What up fam, wow its been two years since I uploaded my last character collage. Back in 2020 I was a new dad again, and then the pandemic hit! I have still been sketching, drawing, and painting but lord it was rough balancing the kids at home, my work, and life. So here are a snippet of some of the characters I made over the past two years. This is the 9th time I've uploaded a collage of these over the past 13 years or so. I started making these as a way to practice character based artwork for storytelling, and I still love to do it. Always practicing to see improvement.
If you are interested in more information about any of the characters, want to work with me, or interested in a print just email me at info@robdontstop.com
Fam, my latest and greatest is here. A new bilingual picture bk written by Maestra/Yogi/Author Jill Guerra , designed by Innosanto Nagara , translated by Marianne Teleki , and illustrated by me 😎.
What Actions can u take to support? 1. Spread the word. Word of mouth is how we get it to folks, so please spread the good word. 2. Please follow miss Jill on Instagram now @thelovecurriculum 3. Get a book by requesting it from your local independent bookstore. If u know Jill and are in the Bay Area u can get a copy from her.
Stay tuned for the store link for Jill's site but in the meantime you can see some of her work and other books here"The Love Curriculum"
Thx for your support as we slowly introduce this beauty to the babies, classrooms, libraries, Yoga studios, and offices round the world. It contains reflections, affirmations, and words about yoga poses and mindfulness in English and Spanish. It is for families, kids, teachers, and therapists!
I believe I came acRoss Ami's work through Pinterest. I keep a board of inspiring characters and saw her work recommended to me. WOW. So much raw energy, emotion, design, color, and mood. I love her work-all the excitement and danger, the strong female characters, and the carnage I believe some of these characters could cause if we were living in Ami's world.
I'm sure you'll recognize these cats from Avengers.
Ami has worked on a bunch of films such as Raya and the Last Dragon, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Mutafukaz, and she is currently working on the Maggie Kang directed Sony Pictures film "K-Pop: Demon Hunters" which I can't wait to see!
Here's an interview she did with Bobby over at Schoolism.
If you get a chance go follow Ami Thompson on Instagram. She doesn't post a ton, but when she does its dope.
If you missed the last inspiring artist, check him out here: Zeke Peña
Dude is on some other shit for real. Been meaning to listen and today this stopped me in my tracks. Its soulful, it rocks, its acoustic, and it's electric. Most of all, it is beautiful. I got hip to Moses a few years back and painted him. I haven't listened in a while and it was really nice to see and hear how much sharper the vision he's building is getting. Probably making a lot of people nod or scratch their heads.
A few shots from the film:
If you missed the last post I made about music I'm listening to listen here
This is a film study of Jordan Peele's monumental film "Get Out" which he wrote and directed. As I learn a bit about storyboarding I am looking back to some of my old favorites for inspiration for shots. And looking at how they were shot makes me understand filmmaking so much more. I got a rough idea for this template from Studio Binder and have been using it to map out the film. If you haven't seen the trailer for the film check it out here. This film was groundbreaking in so many ways. As a huge fan of horror films like The Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, Aliens, People Under the Stairs, Return of the Living Dead, it's great to finally see Black film makers telling stories we've never seen before. I love this film. What's your favorite scene?
Now that Chris and his girlfriend, Rose have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.
In case you haven't heard there is a strike by Etsy Sellers against a fee increase by the company on individual sellers. Check out the above interview from the strike organizer/
Ijeoma Eleazu (Etsy Conversations Podcast) is also hosting a live call in where you can voice your opinion about it on her podcast which interviews 100's of Etsy shop owners about their shops and how we as individual sellers make a living through e-commerce.
I joined the strike in solidarity w/ the over 12k shops who are also striking (my shop). I know some folks cannot do this. I make my $ from a variety of avenues and e-commerce is one of them. I have been on the platform since 2008, I wrote this piece about making 1000 sales on Etsy, and I've sat back during many times when sellers voiced their anger about the company going corporate. Some of the changes have been great for sellers and some of hurt sellers. We are not mini corporations, we are people with families and lives.
I don’t like the fee increase to keep it real; especially when the company saw record profits in 2020 and 2021. I gained sales in the last two years as well. But, a lot of that came from joining the Black Owned Etsy group, the increase in the number of pandemic shoppers, earned media coverage, and the fact that George Floyd was murdered and folks made an intentional effort to support Black owned shops. I will say I have been highlighted by the company and I very much appreciate that-but folks have been pushing Etsy and companies like it to feature and highlight Shops owned by Black, Indigenous, POC folks for a long time! Like I said, I've been on the site since 2008.
I will say I love Etsy and appreciate the efforts they've made to bring in more people to the site-I see that work. But, your sellers are the backbone of the company, when they start organizing against you-you've got a problem that you need to take notice of. If they don't act, the number of folks organizing will increase. Shout out to the hundreds of shop owners I've met through SF Etsy, The Black Owned Etsy Shops, and the formerly active Etsy Shop owners of color. I will be back on Etsy, but wanted to support the organizing efforts. If any corporation puts up Black squares during protests for Black Lives or pretends to be down for issues everyday people are organizing about such as climate change, Lgbtq rights, etc they should understand. These are their values.
I shared info about the strike to on social media. If you'd like more information about it please go to EtsyStrike.org to read more.
Sign the petition(over 75k signatures so far)if you agree as a buyer or seller too if you can. LINK
Hey fam, if you have seen the reading of Alejandria Fights Back in Español by the books translator Dr Carla España please watch it here. This book came out last summer and his been making the rounds via reviews and classrooms. If you know of any educators who would dig hearing or sharing a Spanish reading of the book please share this with them.
Want a reading in English? watch elementary school teacher Mr Limata read it here
Skip to the 11:45 min mark for the reading.
And if you haven't seen the trailer please check it out:
Yo, if you're a fan of 80s films check out this trio of characters from the classic 80s cult film The Last Dragon.
Trailer link
The film was released in 1985 and featured Taimak, Vanity (rip), Julus Carry (rip), Mike Starr, and a young Ernie Reyes Jr!The director Michael Schultz also made Colley High, Car Wash, and Crush Groove! And the brother is still working today. Sadly we lost both Vanity and Julius who played Sho Nuff, but even three decades after its release folks like me still love this film produced by Barry Gordy and written by Louis Venosta.
Back in 2016 I painted sho Nuff from the film:
And this year I decided to paint both Laura Charles (played by Vanity)
Ok switching it up again with a time lapse video of this one. This right here is Bruce Leroy, or my version of the actor Taimak from the great 80s film "The Last Dragon". As I stated in the previous post w/ Ms Laura Charles I loved the film as a kid and still love it today even w/ its campy or corny parts.
If you dig this, check out this one of Laura Charles aka Vanity (RIP).
Did you see my last collage of characters? Here it is.
Yup, had to come back with Laura Charles aka Vanity from the Last Dragon. I painted this piece of Sho Nuff several years back and thought it'd be fun to do a few more from the film. RIP Vanity.
If you saw The Last Dragon, whats your fav line from the film?
Hey fam, I just finished the second "Art Books" video. In it I share a little bit of 15 books and magazines ranging from Art of animation, to artist sketchbooks, and photography books. The point of these is to share cool books, show you some ways to get kids off screens, inspire young artists, and hopefully get some kids reading. Some of these books would appeal to elementary aged kids and some are for older teens.
If you missed the last Art Books video check it out here
These are the books in the video:
“Afros” by Michael July
“Journey for Justice” by Dr Dawn Mabalon, Gayle Romansanta, and Andre Sibayan
“We Are the Ship” by Kadir Nelson
“Mexican Muralists” by Desmond Rochfort
“The Art of Moana” by Disney
"Dailies" by Bobby Pontillas
“Girls Garage” by Emily Pilloton
“Harlem of the West” by Elizabeth Pepin Silva & Lewis Watts
“Stranger Danger” by Clio Chiang
“Printing the Revolution” by Claudia Zapata, Tatiana Reinoza, and Terecita Romo
“The Art of Hung Liu-Summoning Ghosts” by Hung Liu
“Picturing The Promise (Scurlocks)” Edited by Paul Gardullo
“The New Bohemians” by Justina Blakeney
“Waxpoetics Magazine” 2008/ 2021
“Umber Magazine”
If you'd like to purchase some of them I suggest ordering them from your local bookstore, Bookshop.org, or StuartNg Books in LA.
I loved the film Stand and Deliver as a kid and still think it's a ground breaking film showing Raza of all kinds learning and studying mathematics. Instead of feeling foreign to math Jaime Escalante makes you feel like you were born to learn it. "You burros got math in your blood" Edward James Olmos says in the film. For a large group of Brown people who were kept out of high paying jobs, building generational wealth, and power by design-learning calculus was and still is revolutionary. It doesn't solve everything by any means, but Jaime's legacy lives on. Have you seen the film? Whats your fav part?
Peace, my name is Robert Liu-Trujillo. I write and illustrate stories. I design characters, and I paint murals occasionally too. Parenthood, Ethnic Studies, Storytelling, Music, Social Justice, Film, Science Fiction, Design, & Publishing are regular thoughts. To contact me for commissioned art, freelance, or collaboration. Email me: info@robdontstop.com
