The artist journal of Littleton S. Irby unfolds in five chapters — Before, Breaking, Searching, Becoming, and Here. Rather than a date feed, the journal is experienced as a continuous emotional progression through the artist's life: the memory and family that formed him, the loss and rupture where something gave way, the uncertainty and experimentation of searching, the realizations and change of becoming, and finally what he sees and believes now.
Each chapter carries entries written by the artist from the studio — works in progress, studio notes, the stories behind portraits, and personal reflections. Entries within a chapter are ordered by the artist to trace a narrative arc, not by publication date. Some entries include video footage from the studio.
Readers can join a newsletter group to receive monthly excerpts from the artist's journal. The journal grows over time as new entries are added to whichever chapter the artist's life currently inhabits.
From the studio
Journal
Five chapters — Before, Breaking, Searching, Becoming, and Here — tracing a life through memory, loss, uncertainty, transformation, and the present.
Chapter 1 of 5
Before
Memory. Family. The things that formed you.
Before
Nana and the Beach — Joy in Your Heart While Living in Hard Days
January 10, 2023
Nana and the Beach — Joy in Your Heart While Living in Hard Days
Nana could have been upset about losing her hat and wig, but she decided to find the good anyway. It doesn't matter what happens to us in life — it's all about how we react. Joy in your heart while living in hard days.
Read →Before
Hallelujah, Praise God, Thank You Jesus
June 20, 2024
Hallelujah, Praise God, Thank You Jesus
When I was younger, my sister and I were taken to the beach by my grandmother to watch her church members get baptized. A big gust of wind blew her hat and wig out the window. And my Nana said: Hallelujah, Praise God, Thank you Jesus. This is an example of joy in your heart and living in hard days.
Read →Before
Emeryville — The Mounds, The History, and the Forgetting
February 15, 2023
Emeryville — The Mounds, The History, and the Forgetting
I cannot imagine living in a world where you can say you are accepted and appreciated but you only feel dread and anguish. Justice is not blind — she is looking through her blindfold when there is a dark shape presence. That is our culture. That is our history.
Read →Before
Dealing With Being Black as an Older Adult
February 1, 2023
Dealing With Being Black as an Older Adult
I am trying to deal with being black as an older adult. I never had to believe that being black affected my life but unfortunately now it does and even though I am very positive, I can get very depressed.
Read →Before
The Colored Contradictions — My Power Is in My Madness
May 1, 2023
The Colored Contradictions — My Power Is in My Madness
Everything I need to get over in this world is inside here, connecting me to everybody and everything that's ever been. My power is in my madness and my colored contradictions.
Read →Chapter 2 of 5
Breaking
Loss. Anger. The places where something gave way.
Breaking
The Bizarre Wall — Standing Before What You Cannot Control
March 1, 2022
The Bizarre Wall — Standing Before What You Cannot Control
Opening the door, Alona is on full alert. She just stands there trying to convince her legs to move. The room turns into a desert. A fire of sparks streak past her from a mountain peak.
Read →Breaking
The Magix — Power Is Its Own Fuel, and It Can Run Out
June 1, 2022
The Magix — Power Is Its Own Fuel, and It Can Run Out
As an adult, you must stay aware of your powers. If you drain your powers, you will be turned into stone for a year. The Magix is the fuel of becoming — and it can be drained.
Read →Breaking
The Karma Faerie — The Full Arc of Becoming
December 15, 2022
The Karma Faerie — The Full Arc of Becoming
As a Karma Faerie, it is her duty to bless people, but she finds herself in another realm, alone and isolated. She is faced with the decision of whether to use her powers and risk losing them forever or to hold back and not be able to help others.
Read →Breaking
The Pandemic and the Mask — Separation in Plain Sight
June 1, 2023
The Pandemic and the Mask — Separation in Plain Sight
The masks during the pandemic enhanced the separation of ethnicities. When hatred is celebrated, it makes others feel small.
Read →Chapter 3 of 5
Searching
Uncertainty. Experimentation. Questions without answers yet.
Searching
Her Powers — Alona and the Spark
February 1, 2022
Her Powers — Alona and the Spark
Alona watched the Good Samaritan help push the car out of the street, she had seen enough. She began casting the spell when the alarm clock partially awoke her.
Read →Searching
The Ritual — Surrendering to Forces Greater Than Yourself
April 1, 2022
The Ritual — Surrendering to Forces Greater Than Yourself
As they all touch Alona, Pryter, and Arne, something curious happens. The twins enter a trance state, and an invisible force field erupts around them, while Alona surrendered to the Magix.
Read →Searching
Faerie Wings — They Never Leave
May 1, 2022
Faerie Wings — They Never Leave
Faerie wings are how faeries fly but they are not born with them, and they have a mind of their own. The simplest way to understand them is to think of them as tamed wild horses that can see the gate open, but they never leave.
Read →Searching
The Trotter Forest — Absorbing From Everything That Touched You
July 1, 2022
The Trotter Forest — Absorbing From Everything That Touched You
Alona became a conduit for absorbing the Magix from wherever it came from — from the trees, the flowers, the rocks, the sun, the stars, the wind, and from anything enchanted. She formed a huge ball of energy and threw it back.
Read →Searching
The Orb — Seeing the Other Side of the World
September 1, 2022
The Orb — Seeing the Other Side of the World
As she got closer to the orb, she could see the other side of the world — the world of humanity. Everything moved quickly on the street. The vine pushed her into the orb and the human world.
Read →Searching
A Littleton Original, LLC — The Mission to Revolutionize the Art Market
March 1, 2023
A Littleton Original, LLC — The Mission to Revolutionize the Art Market
Our mission is to showcase and sell artwork created by artists from diverse backgrounds, empowering them and meeting the growing demand for diverse artwork. We believe every artist, regardless of their background, deserves a platform to express their creativity and share their unique perspectives.
Read →Searching
An Emerging Artist in California — The Vision to Lift the Hopes and Visions of the Heard
March 15, 2023
An Emerging Artist in California — The Vision to Lift the Hopes and Visions of the Heard
I am an emerging artist in California and one day I hope to see my name with a review. My business plan is addressing the problem of 15% of museums and galleries in America being filled with other artists, my demographic being included. I propose to help these artists get recognized by creating a gallery, art studios, and instruction.
Read →Searching
The Guardian and the Castle — The Exhibition Walkthrough
August 1, 2023
The Guardian and the Castle — The Exhibition Walkthrough
Two booths, a dark room with crickets and spotlights, a guardian who asks if you are kind, and a castle of safety and light.
Read →Searching
The Everyman Project — Embracing the Body You're In
April 12, 2024
The Everyman Project — Embracing the Body You're In
Drawn to the Everyman Project for its commitment to reshaping perceptions of masculinity and advocating for body positivity — a sanctuary for men to celebrate diversity and combat self-hate.
Read →Searching
The Avante-Garden
June 5, 2024
The Avante-Garden
One booth shows negative things and sad words, but you hear laughter over the speakers. The other shows beautiful pictures but you hear booing and hissing. This teaches people to be happy still on the inside even though you cannot control your outside.
Read →Chapter 4 of 5
Becoming
Realizations. Change. Survival. Creating.
Becoming
The Leap of Faith — Giving Is Its Own Reward
January 1, 2022
The Leap of Faith — Giving Is Its Own Reward
Believing in your ability to do good and taking the leap of faith to continue to do so, even though you're told there is a limit to your goodness, opens a greater capacity to give generously with love.
Read →Becoming
The Pa-Trina — Rehabilitation Through Becoming
August 1, 2022
The Pa-Trina — Rehabilitation Through Becoming
When the frowning side of Pa-Trina was transformed, she endured the change. Her debt was paid and she would never be spoken to again. Individuality required courage and necessity.
Read →Becoming
The Ancient Scroll — The One With a Heart Pure and True
October 1, 2022
The Ancient Scroll — The One With a Heart Pure and True
Hark ye, Seekers of olde, heed well this wisdom told. For the one with powers grand shall bring an end to turmoil and command. With a heart pure and true, she shall lead the realm anew, though the path may be long and steep.
Read →Becoming
The Camp Fire — Calling the Phoenix Through the Standing
November 1, 2022
The Camp Fire — Calling the Phoenix Through the Standing
Alona wanted to use the power of the fire to call a phoenix to join the friends and heal all these people in her world — people she never understood had the same type of past. Through the fire, through the smoke, the three-family ancestry spell was called.
Read →Becoming
The Ritual's Completion — Done With Love, Generosity, and Power
December 1, 2022
The Ritual's Completion — Done With Love, Generosity, and Power
'I did it,' I'lon says, smiling. 'Yes, you did,' her mother replies. 'And you did it with love, generosity, and power. You are now a powerful witch, my dear. You can do anything you set your mind to.'
Read →Becoming
Love Can Heal All Things — The Second Book's Vision
January 1, 2023
Love Can Heal All Things — The Second Book's Vision
In the second book, I'lon will try to unite the other enchanted creatures in the other realm with her. They will learn that they have more in common than they thought — and that love can heal all things. It teaches them to give even when you don't have enough, because you will still be rewarded.
Read →
July 24, 2023
Jump, Jump! — Cover
The cover of a children's book — a family layered around the word JUMP, a child mid-leap above them.
Read →
July 24, 2023
Jump, Jump! — Back Cover
The back cover of a children's book about resilience and the power of choice.
Read →Becoming
Folding Colors into the 1950s — Adding Flavor to the American Recipe
January 15, 2024
Folding Colors into the 1950s — Adding Flavor to the American Recipe
Reimagining the 1950s by infusing a diverse spectrum of individuals with vibrant colors — born from appreciation of the beauty and resilience of women against a monochrome era.
Read →Becoming
Legacy Unveiled — The 1950 Revival at MoAD
February 1, 2024
Legacy Unveiled — The 1950 Revival at MoAD
A retrospective exhibition at the Museum of the African Diaspora, curating the pivotal moments of the 1950s that shaped the African diaspora's narrative.
Read →Becoming
DIY: Find Joy
June 1, 2024
DIY: Find Joy
Littleton learned what joy looked like to him. Joy never gives you the same feeling and at times it is intense or freeing and not his responsibility to find it. His joy will never look like yours because it is personal so it is your responsibility.
Read →Becoming
Dancing to the Maddens in Me
June 10, 2024
Dancing to the Maddens in Me
They are here in my hair, my eyes, my face, my smile — everything that you need in this world is already there to connect you to every person or every place you have ever been. I can live inside yesterday's pain. I can't live without it.
Read →Becoming
The Improbable Force
June 15, 2024
The Improbable Force
He sat and thought and analyzed and realized. Got his footing and started to brainstorm, practice, pray, ask for forgiveness, apologize, and decide the only way to teach is to learn. He had to create something that made him feel love, acceptance, valued.
Read →January 22, 2025
Why I Paint Mannequins
Some stories require a body.
Read →
March 14, 2025
The Night I Painted 'Movement in Orange'
Sometimes a work refuses to wait for morning.
Read →Chapter 5 of 5
Here
What you see and believe now.
Here
How I Would Help Someone Become
July 1, 2024
How I Would Help Someone Become
You cannot tell a person to become. You can only build a place where becoming is possible. So I built the mirror, the selection, the psychological reading — a place where people can find what they are already becoming.
Read →Here
The Sanctuary of Their Joy
July 5, 2024
The Sanctuary of Their Joy
When someone selects a work, I am not selling a painting. I am finding the sanctuary created inside them when they chose. The colors, the themes, the gaze — all of it is the architecture of their joy, and I read it back to them.
Read →Here
The Mirror Remembers
July 10, 2024
The Mirror Remembers
When they come again, the mirror sees what they chose before and what they chose now. It reads the distance between the two. Because becoming is movement, and movement is the only proof that a person is alive inside the body they walk around in.
Read →Here
I Cannot Make You Grow
July 15, 2024
I Cannot Make You Grow
I would not make anyone choose to grow. I would make it possible. Growing is not a decision you make in a moment. It is a road you walk over years. My job is to build the road and leave it open.
Read →Here
Everything I Would Do
July 20, 2024
Everything I Would Do
I sit a person in front of my works. I read what they chose. I give them my diary. I recommend works that deepen their journey. I invite them to commission a portrait of who they are becoming. And I let the mirror remember. That is everything I would do.
Read →
July 24, 2026
Two Wings, One Light
Two figures in profile, adorned with dark feathered wings, set against an ethereal white forest. A study in grace, witness, and the space between.
Read →
July 24, 2026
The Armor We Wear
A close study of an ornate leather wristband — aged, patterned, fastened around a forearm. The textures we choose to carry against our skin.
Read →
July 24, 2026
A Face Assembled
A mixed-media portrait in progress — cutouts of textured materials forming a human face on a drafting surface, pencil lines tracing the architecture beneath.
Read →
July 24, 2026
Pink Bloom on the Easel
Heavy impasto strokes in pink, lilac, and grey-white building into something that refuses to settle. Watch the painting take shape stroke by stroke.
Read →
July 24, 2026
The Bust Awakens in Purple
A sculptural form partially painted — broad purple sweeps over a light blue base coat. The figure is emerging, not yet finished, not yet willing to be.
Read →Here
The Artist Statement — Light Is Bad, Dark Is Good
July 29, 2026
The Artist Statement — Light Is Bad, Dark Is Good
My artwork is designed to challenge perceptions of good and bad, black and white. In my work, light is bad and dark is good. To understand it, one must surrender, step forward, and just look at it — not just view it.
Read →