Emulating our heroes...

Growing up in Long Beach, California was a blessing. As a Mexican-American I grew up with kids of every ethnicity, not just Black and white. There was a large Vietnamese and Cambodian community, along with Pacific Islanders. We grew up with the same heroes. Whether in movies, cartoons or sports. Whenever we played we did our best to emulate our heroes. Whether we were pretending to be Spider-Man, Ninja Turtles, or the Transformers, we acted as if we became actual super heroes. When we played basketball we would stick our tongues out and do our best Michael Jordan impression. For that split second driving to the basket we believed that we actually became Air Jordan.

Thing was that most of us never stopped emulating our heroes. For those that loved sports and wanted to play professionally, they continued playing like Mike. They kept emulating his passion, his hustle, and competitive spirit. The thing we didn't realize then was that as Jordan was also emulating his heroes. It's tough to think that the man that would conquer the NBA, and pop culture was trying to play like someone else. In interviews he would say that his style of above-the-rim game was modeled after David "Skywalker" Thompson. The ABA, and later NBA all-star had an amazing level of physicality, and play making ability. It was humbling to think that arguably the best player ever wanted to be like his hero.

Not everyone wanted to be like Mike, on or off the court, or in our professional lives. So we did our best to find other heroes to emulate. The majority of my school friends did right in our lives because we saw how hard our parents worked to give us a chance. Many of the kids I went to school with were the first generation born in the USA, myself included. Some of my friends were brought from war-torn countries, refugees with almost no memory of the land they left behind. Just about all of us found heroes at home that we wanted to be more like. I loved art, and design from a young age. Always drawing, always coloring on every scrap of paper I could get my hands on. One of the first artists that forever changed my perception was Vernon Courtlandt Johnson. The illustrator created most of the early Powell Peralta skateboard deck graphics. It made me want to draw skateboard art as well. It made me want to follow the careers of the Bones Brigade, the pro skaters themselves.

The influence of VCJ never left me. Just like we used to stick out our tongues out on the playground to be like Mike. When I draw skate art in the back of my mind I want to be "Court." I think about how he used lines. How he applied the weight, and direction very carefully to each stroke. I do my best to draw as if his hand was filling my sketchbook. I want to make Court proud that people still love his style of art. It turns out that when Court drew he was emulating his artistic influences as well. The Dutch artist MC Excher was a major influence on VCJ. The razor sharp lines, shifting points of view, and black and white objects defined the illustrator. Just like Mike, the artist was paying it back.

Depending on what I draw I think about my favorite artists in the genre. If I'm drawing a fighting game character I will think to myself how would BENGUS approach this design? If I'm drawing a car or truck I will think of artists like Joe Borer and Dave "Big" Deal. If I'm drawing a wrestler I try and capture the energy of Paco Herrera. In each instance my own style still manages to come through. If there is one artist that I hold in extremely high regard, it would be Kadir Nelson. Kadir is an amazing painter, a visual storyteller that has been published all around the world. His cover for New Yorker magazine has captured the zeitgeist of the Black Lives Matter movement. It features the face of George Floyd, but captured in his frame are the faces of men and women that have been lynched in the USA over the past century.

I first learned about Mr. Nelson in the pages of SLAM basketball magazine almost 20 years ago. The shoe company AND1 used a number of his paintings in their advertising. I fell in love with his art instantly. His elongated figures, use of color, dynamic composition, just about everything was perfect in my eyes. I poured over his work in every ad that turned up. I filled hundreds of sketchbook pages with basketball art. Trying to figure out his sense of exaggerated proportion, and scale. When I began creating my basketball art in illustrator I caught the eye of the Mix Tape Tour players, and was even courted to become an artist for AND1. But that's a story for another day.

Kadir is an artist that I have emulated a thousand times over. He continues to set the bar higher and higher with every painting. I am sorry for the death of George Floyd, and those that were killed before, and after. Major social change sometimes requires a revolution. Sparked by a martyr, and a lot of spilled blood. I think this is what is happening right now in the USA. Thankfully we have people like Mr. Nelson guiding artists through this time. He is helping inspire a million more artists to pursue their passion. He is helping lead a cultural change. The art of Mr. Nelson will help us recover from the violence, and the trauma. Pick up any of the books he has painted for. You will appreciate, and love every shade of Black Lives that he immortalizes.

A lifetime ago I saw one of Kadir's paintings on a bus stop billboard. I called the ad company and asked if I could have the poster. They said absolutely (FYI they give most of these away for free, just call the number on the bus stop). Anyhow that's how I ended up with a poster that's 6 feet by 4 feet in size. It covers about 2/3 of my California King-size bed. It's absolutely massive in case you can't tell from the picture below. I don't have a wall in my apartment big enough to hang it up. One day I hope to frame it and have it properly displayed. Some day I hope to have it autographed by Kadir Nelson. If you have any heroes that you like to emulate be sure to tell me about it in the comments section below! If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!