Edel Rodriguez
John Lee Hooker, and my black soul brothers
SEPTEMBER 13, 2006
I was asked to do a portrait of John Lee Hooker, the Blues legend. So, here is another sloppy drawing.
I AM NOT BLACK! Many people think that, until they meet me. Then, they seem kind of disappointed. I do get a lot of requests for portraits of African American musicians and Black Latino singers (Can't call them African American because they're not, always confused about that). Anyways, I got Black roots. Anybody that doubts my blackness can check out the picture below. I was the white kid on the block.
In Cuba, there is not much separation of races like there is here in the U.S. Basically, everybody's poor, so it's a great equalizer. Most of my buddies were black. We always hung out together, playing, getting into trouble, making conga music with buckets and sticks, and learning how to dance. So, I got a lot of Black in me! And it's great to get assignments that give me an opportunity to express it.Can anyone spot Edel? Hint, I'm not a girl either! My buddies William on the left, and Cristobal and Yeyo on the right. And all of their sisters. I think this was my birthday. We had wonderful times together.Three rough sketches for the John Lee Hooker portrait
I AM NOT BLACK! Many people think that, until they meet me. Then, they seem kind of disappointed. I do get a lot of requests for portraits of African American musicians and Black Latino singers (Can't call them African American because they're not, always confused about that). Anyways, I got Black roots. Anybody that doubts my blackness can check out the picture below. I was the white kid on the block.
In Cuba, there is not much separation of races like there is here in the U.S. Basically, everybody's poor, so it's a great equalizer. Most of my buddies were black. We always hung out together, playing, getting into trouble, making conga music with buckets and sticks, and learning how to dance. So, I got a lot of Black in me! And it's great to get assignments that give me an opportunity to express it.Can anyone spot Edel? Hint, I'm not a girl either! My buddies William on the left, and Cristobal and Yeyo on the right. And all of their sisters. I think this was my birthday. We had wonderful times together.Three rough sketches for the John Lee Hooker portrait
© 2024 Edel Rodriguez