I'm really interested in independent publishers and memes and mini comics. But even before that, I was interested in Japanese manga and anime.
I needed to create something I could take with me wherever I went.
I kept wanting to push my image as validity; I wanted to see my portrait on a wall and know it was okay.
Being a black artist, the first thing people want to talk about is your blackness, the importance of your blackness, and your black presence. 
I don't think about race before I start drawing. I think about how to make that mark to fit whatever purpose I need it to fulfill.
The graphic style itself is influenced by a lot of very layered and detailed comics that I read as a kid, like 'Vagabond' by Takehiko Inoue. 