well, but I didn't want to make a ridiculously long list. Honorable mentions include: SophieCampbell, Kate Leth, Claire Roe, Ariela Kristantina, Eva Cabrera, the list could go on. Just trust me. There are more female artists than you might think. They're out there though. Show them your support!