Ashanti Fortson is an award-winning cartoonist, comics editor, color designer, and multidisciplinary illustrator. Their work explores the rifts and connections between people, they are deeply interested in textiles, and their love for color is a thread that runs through everything they make. Their short comic Leaf Lace won the 2021 Ignatz Award for Oustanding Comic, and Shades of Fear, the color-focused horror comics anthology they co-edited with Allison O'Toole, won in 2022 for Outstanding Anthology. Ashanti lives in Baltimore with their spouse, their cat Miss Cheese, and at least three pet rats at all times.