Toronto-based artist Chris O’Keefe was challenged by a fellow artist to draw a picture a day for an entire year. After drawing an initial blank (no pun intended) on his subject matter, he settled on pictures of his favorite Hip Hop artists. Forty-three days and 1,400 Reddit subscribers later, O’Keefe is focused on seeing his year-long commitment through. So far, the results have been dope.
His passion for drawing came at a young age. “My grandmother in Montreal was something of a locally-famous artist,” O’Keefe tells HipHopDX. “So as a young child, I was surrounded by art and artists’ materials.”
He admits he initially didn’t have any specific goals in mind for the creative campaign other than to hone his skills. But the feedback from fans and artists has driven him to keep the project going.
Although his original subjects were his personal favorite artists, he’s been entertaining requests via social media. He’s featured some mainstream acts, but is also focusing on underground artists.
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“They’ve been responsive to the project and have shown me a lot of love online,” he says.
So far, he’s received DMs, comments and/or retweets from Black Thought, Lyrics Born, DJ Kool Herc, De La Soul’s Posdnuos, Arrested Development, Keith Murray, and more.
Moving forward, O’Keefe, who’s also a DJ, plans to expand the project to include notable turntablists and producers. He also hopes to exhibit the pieces. He currently has a small gallery show planned for June 17 in the east end of Toronto and he’ll participate in the upcoming Annex Art Party in Toronto on June 1 as well.
“I’m hoping that each piece speaks to the viewer and encourages them to go listen to the featured artist and revisit old favorites, or even learn something new and discover some dope new tracks they’d never been exposed to,” he says.
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So far, he’s done an eclectic mix of MCs, including Jay Z, Missy Elliott, Blackalicious’ Gift Of Gab and Xzibit. Follow along on his blog, buy prints via his Society6 page and check out the art above.
