Hijabi Skater
Character 178 – Hijabi skater. I was practicing with gouache and thinking this young lady would be a dope skater that just happens to also be a hijabi. A champion on the low that rides with style.
Archive
We Are Sanctuary Poster
Last Spring I began a collaborative poster to spread awareness about immigrant rights with designer Jules Cowan and Micah Bizant in collaboration with the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant.
About the organization:
Founded in 1982 in response to civil wars and genocide in Central America, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC) provides legal and social services, community organizing, and education to over 12,000 refugees and asylum seekers yearly, helping them achieve legal status, citizenship, and well-being as they overcome extraordinary obstacles. EBSC staff and volunteers offer trauma-informed, culturally competent services, including legal assistance, case management, a multilingual hotline, community forums, radio programs, English classes, citizenship preparation classes, cash assistance, arts-based workshops, organizing for policy change, and educational exhibits featuring stories of asylum seekers. All of these programs work synergistically so that immigrant participants can heal from trauma and gain skills and support to build new lives in the U.S.
About the art: This poster project began in the winter of 2025, was completed in late spring, and has been distributed since then. EBSC has been using the phrase “We Are Sanctuary” and I wanted to illustrate a multi generational, and multiethnic immigrant family based in the Fruitvale of Oakland. Check out some of the process for my piece on the poster. I illustrated the main front image, Micah illustrated the back with know your rights art, and Jules designed the whole thing.
Get the Poster: If you’d like to download a copy of the poster you can do so here. If you’d like to get physical copies in English or Spanish please email me for local Bay Area delivery.
He Hit Me First – Book Cover
He Hit Me First is book 2 in middle grade series written by Robert Mossi Alexander.
Here’s the synopsis from the book:
He Hit Me First is a powerful coming-of-age story for readers ages 8–13 that explores cycles of violence, emotional healing, and the power of mentorship. Set in East Oakland, the book follows Elijah, a young boy navigating school, family struggles, and peer pressure. After a schoolyard fight, Elijah is forced to confront the deeper pain behind his anger. With the help of his uncle, a former boxer, and guidance from community mentors, Elijah learns how to channel his energy into personal growth and self-control.
Written by Dr. Robert Mossi Alexander, educator, counselor, and author of She Hit Me First, this heartfelt story teaches young readers—especially boys—about emotional intelligence, accountability, and the strength found in respecting elders and listening to ancestral wisdom. Perfect for classrooms, mentorship programs, and parents looking to spark important conversations around conflict resolution, masculinity, and healing.
I illustrated and design the cover the story.
The larger figure is the main character from the book. The characters rounding out the lower half of the cover are the boys father, a boxing trainer, his teacher, and one of his best friends. I wanted the character to be serious but also just be a kid surrounded by many voices with the city as another character at his back. Check out some of the art process.
Santa Clara Valley – Open Space Authority
Santa Clara Open Space Authority is an environmental conservation organization in Northern California.
More on their mission: The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority conserves the natural environment, supports agriculture and connects people to nature, by protecting open spaces, natural areas and working farms and ranches for future generations.
We envision the Santa Clara Valley and its surrounding hillsides as a beautiful place where a vibrant network of interconnected open spaces, trails, wildlife habitats and thriving agricultural lands enrich the region’s cities and make it an exceptional and healthy place to live, work, learn and play.
To date, the Open Space Authority has protected approximately 30,000 acres–providing nature-friendly outdoor recreation and preserving the natural beauty and environmental health of the Santa Clara Valley.
Coloring book: I was commissioned by the organization to illustrate a coloring book inviting young people to learn about nature and conservation broadly; and specifically to guide them towards this vast area of land in Santa Clara where they can experience it first hand. I had a blast creating illustrations, typography, and more for the book.
Here’s a bit of the artwork from it! For more information about the organization please visit them here.
Fridays for Falestin – Artists for Radical Imagination
The purpose of this image and the following images are to share a fundraising campaign for a family who fled Gaza. It is organized by a relative of the family based in the US who represents the Alborno family. Please see the link in my bio for the full story and like, comment, share, and contribute if you can.
Image Description:
A set of slides with hand drawn watercolor illustrations of Jamil and Maria, Pal es tinian children around 2 and 5. Both portraits are held within a circle with an earthy green background, reds and auburns in their hair, warm skin tones and purple shirts. Maria has her hair in pigtails, and is smiling softly, while Jamil has lightly tousled hair with smile open and wide. There is a cream hand drawn background with yellow hearts and purple bursts on each slide and the text below Gofundme Link.
Slide 1:
“Help Jamil Maria and Family
Fridays for Fal es tine
gofundme.com/f/support-ezzeddin-family”
Slide 2:
“Jamil, Maria, siblings, and parents fled Gah zah to Turkey and need help recovering
gofundme.com/f/support-ezzeddin-family
Can’t help right now? Please help spread the word, Like, comment, and share”
Slide 3:
“Join Artists for Radical Imagination every Friday as we share a verified fundraiser to directly support a family in Gah zah. Follow and use the hashtag: #FridaysForFalestin
Art by @robert_tres text by Rob + @vulpinicvestements repping #artistsforradicalimagination Fridays for Fal’ es tin
Ride Again Mini Comic
I drew this mini comic about bike riding. It’s an embarrassing story about being bullied or getting jacked. I’m sure there are kids who were champion boxers at 9 years old. I was not. I’d been in 1 on 1 fights but not against 4 or 5 older kids. Anyways, the point of the story is to ride again and thats exactly what I did. Hopefully you can relate as a bike rider or as a kid growing up. Get a copy here.
We Are Yoga by Jill Guerra
This is one of my favorite illustrations from We Are Yoga / Somos Yoga, a book self-published by Jill Guerra in the spring of 2022. The book includes more than 13 illustrations in a vibrant, inviting color palette.
Synopsis:
We Are Yoga / Somos Yoga is a bilingual picture book (English/Spanish) and resource for teachers, parents, therapists, or anyone working with youth. Through yoga poses, affirmations, and reflections, we can build self-awareness and the tools to navigate this challenging and beautiful life.
Space Kid
I painted this in the summer wanting to begin a new series of “READ” posters. I was inspired by the traditional ones you’d see in a quiet city library, but I wanted to use illustration and feature children of color prominently. In the past I’ve illustrated a kid holding a book, but this time I decided to go more with themes. This is an example of personal work and art for merchandise.
Purchase
Ethnic Studies 2 (Purple)
Ethnic Studies is a framework for teaching history that highlights the people in the United States who’ve been ignored or erased from school curriculums. It focuses on African American, Native American, Latinx/a/o, Asian American. and Middle Eastern people. More on my reasons for painting it here. Want a print? Cop that here.
Character Mother & Daughter
This is a recent character to carry on the series of doodling characters. I was thinking about “A Quiet Place”. For over 15 years I have worked on and shared characyer doodles, design, sketches, etc in an effort to get better at communicating an idea, a story, or a feeling. This isn’t connected to any one issue, its more fantasy, but drawing it helps me improve for when I do want to tell a story.