It is time for me to go to the art supply shop and get a new sketchbook. I’m reflecting upon the book I most recently used up. My sketchbook is like my personal journal. Much like Kurt Cobain, I think the thought of someone going through my personal journal would be distressing. There are things in there I really don’t care to share. However, I thought sharing these pages would be a good idea…
I already posted this one, but it is from the same book.
-XOXO Dre
Reblogged from BUST
A new chapter of women’s history in the world of sports was written this past weekend. For the first time ever, a fight between two women was the main attraction at the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The fight was between bantamweight titleholder Ronda Rousey and challenger Liz Carmouche (AKA the Girlilla). These women are real Amazons; Ronda Rousey has a background in Judo and is an bona fide Olympian, while the “Girlilla” has had special martial arts training from the Marines.
This fight was a huge deal for UFC fans, and there was a tremendous amount of anticipation leading up to the brawl. Not only was this the first fight of its kind, but it was also the most anticipated attraction on the main card. These women have really proved themselves as positive role models to women everywhere, and are also building pathways for women in competitive Mixed Martial Arts. Whether you approve of UFC’s often brutal showdowns or not, you’ve got to admit that these women are trailblazers in their sport.
Before these martial artists were called into the match, the crowd got pumped up to No Doubt’s song ”I’m Just Girl”. Carmouche emerged into the arena accompanied by Daft Punk, while Rousey sprung out to Joan Jett. Then their epic fight began. Their fight was only 4 minutes and 49 seconds long. For a brief moment, Carmouche had Rousey in a rear naked choke. However, Rousey immediately flipped the script and finished the fight by situating Carmouche in an armbar—Rousey’s signature move—and the ended the fight in the spider web position. Rousey defended her title as UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Both women were fierce competitors, and it was a fight that everyone who is involved with mixed martial arts will remember. Congratulations to both women, as this event was a major point in both their careers. Now the question everyone is asking is “Who will they fight next?”
Images via Bleecherreport.com and NYPOST.COM
Videos via Youtube
Happy full moon, everyone! As synchronicity would have it, I have been working on a full moon illustration for an upcoming cover for a Dee’s Dream zine. I created a few different colored themes. I’m wondering which one I like the best… If you want to share your thoughts about which combination of color is best, please message me at your earliest convenience.
-XOXO Dre
Here is a collection of photos of me doing cosplay. I just can’t help it. I have a theatrical soul I must express.
-XOXO Dre
It was the night before the Philadelphia Body Painting Competition at the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention and I could not get any sleep. I decided it would be a good idea to paint on myself as a warm up before the big day. Tutorials on doing “anime eyes” were plaguing my mind (like this one). So, I tried it. I was pleased with my results! I costumed myself as the popular Sailor Jupiter from the legendary shojo manga Sailor Moon. My anime eyes were a hit with my friends! I used water based theatrical makeup, but you would be able to get away with using heavy pigmented eye shadow creme and eye liner. This is the anime makeup style which you keep your eyes closed for those big, and kawaii anime eyes. Here is step by step tutorial on how to get “anime eyes”! I break it down to six easy steps!
Step One: Paint your whole eyelids white.
Step Two: Paint each iris. Mine are green in this case.
Step Three: Create black eyelids and eyelashes
Step Four: Create pupils with black.
Step Five: Glue on eyelashes to eyebrows! Isn’t that funny?
Step Six: Add white shiny highlights.
There you have it! Beautiful anime eyes to impress your friends with. Send me photos of yours when you create them! Dretime at gmail dot com.
-XOXO Dre
Reblogged from BUST
In the 70′s and 80′s, graffiti was extremely common in major cities like New York. As the act became increasingly associated with crime, police heightened surveillance of street art. Still, little tags can be seen almost everywhere you look, including bigger pieces that make quite an impact. While some citizens clearly aren’t fans of graffiti, others are glad that these anonymous artists are being generous enough to create free, original artwork for the public.
There are many female pioneers who painted the way for women in the mysterious world of street art. Unsurprisingly, many of the amazing graffiti writers originate from right here in New York City. Recently, vibevixen.com put together a list of NYC’s most influential spray-painting ladies and we’d like to share this list of the list of these creators along with some more info, links, and videos.
Barbra 62 and Eva 62
This legendary tag-team duo was one of the first female street artist pairs. Barbra 62 has been tagging the streets since the seventies, while Eva 62 began in the eighties. Not too much is known about these mysterious women, but one of their best know exploits involved spray-painting a boy’s shower room at DeWitt Clinton, an all-boys high school in the Bronx.
Claw
Claw, AKA Claw Money, is from Queens; her standout tag is a bear claw that looks very chubby, cute, and feminine. These days, she runs her own fashion line, creates original design, and writes books. Check out what she’s up to on her site:clawmoney.com.
Lady Pink & Lady Heart
These two ladies are known for the intense colors on the artwork they sprayed in the 80′s. Lady Pink is also one of the few women who made an appearance in the classic hip-hop movie Wild Style. She earned the title “Queen of Graffiti of New York” and continues to create art to this day.
Swoon
Swoon is based out of Brooklyn. Her work is a hybrid of spray paint, paper cut-outs, and wheatpasting. People tend to describe her work as melancholy, often depicting hardship. Currently, she works on large installations and exhibits internationally.
Ms Maggs
Ms Maggs had a very influential role in graffiti in the 90′s. She’s best known for potent burners (essentially a very nice piece of work that includes bright colors) and bubbly roller letters. Her full story still remains a mystery.
Toofly
Toofly began doing graffiti on her way to school when she was a teen growing up in Queens. She was heavily influenced by calligraphy and illustration, and in the 90′s, began making her style more concrete and creating her own characters. She became incredibly popular, but remained true to her roots. A few years ago, she co-founded the art collective Younity. She also runs her own fashion line, and has had her work appear in various books and magazines. Check out her website: tooflynyc.com.
Photos via VibeVixen.com and Dre Grigoropol
In vein of Hourly Comics Day I drew a short comic about part of my day today.
Here are my hourlies from Hourly Comics Day 2013 which was February 1st. It is like being being right next to me all day. It is also on their message board right here.
Reblogged from BUST
When most people are asked, “What is your favorite superhero?” most all people choose a male superhero such as Spiderman or Batman. Rarely is the answer a female superhero, although there are many. Wonder Woman is first female superhero to come to people’s minds and is considered by many to be a feminist icon. We know that TV’s talk show host Wendy Williams feels inspired by Wonder Woman when she sips on her Wonder Woman mug on her show every morning. There has been more focus of female superheroes lately, such as Marvel comics debuting a new X-Men series featuring an all female team in April 2013 written by Brian Wood (Mara, New York Four, New York Five). Some of the best Marvel characters ever are on this team like Storm, Rouge, and Kitty Pryde. I know everyone will be happy that Storm is rocking the mohawk again.
In 2012, SXSW premiered the documentary called Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Super Heroines, which explores female superheroes and feminist icons throughout history of comics. The film is directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and was produced by Kelcey Edwards. Lynda Carter, Lindsay Wagner, Gloria Steinem, BUST fave Kathleen Hanna, comics writers and illustrators are featured in this documentary. The ladies talk about the challenges that women had to over come in the comics industry and our society. This film looks like very insightful and an educational info session that anyone interested in comics or feminism would benefit from viewing. I know I’m going to make it out a screening when it comes to New York for Athena Film Festival! Here is a list of the only places screening the film in 2013. Find which place is closest to you and check it out for yourself!
Images via: wonderwomendoc.com
Re-blogged from The Beat.
by Dre Grigoropol
The first ever Black Comic Book Festival was held on Saturday January 12, 2013 at The Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture, located in the heart of Harlem in New York City. The festival, which was presented by The Schomburg Junior Scholars and Dr. Jonathan Gayles, celebrates artists, writers, and fictional characters of African descent. Although I have passed by before, this event was my first introduction to the Schomburg Center which is a part of the New York Library. The show was free and open to anyone.
Upon entering the building, visitors were greeted by the welcoming staff there, and a pop-up art show was on display in the front of the lobby. Called Black Kirby and it featured iconic illustrations by John Jenningsand Stacey Robinson. These illustrations really “popped” and fused tributes to comic book artist Jack Kirby with Afro-futurism. There were about twenty-six comic book artists exhibiting in the next room, including Lance Tooks, Titus Thomas, Alitha E. Martinez, John Jennings, Jennifer Cruté, Jerry Craft, Yumy Odom, and many more. One of the “must have” books that was for sale was Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture, an educational art book by Damian Duffy and John Jennings that includes fifty contributors: Dawud Anyabwile, Eric Battle, Kenjji Marshall, Afua Richardson, Larry Stroman, Rob Stull, Lance Tooks, Darryl Ayo, and others.
The Langston Hughes Auditorium was also dedicated to the show. This auditorium holds 320 seats, and housed a screening of the documentaryWhite Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books by Atlanta-based filmmaker and educator Dr. Jonathan Gayles. There wasn’t a dull moment in the documentary, and watching it was a thorough lesson of the history in comics and its unfortunate stereotypes of black men. Some of the characters of comics mentioned were the The Black Panther, The Falcon, Luke Cage, Black Lighting, and John Stewart as the Green Lantern. The film also included the view points of comic book industry professionals. After the screening, Dr. Gayles answered questions and had a discussion with the audience. The crowd was inquisitive, and thirsty for Dr. Gayles’s perpective. One topic that was brought up a few times was an interest in seeing more projects focusing on women with diverse racial backgrounds. After the discussion Dr. Gayles was greeted by Bill Johnson in cosplay as The Black Panther, the first black superhero of the Marvel Universe.
It was symbolic and inspiring that someone dressed as The Black Panther. At this point, the exhibitor’s room was completely packed, including many young people and their parents. People at this event seemed to be gratefulfor an event like this. The library wasn’t expecting this big of a turn out, but next time will have a better idea on how to prepare for the highly enthusiastic response from visitors and have the exhibitors in a bigger space.
The next scheduled event was a panel of four comics historians presenting their papers: Qiana Joelle Whitted (Comics Come To Harlem: Race and the Lafarge Clinics Case Against Comics), Marcus W. Singer (Secret Identities of Mutant Minorities), Rebecca Ann Wanzo(Representing Black Citizenship, or Why Understanding the History of Black Comics Helps Us Understand “Django Unchained”), Julian C. Chambliss (Pride, Power, and Protest? Marvel Comics and the Black Superhero after 1970). This was followed by a group discussion moderated by Dr. Gayles.
The show wrapped up shortly after 4 pm. When the show had packed up I had a chance to talk about the festival with exhibitors Titus Thomaswho writes YA comics, and Lance Tooks. Thomas said “I was quite surprised at the amount of people that attended, even though the information that promoted the event was limited. It seemed that the word about the show got around by mouth more than anything. As an exhibitor at the Black Comic Book Festival, I felt that it was a venue that one’s voice could be heard, unlike large shows, this felt intimate. My work was seen by kids of all different type of backgrounds.”
“It was so great to meet all these people who were already fans of my books,” said Tooks. “I had no idea that there were so many out there. I had a feeling that I was in the right place to communicate with my audience. At a typical comic-con it is so easy to get swallowed up in the masses. This show is great, and I was exposed to different creators I haven’t heard of before. Being a part of a show that focuses on comics and cartoonists of African descent is a rewarding experience, because it brings a subculture to light which has interesting and subtle elements that tend to get lost in the melting pot of a larger event.”
