Have Fun and Stay Out of Jail: KONY 2012 Stencil Art

Everybody loves graffiti style stencil art.  Which is why I figured I should create a stencil for the KONY 2012 campaign (see my other KONY art).  You can use the stencil to create posters, t-shirts or to decorate your parents garbage can.

To create your own graffiti style t-shirt using this stencil follow these simple instructions
1. Cut along the outside lines using an x-acto knife.  The negative space in the O's, 0 and P will not show up, but will still read perfectly well.
2. Place a piece of cardboard or old newspaper inside a t-shirt to prevent the paint from bleeding through.
3. Position stencil on fabric and tape the edges.
4. Follow spray paint instructions and paint.

BE CAREFUL not to get the paint on surfaces other than your t-shirt (or whatever object you are painting) and always ask permission before painting.

If you would like to purchase this stencil with my poster pack check out my ETSY shop.  If you would like to create your own go for it.  I used Impact and Adobe Illustrator.  Be sure to photocopy or make several prints if you want to go stencil crazy...As my high school AP English teacher wrote on the board every Friday, "Have Fun and Stay Out of Jail."

STOP KONY 2012 Posters

There has been a decent amount of controversy over the Invisible Children campaign that has gone viral in the past couple weeks.  I fully support the advocacy campaign to raise awareness about Joseph Kony and the child soldiers in Uganda, Africa.  Invisible Children has been raising awareness about the kidnapping of over 30,000 children who are then forced to become murderers.  Invisible Children have been spreading the word for several years now but finally created a viral campaign.

If any of you would like to plaster these 11x17 posters up the night of April 20 along with the rest of the country, please let me know how many you would like.  I will be selling my illustrated posters for $1 each if you are in Laramie.  If you would like them mailed, just add shipping.  Leave a comment below for more info or head over to my ETSY shop. 

If you would like to purchase the kit from Invisible Children, check out their link here.

Check out the STOP JOSEPH KONY 2012 video that went viral below

Sharpton: Creating your own Graffiti Tutorial

Reverend Al Sharpton is a significant player in the field of African American religious culture.

Since I have a couple decent photos of this graffiti name drawing, I thought it would be appropriate to talk a bit about my process of creating my graffiti style letters.

 While I was creating these name drawings,
 I drew several versions for each name both in pencil and in ink. 

I always begin with doodleing some letters and seeing if I can get any to fit together.

Sometimes I will look up graffiti I like or have photographed to see if there are any inspirational graffiti styles or letters that I like.  If I find one, I create a font based on the characteristics of that letter.  The letters(s) I sue for inspiration allow me to create a unique style or font. 

I then continue to work on other letters of the name using a consistent style.

My typography class plays a huge role here. 

I learned about parts of letters such as the x-height, serifs, ascenders, descenders and several more aspects of developing fonts and typefaces.  I know to keep a consistent x-height and I usually drop rounded letters just below the baseline.

Once I decide on the rules I can create most any word I want out of that style.  I think I have created around 7 different graffiti letter styles.

After creating the outline I decide whether I want the text to be 3-D or flat.

The last step is to add a background and value.

See more of my graffiti photographs and inspiration.

Art Goals: March update

Artwork goals

     1. Have a new body of work ready to be submitted to the 234 Gallery.
         i. I would like to have a show (apply for a show) next academic school year in the 234 Gallery.  I have some basic ideas focusing on this subject and have began some posters and sketches of various ideas.
         ii. This body of work will focus on the broad topic of sex trafficking, human trafficking, sex slavery and/or the sex industry.
             a. See Human Trafficking to track my progress
     2. Create at least 5 posters that are not a part of the final trafficking show.
 I have created 2 posters so far.
One in response to Haiti focusing on world water and the other is based on Maya Angelou's poem Phenomenal Woman.
     3. Create at least 5 (total, not counting the flower drawings) posters or other artworks in response to Haiti.
 I have created 1 Haiti artwork and am working on another for my water color class.
     4. Create 25 ink drawings, not involved in an exhibition or another project.  But can be personalized name drawings.
         i. Make 10 social justice related.
         ii. Sell 5.
     5. Create upcycling projects to sell on ETSY.
         i. Post my T-shirt Necklaces or scarves.
         ii. Find maybe two or three other projects (decide how much art should be on ETSY or if I should focus on upcycling).   I am currently thinking that I will create two ETSY shops.  One will focus on my artwork and the organizations that specific pieces go toward and the other will be about upcycling.
        iii. Make an upcycling poster to tie my upcycling to my ay art...or discover another way to more clearly tie the areas together.  Although upcycling could really just be a hobby...
     6. Look into creating greeting cards, prints, and a 2013 calendar with my artwork.
 I made four Valentines Day cards for fun.  I am excited to create more prints.

Hot Combs

I drew these hot combs while I was debating whether I wanted to go with African American religious culture or beauty for an overarching theme for my exhibition.  I went with religious culture but do still have some work focusing on beauty issues both from the "Make it Plain" exhibition and other work. 

See more of My Artwork

Body Image or Black is Beautiful
Make it Plain - my art exhibition

Education in Response to Haiti

Did you know that less than 1% of what the world spends on weapons in a year was needed to put every child in school for the same amount of time, but it did not happen?

The above poster uses this quote and a photo of school children in Haiti.  The community I was in seemed to have a decent number of kids in school; however, most of the kids were still just running around.  All of the children I gave art lessons to were not in school this was about 40 each day.

For each 11x17 poster sold ($25) I will donate enough to Thomazeau, Haiti to sponsor one child in school for a year.  Please do let me know if you are interested.  If you would like more information about sponsoring a child or teacher for a year, please let me know. 

See more artwork inspired by my trip to Haiti.

Black Hair

Startling but true.

When you look at the price of weaves, relaxers and wigs you will understand where these numbers come from.  If you look at the history of black hair in America this statistics takes on another meaning.  Black hair is a social justice topic that is important just like any other topic dealing with self-love, self-worth and beauty issues.