Ed, between me and you, it’s just us here, right? If Eye don’t make you look cool, who will?? Ha! Nah... I’m really glad you think so. 👍🏿 I’m not gonna sugar-coat it, I’m very proud of this one—thanks mang. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Don’t short-change the grandkids, though, deal? I want’em to know what an angry, claw for every bite, rebel you are on this corrupt globe we fight daily to survive on. And how you channel that anger into the positive upbringing you teach your children. You’re a good husband and a good dad and I’m proud to call you my friend.

How did you do that?

Your soul is loud dude—capturing what’s inside was the easy part. Anyone who gives you a chance and patiently waits for you to peel off a few layers will agree with me. You’re not taking swings at your audience, you’re swinging at life—I get it.

This is only my fourth portrait, I’m not gonna lie, you were difficult. Your olive skin tone and black hair, black Mic, black hoodie... black, black, black made this drawing a challenge. Not so much nailing the darkness but keeping the page clean while drawing everything so dark. Pura Vida asked essentially the same question: “how do you do that?!” This is what I told her...

I pray. I’m constantly in my head praying and talking to myself, I can’t emphasize ‘constantly’ enough, there isn’t a second that goes by when there’s a pencil in my hand that I’m not saying “God, please control my senses” followed by “just draw what you see.... just draw what you see... just draw what you see...” <— that’s it!

Being color-blind has its disadvantages (I guess 🤔) but the flip side is I can see blacks really well. So, I can look at your photo and see lines, shadows or curves and ‘know’ it’s a 4B, for example, then all I have to do is transfer that 4B to my drawing and it works perfectly. “Just draw what you see...”

Thanks a lot for stopping by @edprivat, I’m really glad you like this one!