Many currently recognize me for other talents mostly involving fashion and hip hop, but my first love is with art. Pencil and paper was my thing as a kid, toys were secondary. I feel that I still apply my eye for aesthetics in other areas of my life, but my actual art skill is definitely cryptic to most.

Below are some examples of 20×30 canvas work with acrylic paint. The KRS1 piece was a custom job for a client, sold for $300. The following piece is titled, “Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground, Back to the Wall” – painting still available for $300.

For inquiries, contact me at risism.com@gmail.com ..prices vary with size and work.

P.S. Sintex is also another great artist to contact for custom paintings ;)

For those who are familiar with tumblr, the term GPOY is a tag accompanied by a picture of oneself, or perhaps a photo that represents them or what they do. It can mean “Gratuitous picture of yourself” or “Good picture of yourself” or something like that. Well anyway, here’s a candid shot of myself during the Detroit Fashion Week closing night on Saturday September 24 at the Detroit main public library. Photo Credit: Jason Ramon

I was in the house to take runway photos for my fashion blog, Motown Couture, at the Real Detroit Weekly website. I am using my dinky Olympus E-420 – it’s considered a compact DLSR camera and it does me pretty good. It’s very lightweight and streamlined; the only trade-ins for its convenient size is that it doesn’t have image stabilizer nor video, but it’s all good, I get by. I don’t consider myself a photographer per se, I just take runway photos for my blog – plus, I might be one of the few people in the city that knows proper fashion show photo composition – not to say that I’m an expert or anything. We’ll save that discussion for another time.

I have to admit, I did have trouble with the runway set-up & lighting at the event. If you know me, then you know I despise using flash for the runway, however, I decided to use it after seeing the models blend in too much with the guests in the background, especially at the angle I was in. Since my external flash takes a few seconds to recharge after a shot, I was only able to take one frame of each look at a time, so it was literally a hit or miss. Enough of the boring stuff, be sure to check out the photos & event coverage at Motown Couture.

I want to say it was back in 2004 (but it very well could have been 2005) my girl, Monica Santos, & I produced a large budget hip hop event in San Francisco named: Beatle-Proof.. The name came to us after watching The Yellow Submarine, hearing a line that stated, “Nothing is Beatle-Proof.” We thought of it like, if you were a “beatle,” you were invincible.. ya know, metaphorically speaking. Now what do The Beatles have to do with hip hop? I’m not sure, but we were always quirky like that & felt everything was connected so it didn’t matter to us.

We flew in bboys & bgirls from New York, Connecticut, Texas, Arizona, Seattle, & L.A. That includes United Bboys, Problemz Krew, Killafornia, & more! Not to mention all of the Bay Areas dopest crews. We also held a hip hop show that had Planet Asia, Pep Love, & other amazing renown artists! It was a hip hop haven as we included an art show along with the rap & bboy battles.

We were at the ages of 16 & 18 while throwing the jam. It was tough on us, but it was indeed a learning experience. I still have remnants of this day hitting me every now & then, especially when I hear Salt N Peppa’s “Push it.” The DJ (whom I did not hire) ran out of records & was playing that track over & over & over during the bboy battles *pulls hair out* ..so I actually cringe whenever I hear that song lol.

Anyway, enjoy the event clip above, originally posted on www.bboyworld.com

HNYBM #FNO Sale!
40% off your entire purchase*
Online only! Just for one night!
Sept 8. 2011
5pm-3am
Code: FNO2011
honeyboom.bigcartel.com
*offer applied when you purchase two (2) or more items

Sunday, August 14, 2011, marks the day that honeyBOOM street boutique came in with a bang! Detroiters came to celebrate the vintage line’s launch at the Magic Stick rooftop, The Alley Deck on an overcast afternoon. I wasn’t too worried about the sprinkly forecast, there was a roof over the rooftop, & it was to remain at a steady high 70s. Also, come to find out, all the photographers loved the clouds – better for photos, apparently.

The models got wet & wild during the fashion presentation as they splashed in a pool at the end of the presentation platform. Conveniently, the pool water was really warm! Some of the models even lingered to swim in the pool after the presentation was over lol.. See some of the photos here, taken by Detroit Metromix! Launch credits on the flip!

Click to view slideshow.
COORDINATOR & CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Ris
MODELS: Krista Ashley McGee, Abigail Catherine Brown, Terrance Pettis, Star, Anastasia Claire Miller, Jermaine Foxx, Kaitlyn Lorenz, LaLa Williams
MAKE-UP: Jessica Y. Hernandez
HAIR: Ashley Boone, Mia Tillmon
BACKSTAGE MANAGER & MANNEQUIN STYLIST: Benny Lumpkins JR.
ASSISTANTS & DRESSERS: Mariah Ruff, Shanesha Taylor
KEY PHOTOGRAPHER: Davide Anderson
OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS: Detroit Metromix, J Ambrose, Michael LaCombe, Jason Ramon, Fuzzytek, & more
DJs: Sicari, Bet, Dez
SPECIAL THANKS: Kyle “DJ Skeez” Kentala, Mary Mar Ar-Rasheed, Haleem Rasul Ar-Rasheed, Kirby Glover, Glover’s Apparel, Adriana Pavon, The Switchblades, Sunny Yau, Winnie Jeng, The entire Magic Stick/Majestic staff, my mom, my boo Sintex, my bro Indigo, everyone who has ever supported HNYBM, past, present, & future!

www.HNYBM.com

photos via styleline.com

Watch www.confessionsofaglamaholic.com‘s video spotlighting of Styles in the City, but what I especially want you to look out for is the footage of honeyBOOM backstage & on the runway! You see a bit at the 0:57 mark & some of the runway around the 2:34-3:25 mark! Check it! & thanks to the GlamAholics!

You could hardly tell (purposely, that is), but here’s a eeny weeny peek at honeyBOOM’s Resort Collection to be shown at the Styles in the City runway on July 10, 2011! Be sure to catch it first-hand at COBO Hall Riverview room this weekend! For more info, check this post out: honeyBOOM at Styles in the City July 9 & 10. This shot is from the Styles in the City rehearsal & is a screenshot straight from a behind the scenes video! Peep it below & see if you notice when HNYBM pops in! Hope to see you there!

honeyBOOM vintage sportswear will be featured in this year’s Styles in the City fashion conference, expo, & fashion show! Check us out as we set up a booth for the conference on Saturday July 9 & show off our stuff on the runway on Sunday July 10. honeyBOOM will be in the “Urban Sophistication” section, with other boutiques & streetwear labels. The conference is open to all registrants when you log on to www.erollinsgroup.com. Get your fashion show tickets at www.neptix.com, a portion of the proceeds benefit The Punk Fund! For the love of fashion & funding, come through!

EROLLINS GROUP PRESENTS:
STYLES IN THE CITY
FASHION CONFERENCE & EXPO

COBO Hall
Riverview Room
301 Civic Center Dr.
Detroit, MI 48226

Saturday, July 9
Fashion Conference
Free with registration
Register at www.erollinsgroup.com

Sunday, July 10
Fashion Show
$35* all VIP seating
Tickets available at www.neptix.com
*a percentage of the proceeds will benefit The Pink Fund

More info:
www.erollinsgroup.com
248.632.0283