Profile Edited by MPS MySpace Editor 2.0Yo soy un vato frio from San Anto. Soy un Chicano painter. No, not a house painter., yu kno' a painter dat paints with a vision. You can create new worlds weeth 'dis arte. Anyways, I'm the vato who created all the arte for ''Cruzito'' in the varrio-cult-classic: Blood In...Blood Out.
I'm announcing my new graphic novel: Los Vryosos ( Los Vrillosos) ( The Radiant Ones) -A Tale From the Varrio. It comes with a screensaver CD with most of the images from my book in vivid color. You can also see my art images from this novel here on myspace in the Los Vryosos album. It has over 43 art images that go with the story. It is available at AHA!Process website. Go to the Store section and scroll down to: Books, then scroll down to about the middle and there it is! Cheech Marin did the blurb for the cover and has some copies that he's showing around to his filmmaker friends. Watchout!I wanted to add more arte, pero, I want my raza to read. Because if you can read, you can teach yourself anything. I taught myself to paint by going to the library and reading for hours about color, composition and theory in art. Plus, reading exciting stories and the incredible use of words (I'm throwing chingos de nerdy words around.)in the way they are told, can literally change your conciousness (how the hell do you spell this word??) and give you a gratification which will in turn attract great experiences into your life. Art is literally life.Anyways, anybody that has grown up in the varrios will identify with my novel. Although, it's a hard read for any mainstream reader because I portray our gente the way they really are. And hardly nobody in the mainstream knows anything about that. There's a lot of ''Calo'' words. (Chicano Street Talk).But inside this hell dwell firme, hardworking gente and their overwhelming struggle. Then, there are the heroes. Luna, the main character, is a teacher in the varrio. Luna carries a deep loss from gang violence, also. She has come back to her roots to open a community alternative school to help teens trying to finish their education and steer away from joining gangs. In the varrio, nobody fucks with her. Luna teaches these teens to be proud of their heritage and how to realize their dreams no matter what the odds.This story can inspire our youth into expressing themselves thru art, music or literature. It is the best form of therapy there is! It took me 12yrs. to write this libro! And I'm not even a writer.
This libro was written with my Raza in mind: especially the chavalos and chavalas who are at a crossroads in life. I have gotten some great reviews from my gente who identify with Chicano culture and calo and jales malos. Ha! So don't pass it up, ey.!
Dale shine, mi Raza, and all the beautiful peoples out there of all colors! I love you all, alagrava!Enjoy my book and I hope it inspires the varrios to write yur own jale, ey. Wacha', I deedn't eeben know how to write y como quiera, I told my story. I got together weed people who deed know ( my ruca, Andrea Greimel, a teacher in the varrios here and a firme activist for our RAZA, helped me with countless hours of editing!) y I acheebed my goal. A goal dat took ( I'm just writing like dees for fun, ey?) chingos de tiempo. But eet was fun, wey! All the way! It was fucking exhilirating! (See, I do know some beeg wordses.)
So, brinkale, chavalos/as!! You can change your world and the world around you for the wey better!, with your expression! I'm out'a here, eys.
AdanBTW, here's a review of my book by Diana Rivera.
Los Vryosos ReviewAdan Hernandez's Los Vryosos made me cry and made me laugh. The novela of Nazul and Luna is woven together with vividly painted vignettes that keep you thoroughly engrossed and entertained while the main characters surface and then submerge in a sea of humor, drama and violence. Hernandez tends to splash new characters here and there bringing them into the story with such rich visual imagery that within a few sentences you are completely and emotionally involved with their personalities and plight.The language in Los Vryosos sometimes seeps into hard core "calo", a dialect of slang used in Latino barrios which some readers may find vulgar and offensive. But it is via the language that you are transported into the reality of the lives of the characters, and so it becomes essential to the canvass of this novel. Hernandez does provide the English translations right after the Spanish dialogue, which was a little odd at first, but I soon found it to be a wonderful tool that allowed me to flow through the story using the translations if I needed them, or skipping them all together when I didn't.Los Vryosos not only paints an "in your face" picture of what life can be for la gente in the barrio, it also provides a window into the past depicting the strength and struggle of the generation of Latinos before us who worked the land. Hernandez's compelling illustrations and humorous yet dramatic style makes Los Vyrosos a moving and unforgettable story.Diana Rivera, San Antonio,TX -Educator 2006
