A book jacket I designed for Atlanta based author Lori Beard-Daily. Her novel "Destination D" just released August 25th. Go out and support!

Logo Design

A cartoon I designed for a friend of mine's Ph.D blog.

Sittin' On The World

...Thinkin' bout a girl...

Untitled

The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason,

I've endured the beating, the nagging, the misleading,

and look where it leaves me.

All alone tryin to make right of this shit,

But no matter how great I become, you always make me feel like it aint shit.

I strive hard to be the best so that one day you can see,

That the same thing that holds me back is the exact same thing that pushes me.

I know I'm not perfect,

and no one ever said I would be,

but I try my damn hardest to be the man you said I should be.

The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason,

so i'll keep enduring the nagging, misleading and the beating,

Cause Mama, that's exactly what I needed.

Homage

What can I say about Anthony Jones? Not only is he my older brother, Anthony is my best friend. I can remember when we were younger, probably about 15, well I was 15 and he was 16, I would always try to go out with him. And when you're younger, 15 and 16 is a pretty big gap. He'd be going out to a house party on a Friday night and I'd be stuck in the house playing board games with our parents. I'd ask Mom if I could go with Ant and Ant would yell "No!" from his room while he was getting dressed. I'd end up going to his room and trying to persuade him to take me with him and how he'd be a bad big brother if he left me in the house with the "old people" all night. Sometimes it'd work and sometimes it didn't. It all depended on how he was feeling. As we got older we started doing more, and going out together more, up until he graduated from high school. He went off to college in Texas, where he majored in art. We were living in California around that time. I went with him when he first moved in to school, and it was a little weird coming back without him cause my whole life he had shown me the ropes, he was my role model really, I looked up to him, and to this day still do. But I was more excited for his future endeavors in college, than I was for mine without him in California.

Ant always had a thing for art. All forms. He used to have this big green sketchbook that he'd carry around the house with him when we were younger, and all he'd do is draw stuff. Draw what he saw, and try to make his drawing look as much like the real thing as possible. He even drew me once, it wasn't Picasso or Van Gogh or anything, but to be like 13, it was pretty damn good. I used to envy him a lot, cause he could do everything; he was older, he could draw, he was smart, and he was a good athlete. I wanted to do everything Anthony did. After he drew me, I tried to draw him, and I'm sure you all can guess how that turned out. Not that great. As the years went on, his drawings only got better as he got more and more serious with it. He began learning everything he could about art; from the history of it, to how to use the latest design program on the computer. He told me that, "if you're going to do something, do it with everything you got, and master it."

About a month ago, he called me and told me he had been working really hard on a few pieces and wanted me to check em out. I came over about a week after that and he showed me his portfolio. It had to be like 30 pieces in the portfolio he handed me, and as soon as I opened it I was amazed. The pieces only got better as I flipped through the portfolio, page by page. To know that this kind of talent and art came from my brother left me speechless. I came up to this one piece; he called it Big Brother.. it was a picture of 2 young kids trapped in a jungle. Right in front of them is a tiger, and all the boys have is a spear. The younger child is holding the older child's hand, and even though all that can be seen is the back, the two are positioned in a way to where the danger and fear of the situation is apparent. I knew right off it was Anthony and I, I wasn't sure of the full message, but I knew it was us. We sat and talked about it for a while and after hearing the motivation behind the piece, it all made sense. It immediately became my favorite piece, it was so moving and real, and held so much passion and emotion. We were embarking on this journey of being successful. A fate that had been destined to us since birth; nobody said it was going to be easy, but there was nothing that was going to stop us, not even this tiger. With only a spear, in my brother's hand, we were ready for whatever life threw at us. I put my trust in my brother, fore I knew he would never lead us in the wrong direction, and if he did, it was always better us being together and lost, than being lost on my own. To this day he has never lead us astray.

Here we are, 3 days after his 27th birthday, and I am more than happy to be here in Atlanta for my brother's very first art show, in his own, Third Eye Art Gallery. In addition, I would also like to present Anthony with this framed original piece of "Big Brother." You've come a long way Bro, and although you wasn't always sure of the way to go, you always found your way, while at the same time guiding me along. I wouldn't be where I am without you, and we still have a long way to go.. keep leading the way. I love you, I'm proud of you, and congratulations!

Mr. Jefferies Self-assignment

Derrick Rose Simeon High School