“There is two kinds of music, the good, and the bad. I play the good kind.” Happy Birthday to “POPS”, LOUIS ARMSTRONG (Different takes over the years.) #louisarmstrong #jazzart #jazztrumpeter #lineart #penandink satchmo iamtheleopard pagestreetbooks @painted.words @pwlicensing @paintedwordsartrep

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Happy Birthday, BARACK OBAMA #repost #barackobama #Barack #keithhenrybrown #iamtheleopard

Happy Birthday to the incomparable trumpeter/composer LEE MORGAN. Commissioned piece. @iamtheleopard #keithhenrybrown🎨 #watercolor-painting🎨 #legendaryjazzmusician #collageart #leemorgan leemorgantrumpet @icalledhimmorgan @painted.words painted.words beautifulbizarre

Concept art for a magazine cover project that never came to be. Even so, I really enjoyed working on these drawings. Funny enough, I honestly can’t remember what the article—or the illustrations—were supposed to be about! #pencilsketches #pencildrawing #magazinecover #magazinelayout

“Blues is a natural fact, is something that a fellow lives. If you don’t live it you don’t have it. Young people have forgotten to cry the blues. Now they talk and get lawyers and things.” Happy Birthday, BIG BILL BROONZY #bigbillbroonzy #bluesmaster #bluesguitar #watercolor #legendarybluesartist

“I don’t have to agree with you to like you or respect you.” - Happy Birthday, ANTHONY BOURDAIN #watercolor #watercolorportrait @anthonybourdain #renownedchef #televisionchef

Just heard it’s #InternationalPortraitDay. Here’s one of the most personal portraits I’ve done. “Man Sitting Facing Left (Imaginary Portrait of My Father),” Painted over 25 years ago. At the time, I hadn’t seen my dad in years—and I didn’t have a photo. So I painted from memor or maybe imagination.

It’s Summer, folks. Stone ridge. (Inspired by a great photo on @molly.ragan’s IG. #collage #photoshop #foundtextures @iamtheleopard #keithhenrybrown🎨 @painted.words #beautifulbizarre

“Nothing pleases me more than to go into a room and come out with a piece of music.” Happy Birthday, Sir PAUL McCARTNEY #paulmccartney #thebeatles #inkdrawing letitbe letitbefilm @pwlicensing @paintedwordsartrep @painted.words

Farewell to the great pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), 1934–2026. Born in Cape Town’s District Six, he was a pioneering force in South African jazz during apartheid delivering the influences of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, he created a timeless and deeply personal

Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Nessa Vanessa (@vs.aquarell)! 🎉💖 Three years ago, we connected through a mutual admiration for each other’s work. Vanessa is an incredibly talented artist, museum guide, mom, and wife from Cologne, Germany. When she came to New York years ago, our friendship began.

“We have to be students of life and be very careful as we move through it. There’s always some kind of unexpected moment that happens each and every day, and you have to adjust. Music is like that. — Geri Allen Honoring the late genius, renowned pianist and composer Geri Allen on her birthday.

Happy ( Belated -June 8) Birthday to the amazing musician/actor SEU JORGE! Unforgettable as Pelé dos Santos in the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou performing the songs of David Bowie. #seujorge #thelifeaquaticwithstevezissou #davidbowie @pwlicensing @paintedwordsartrep painted.

“Just start by creating your day. Then create your life.” Happy Birthday to the singular genius PRINCE Rogers Nelson #prince #princerogersnelson #purplerain #nothingcompares2u #aroundthe worldinaday popsinger soulsinger legend rockandrollhalloffame theartist @pwlicensing @paintedwordsartrep

“Paradise is exactly like where you are right now... only much, much better.” Happy Birthday to musician/composer/ performance artist and possessor of the greatest dimples in music LAURIE ANDERSON @laurieandersonofficial #laurieanderson #performanceartist #loureed @loureedofficial #pencilsketch

This Is Our Music. Happy Black Music Month! Today we celebrate the artists, innovators, and visionaries whose contributions have shaped culture, inspired generations, and changed the world through the power of music. #BlackMusicMonth #AfricanAmericanMusicAppreciationMonth #BlackExcellence

“When people talk about the ‘60s I never think that was me there. It was me and I was in it, but I was never enamoured with all that. It’s supposed to be sex and drugs and rock and roll and I’m not really like that. Happy Birthday to the late🌙 CHARLIE WATTS

“I know a lot of people who have a lot of everything, and they’re absolutely the most miserable people in the world. So it won’t do anything for you unless you’re a happy person and can have peace with yourself.” Happy Birthday (May 26, 1964) LENNY KRAVITZ @lennykravitz #letloverule #zoekravitz

Happy Birthday to my friend and favorite collaborator, the great Christian McBride 9-time Grammy Award-winning composer, bassist, bandleader, and musical force! We’ve created so much together over the years, and I’m always proud and grateful to be associated with his extraordinary musical genius.

“Being able to channel my energies into that music, bring it to reality, to perform it, saved me” Happy 76th Birthday to the magnificent DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER @deedeebridgewater #legendaryjazzsinger @iamtheleopard #keithhenrybrown🎨 #deedeebridgewater #pencilwatercolorsketch #@painted.words

@milesdavis would have been 100 years old today. #keithhenrybrown🎨 @iamtheleopard @painted.words #digitalillustration #miles100

“I thought of Jazz as something which was extremely special. Yeah, that’s the word. It was special. Everything about it was great. - Sonny Rollins Farewell to the to the Saxophone Colossus, SONNY ROLLINS I’ve probably drawn Sonny more than any other single musician.

Unboxing! We book creators love that magical moment when illustrator copies arrive and we finally hold the book in our hot little hands. Always a rush! Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist, written by Mia Wenjen Out October 13. Available for preorder!

“With music you can express any emotion, you can paint pictures...” Happy Arrival Day to one of the fathers of Afrofuturism, the great musician/composer/ mystic SUN RA @pencildrawing #collage #photoshop #portraitillustration #jazzmusic #sunra #sunraarkestra @pwlicensing @paintedwordsartrep

Winners have been officially announced for american_illustration_winners’ 45th Annual Competition. The selected piece an illustrated travel narrative documenting a jazz fan’s long-awaited journey to New Orleans. It originally appeared in the Winter issue of National Parks magazine.

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.” - Happy Birthday, MALCOLM X born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 #malcolmx #malcolmlittle #watercolor #watercolorportrait

“I can be a pain, but most of all, I can be a pleasure.” Happy 78th Birthday to the original Influencer: the TRULY ICONIC artist/writer/model/musician/actress GRACE JONES #sketchbook @gracejones #keithhenrybrown @iamtheleopard #supermodel#jeanpaulgaultier @paintedwords

Last October Pushing Hope: A Memoir of Survival, written by Raymond Santana, was published. The long journey of creating this book was unique in my career. It took two and a half years to complete and, for a while, anyone who knows me knows it completely encompassed my life.

1991 watercolor based on a police photograph from the early 1900s. From a book of B&W NYC crime scene photos called Evidence by Luc Sante. Two men after falling down an empty elevator shaft. #lucsante #evidence #watercolor #keithhenrybrown #iamtheleopard @painted.words @paintedwordseditorial