As far back as I can recall I had an appetite to create.”Dawud Anyabwile, formerly known as David Sims has been drawing his own characters since childhood. This Philadelphia native says that his earliest creative inspirations came from his older brothers, his comic book collection, his father’s extensive book collection on Black history and listening to music. Upon entering high school, Dawud abandoned his interest in mainstream comic books to focus his creative energies into the upcoming sub-culture of hip hop and fine arts. The fascination of graffiti, DJ’ing and fine tuning his basic drawing skills as an art major only further refined Anyabwile’s focus on becoming an artist for a living.
“I always knew that I wanted to run my own business but I did not know what kind of artist I wanted to be. There were so many directions that I could go into. I never thought of doing comic books full time nor animation. They seemed like hobbies to me not career goals. Illustration always seemed like the logical route for me.” Dawud went on to build a city wide reputation as an airbrush artist which eventually led to the creation of one of the most popular independent comic books of the 90’s and beyond.
Dawud has gained ex[erience working for major production companies over the years such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Scholasic, Just Us Books and Turner Studios to name a few,
Currently Dawud is illustrating the all new graphic novel entitled, BROTHERMAN: REVELATION! |
Writing is such a powerful medium. It not
only brings voice to ideas, it also has the ability
to misshape them. Born from solitude, it
delivers expressions to the world, to the few
and to the one.- GAS
Guy has authored two of the earliest publication
on the subject of Kwanzaa. The
first was “The Kwanzaa Handbook” (1981)
and the second, “The Kwanzaa Kids Learn
the Seven Principles” (1984). An avid
poet and writer of short fiction, Guy has
completed a collection of new American
Tall Tales, Rife Powers and Other Too Tall
Tales, has a screenplay currently under
solicitation, and will complete his first novel,
Livin’ Just A Little this fall.
Like most creative spirits, it is hard to pinpoint when he wanted to add writing to his life
experiences but his earliest inspiration was the audio version of Richard Wright’s Black
Boy, shared with him by his father. “After hearing that record, I thought I wanted to tell
stories like that. I immediately read as much of Wright’s work as possible.” With time
came more writers and genres to explore: Shakespeare, Baldwin, Benet, McKay, Vonnegut,
and Walker (to name a very few). Some of his contemporary influences and motivators
are the late Bebe Moore Campbell, E. Lynn Harris, and Walter Moseley. “When
I think about what influenced me with the Brotherman series, I am drawn to the works
of the two Chesters…Chester Himes and Chester Gould. Their stylizing of characterizations,
settings, and tight stories continue to impress. |
