Typography 25- Ulysses Owens Jr. (drums)

Just getting hip to Ulysses Owens Jr. and his sound. I found him via The Revivalistist and his drums are clean, rhythmic, and I can already tell i'll be hearing more about this cat in the near future. Look for him in the Christian McBride trio. U is for "Ulysses". Check out "Party time" , "Good and terrible", and this ill brush practice.

Character 33- Meteor Man

Just playing around, but still serious. A younger "Meteor Man". In case you missed this. Definitely feel a little Dawud influence here.

Short Story 14- Purple Dreams

Purple dreams
and hot dish water steam
the walk to the corner store
its mean

The way I see it aint the way it is
a world of positive reflection
for me, ronnie, and her kids

We got feelings too 
and sometimes I'll just spray it 
I look for it hard everytime at the billboards 
but they dont ever say it 

Our voice is missing
So we decide to put it in
bet Rapunzel and Kareem from down the block will be inspired
let the 7 train imagination begin

Childrens Portrait #3-Maria

This is Maria, she's a cute little girl from Richmond California, I'm not sure how old she is now but I'm guessing 5 or 6. She is Polish, Irish, and English and her favorite colors are red, green, and white. Big thanks to her momma Joanna for letting me paint her. If you are just catching this new series, this is going to be an on going series of small paintings; portraits of children from all ages and many backgrounds. If you know a little one or a parent with a cute little one, hit me up and I'll paint them!

Jazz Portraits 27- Jaspects (band)

My my my what a group this is. I'm just starting to delve into their sound. Yes I'm late. But then, I started....right? Jaspects is a group of cats who met at Morehouse, see Vanessa Warren's write up on them from the Polkadot LP. They play hella instruments, they rhyme, sing, and they got fashion sense. What else could you ask for in a Jazz Band? Um, so the songs i'm feeling by this multi-instrumental, multi-talented ensemble are "Fallin", West End Station, Be-Hop, and My way to love. If you're just tuning in, Ive been working on this Jazz Series of (Rough) portraits and typography for more than a year and its almost done. If you have not heard of some of the musicians like this group, check out what the individual members are up to. I found Henry Conerway III of Jaspects on twitter for example. From one artist to another...

Childrens Portrait #2- Mia

Hello everyone, this is Mia. She's a cute lil one from Berkeley California (I believe) who comes from many cultures, Filipina, Mexican, German, and Irish. Her favorite colors are purple, green, and blue. And her momma Nikki commissioned me to paint her this week. I've known Nikki since , hella long. Can't wait to meet this lil girl. Wow, second one down already! If you know any parents with cute lil' children tell em to holler at me! I'm painting 100 portraits of children from all backgrounds and ages!

Funkdoobiest, Little Dragon rmx, Kooley high

These are not new, but on repeat right now. Funkdoobiest LD remix by Syd the KId from ofwgkta kooley high

Hernandez Brothers on NPR (audio)

I have yet to fully read one of the many volumes of "Love and Rockets", but I was drawn to it the first time I saw "Locas" on a graphic novel title. One day i will get all the books, but for now it was hella tight to hear about some of the inspiration behind the story through music with Los bros Hernandez.

Childrens Portraits #1 (Video)

Peace, so this is a first for me, making a vlog. I don't do editing or shooting, but what the hell. I'm am steadily at work on my next short story and several other things; namely my first childrens book. In order to build my audience or the folks who will appreciate what i do outside of immediate family and friends it has taken years. And I will definitely be asking you for help in spreading the word when the time comes again.

 For now, get ready for some cute portraits of children of all ages and backgrounds as I let folks know about the stories I'm telling. Please comment, and or share with like minds. And by all means, share this with anyone you know in the realm of childrens books, YA Novels, shit, animation, any one into storytelling in general. Enjoy.

Peep these shots of the steps of doing a quick painting of my little lion. He loves making faces, but I decided to pick a relatively simple one to paint.

And the final. I like the colors because he has a warm and fiery spirit. I chose several patterns to illustrate the fact that he comes from so many different cultures. If you would like a painting of your child, go HERE

Re-Thinking Schools Magazine

Big thanks to my homie Melanie who hooked me up with the art director for Rethink Schools Magazine. Rethink is a magazine with great resource for educators. I had never heard of it until I was contacted about doing an illustration for it. But I'm glad I found it. I'm glad they exist because they cover a lot of issues with race while offering many resources for educators. For example, racism, ethnic studies, teaching techniques, bi-lingual education, etc. In this issue theres short article about the action that happened here in the Bay Area at Lakeview Elementary. The author whose piece mine was paired with writes about what its like to teach her students about slavery. The article talks about what its like to constantly learn about your history through defeat. Waahida Mbatha wrote it and talks about how she has sought to redefine how she teaches African and African American history. A very interesting read. If you’d like to support ReThink Schools, you can get the magazine here.