ABOUT
Short Bio
Peace! My name is Rob. Robert. Roberto. Just not Bob (He, Him, Bruh). I’m an author and illustrator from Oakland California and I’ve been an artist most of my life. I started working professionally in the early 2000’s and have worked in murals, public art, arts education, merchandise making, illustration, and kid book publishing.
My most recent books are “Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco” which I wrote and illustrated, “Art of Rob” a 130 page book of sketches, drawings, etc, and “We Are Yoga/ Somos Yoga” written by Jill Guerra and illustrated by me. I am represented by Marietta Zacker at Gallt & Zacker.
A longer bio
I was born in Oakland. I live there now with my family. I was raised here and in various cities in the Bay Area. I come from a mixed background. My Dad is Korean, Mexican, and Apache. My Mom is African American. It was in elementary school when I first started drawing, but it was exposure to Graffiti that became my first school, obsession, art practice. Graf, my heritage, and growing up in a culture of protest guided a lot of what I’ve done in my career.
My second school of art was San Francisco State and the Academy of Art in SF. Again, having grown up around activism in the Bay and taking Ethnic Studies classes in high school and SF State I began to realize that I did not just want to make art but that I wanted to tell stories and I wanted to talk about many of the injustices happening in my region, in my country, and abroad.
In 2003 I became one of cofounders of an artist collective called “Trust Your Struggle”. We aimed to combine our skills in graffiti, fine art, illustration, etc with topics such as police brutality, genocide, war, sexism, racism, etc. We began with home grown gallery exhibitions and workshops, then moved on to murals, mural tours, and solidarity work with others.
Around the same time I became a Dad for the first time and had to leave college. I’d been working since I was in high school, but I could not juggle college, work, and a family. Around this time I became an arts educator teaching what I knew about art and music in schools. I also began receiving books, and media for my son that reinforced harmful stereotypes about gender and race. As cliche as it now sounds, we did not see ourveles reflected.
I wanted to do something about this rather than complain. So, not knowing much about how to make kids books, my co-parent and I went back to school at Parsons (2007) in NYC. I began a journey to learn the craft of storytelling while teaching, painting murals, freelancing, and raising a son. He inspired me a great deal and I read to him often. I began immersing myself in picture books, comics, middle grade, aand more.
I finished my degree and came back to Oakland in 2010 where I continued to do all the things. I’d started sending my work out to publishers and art directors but would not get my first book contract until 2013. Right before I got the good news I’d made the decision to self publish my first picture book as both a writer and illustrator. That book would become “Furqan’s First Flat Top/ El Primer Corte de Mesita”. This book (designed by my future wife) taught me so much about the the craft of picture book making, community building, publishing, the industry, and more.
I made the jump to full time artist after many years of teaching, working odd jobs, etc. Although I had a deep network of community within mural arts I knew very few people in kid lit. Slowly, other authors and illustrators welcomed me, and I began the work of getting to know and support others. In 2017 some of us combined forces to launch a kids book festival that would be inclusive. Not just of Black folks, people of color, Queer, and Social Justice minded creators; but of traditional AND self published creators. That event is still going and its called the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair.
Ok, in my time as an illustrator I have worked on over 10 children’s picture books including I am Sausal Creek/ El Arroyo Sausal, One of a Kind Like Me/ Unico Como Yo, Sam! Alejandria Fights Back/ La Lucha de Alejandria, We Are Yoga/Somos Yoga. I was one of several contributing illustrators to the book Thirteen Ways of Looking at Black Boy. And I self published my first artist sketchbook called “Art of Rob” with over 100 pages of drawings, sketches, paintings, etc.
As a writer I have written two picture books “Furqan’s First” and “Fresh Juice”, and two middle grade books. In addition to writing, illustrating, and event organizing I have had the privilege to advise and consult with tons of up and coming kid lit creators over the years. I’m working on new ideas and I’m excited for what the future holds for myself and my community.
If you’re interested in contacting me or collaborating on a project see my “Work with Me” page. If you’d like to work on a book please contact my agent Marietta Zacker.