...the journey behind the canvas

Hi there, and welcome to Redraws.  I’m Ray, the man behind the vision.  What is that vision you may ask?  Well, it comes from a long history of me picturing myself as a full time artist.  Ever since I was a kid, I found myself doing things like drawing pictures of characters for teacher’s billboard or sketching images on loose leaf paper for fellow students in grade school.  I wasn’t sure how, but I knew my future held something creative in it…I just didn’t understand how.  Fast forward to middle school and my uncle Calvin, who was a self taught illustrator, kept me in comic book shops grabbing the lates X-Men and Spiderman comics.  I was amazed at what those illustrators could do.  Not only the drawing but the layout and how the stories came together.  The storylines and everything was just intriguing to me.  Skipping ahead to college I remember as a freshman no one would hire me.  None of the fast food places gave me a shot and I wasn’t sure what to do, so I started utilizing the student center’s computer room and created flyers for local events, parties and clubs.  I guess the entrepreneurial spirit was in me early on, because that helped me later on down the line when it came to layout, design and marketing…a lot of what I ended up doing in my career working at Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer, which was…and still is Cleveland’s number source of news, as well as The Cleveland Cavaliers, The Cleveland Visitors Bureau, and a number of other businesses that I either worked with, or for. 

In the middle of all of this I spent a few years playing with recording equipment.  I worked for a company called World Citizen Arts, a start up by a man named Ted Burns who had a preproduction studio where I was hired to fulfill the graphical needs.  When I wasn’t designing logos and business cards, I was in the studio tinkering around with the equipment until I got a feel for music production.  A producer by the name of Shawn Jackson gave me some pointers which eventually led me to create a number of beats for a rap group I was in called Braile.  I also sold music from time to time, and edited music to appear in animations and video editing projects, which plays the entire foundation for Raysbeats.  I always wanted a place where people could share ideas and music, so I decided to start with my own place and hopefully, others will participate. 

My canvas journey was different.  I had always thought of myself as an artist, but not in the traditional sense.  I mean, I never painted on canvas…I’d only drawn on paper and admired local taggers and canvas artists.  I never thought I would be one, until I met Jason Jones.  One of the most prolific painters I’d ever met, his rendition of a variety of jazz musicians moved me.  We spoke plenty of times and he encouraged me to jump onto canvas.  I was a little hesitant, but eventually I tried.  Sophia, the love of my life, bought me an easel and some brushes as a gift and I decided to try it out.  I jumped right in, slapping the brush into the paint and pushing it along the canvas until I made the worst thing I’d ever created in my life.  I felt like giving up, but when I thought about it, I still had about four mote canvases, which I saw as four more reasons to keep trying.  By canvas number 3 I’d learned a lot about how to manipulate the paint and other techniques…and then it finally happened.  I found my path with the brush, painting things that I feel like I can be proud of.  Luckily, my journey hassn’t stop here, and hopefully it continues in all areas, from the music to the canvas and even the pencil…or tablet, as I tend to draw a lot more digitally these days. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy what your time here.  Things will change frequently, especially in the merch section where I sell stuff, so if you see something you want, get it before it’s gone.  There is no guarantee that it will be available again, but you can always ask.

Thanks for visiting.