You can see the for sale paintings here.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

Photo and Story by Amanda Greene

Kyle works with one color at a time, “Well, I’m gonna go paint some yellow.” Next he grabs “In The Pink” and “Sky Blue,” filling in sections of the mural like a kid would color in a coloring book. When he gets to “Real Red” he paints a red line around a dog’s neck, red stripes on a fox tail, a red bow tie on the elephant, a red bird beak, red mushroom cap, one red horse hoof, red stripes on a horse leg, a red dot on the cheek of a dog-critter, and a red chest and tail of a bird. Some of the colors are “magic” for Kyle’s brain: the red, the dark blue. He says seeing the paint go on the surface soothes him, calms his mind. This job site in downtown Atlanta is the opposite of calm. Construction at Garnet MARTA station involves a wood chipper, chain saws, concrete saws. Atlanta’s pretrial detention center is a block away. But Kyle paints, bringing his scene to life with the addition of each color.

Kyle Brooks describes himself as a street folk artist and goes by the sobriquet BlackCatTips. He looks like Snoopy’s brother Spike, both are tall and slim with distinguished whiskers. Kyle’s work depicts animals with long snoots, pointed tails and ears, sneaky eyes with black lashes. Eyes end up on shapes. Kyle thinks that eyeballs help things come alive so he puts extra eyes here and there. Sometimes the tail of one animal is also the snoot of another. He paints black and white outlines and a distinct style of lettering and says, “You can make one brush do multiple things if you use it right.” He paints on wood scraps, lids of pots and pans, old signs, plywood. His “street poems,” painted strips of wood with words on them, can be seen on power poles around town:

LET GO HARDER

I GOT REAL HUNGRY

SLOPPY POLLENATION

Traffic goes by in surges of police cars, e-bikes and scooters, pedestrians of all sorts. Kyle placed some plastic buckets around his work site and draped orange flagging tape between them, but people still come up uncomfortably close to talk. He gets compliments, questions, requests, and advice. He gives a can of soup to a man, a bottle of water to another, and he doesn’t loan a third man a hammer when asked. A round-shaped man in a raggedy polo shirt approaches Kyle, out of breath and sweating, holding a bunch of happy birthday balloons and one of those edible arrangements. He asks to borrow a bucket. Kyle has a cracked bucket that he lets the guy take. The balloon man leaves the balloons and the edible arrangement with Kyle, as collateral. He never comes back. Kyle abandons the balloons on the sidewalk and decides the arrangement wasn’t edible after all, and tosses it. Cup of paint in one hand, brush in the other, Kyle smooths on more color, more magic, on a wall in downtown Atlanta. 

Thanks to my friend Amanda Greene for this story and photograph.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

In October 2017 I painted a 2 section mural for the City of Atlanta. It was part of the Elevate Public Art Festival in Atlanta. The mural is located on Trinity Ave. between Peachtree and Broad Street. Recently I was asked again to “refresh” the mural. I took on the job as I wanted my artwork to stay alive on the street. I found that repainting a mural is sometimes more difficult to me than making it new. I had never repainted a mural or restored a painting of this size. I had to go over every inch of the painted wall and it made me do a lot of thinking. I thought about why I painted it like I did the first time. I thought about how strong the Sun is. I thought about how things naturally decay and fall apart. I thought about the effort it takes to create and recreate.

I also thought about the people I met…

I had a lady tell me she was hungry so I gave her a boiled egg. She cracked it and ate in right by the mural. I gave a man some water. I had a whole jug full. One man walked up to me and asked if I had a hammer. I did not have a hammer. I had one man tell me he was in the Marines and say many things about men and women and adam’s apples and how unhappy he was with horned creatures. Many folks gave me nice encouraging words as I progressed with the wall. That made me feel good.

After I restored the mural, the boss for the city asked me would I want to paint the section in the middle of the 2 restored murals. I said, “Oh Yes.”

I created a concept that would blend in with the existing and newly restored art work. I drew out a colorful horse and cart. I included many happy faces animals. I decided the whole thing felt like a circus so I decided to name it The Sidewalk Circus — 100 feet on smiling faces and fun colors under a bright blue sky.

Let me tell you about the man that wanted to borrow my bucket. He approached me sweaty and out of breathe. He asked me if he could borrow a bucket. I said, “Well I need these 2 but I have one that has a leak in it.” He said, “OK” and took it. I need to mention that when he walked up he was holding a large paper bag and 2 balloons. He left me the bag and balloons and said he would return. He did not return. I was left painting on the sidewalk with 2 balloons and a bag in which there was a Edible Arrangement fruit and candy bouquet. I never saw the man again or my leaky bucket. I texted the number on the receipt stapled to the bag and said I had their balloons but never heard from them either. After I packed up from my days painting work, I left he balloons and bag next to my painted mural. It was gone the next day. I hope someone enjoyed it. Now if I could only find my bucket.

Here are some photos from the project.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

I painted a new mural for Springdale Park Elementary in Atlanta — aka SPARK. It is 63′ long on a concrete wall. The wall was old and gray and now it is full of color and life and is very inviting for young and old. I really enjoyed my time at the school. I got to work with several classes over a few days.

It is very exciting to see how children and adults react to my work. I love all the children’s questions. One child asked me if I slept at the school. Some ask me how long it takes me to paint. A lot asked if they could help. One girl told me she had 4 cats at home.

This mural took me 7 working days. I cleaned the wall and double primed it. Then I drew out the shapes and filled in the areas of color. After that I spent the rest of the time on smaller sections and details. It is amazing how the details really transform it and make it come to life.

I want to thank Madison from SPARK for making this happen. Thanks also to Mrs White for your help. Thanks to Juston, Angie and David for helping me paint. We ate burritos and thai lunches and it helped a lot.

I really enjoy painting. If you need a happy painting you should send me a note.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

Last weekend I was part of the Forward Warrior mural fest in Atlanta. Fifty artists came together, brushes and spray cans in hand, to paint big bright pictures across the walls of Cabbagetown. There were all sorts of artists with all sorts of styles painting on one long wall.

I painted my piece, talked with old friends, and met some new folks too. It had been a long time since I had seen some of those friends. It was a steady stream of friendly faces—artists, neighbors, and dogs just out for a stroll. I must’ve talked more than I painted, but that’s part of the fun. Sharing stories, answering questions, and watching people connect with the work as it came to life. Saturday was the big day with street vendors and music and food trucks. They even had a marching band come by. It was a very lively day to paint outside in the sun.

The weather was hot and sunny but that made for good painting. I left a bit tired and sore but I had paint on my pants and a happy heart. I’m thankful to have been included, thankful for the folks who stopped by, and thankful for Forward Warrior for bringing so much art to the streets.

Sometimes the best part of painting isn’t the finished wall—it’s the talking, the laughter, and the new energy you get from being in the middle of it all.

This is my new mural. I named it Big Mac. A friend asked me was it a talking hamburger. “Is it a Big Mac?”, he asked. I said, “It is now!” So my mural is named Big Mac. Funny how things happen.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

I wanted to show this event poster I made. I spent a lot of time on it. I am really proud of the final product. The arts and music festival is based on the Native American name for the Chattahoochee River which refers to a Painted Rock. I had a sketch of the figure that this poster is built around on a napkin. I drew it in Bogota, Colombia in September of 2017. It looked like a painted rock and had Native American vibes so I thought it would be perfect to build on.

I designed it for silkscreen printing. I enjoy how using only a few colors forces creativity. I come up with new ways to push the color limitations —flipping out colors, reversing things, outlining in different ways. Sometimes with less you can do better and make more.

The poster will be available at the festival.

Tickets available here.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

A couple years ago I made a real big painting. It was made all from scraps. 6 foot across and 6 foot tall. It was made of many things I found and painted. Sticks. Old car license plates. Parts of a calculator. A wheel cover. Old paper. Car parts and even a photograph.

It was about things you see and feel as you drive along the country roads and highways. A. Georgia side road mix-tape. It is one of my most unique paintings I have made. One of my biggest as well.

Now it lives high in a building in midtown Atlanta. People see it when they walk down a hall going to meetings. Way high above the roads that inspired it.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

This summer I helped a friend design some shirts for his yearly event called the Peach Paddle. They go and ride canoes on the Flint River in middle-south-westish Georgia and eat peaches and cook a lot of food and have good music. He told me it was PURE JOY. I used that phrase as my inspiration. He then asked me to add some S.C.O.P.E (Sippin and Chillin On Paddling Expeditions) and some drinks and sunshines and of course peaches. I wonder if they saw any alligators?

I wanted to show a few early sketches too. You can see how I developed the overall look and feel. You can see those below.

Then he had some folks named Thunder Shout in Boulder, CO print and tie dye them.

And just to be fair, I was invited. :) I just had some things I had to do like take care of some little childrens.

The Second Summer Shirt:

This second shirt I made was a project for myself. For a long time I have wanted to use this painting on my barn as something more… so I decided a shirt would be good. I made a shirt and a matching sticker too. I had painted the blue good ol fella on my barn years ago. Every time I see him I feel glad. I had my friends at Danger Press in Atlanta print them for me and I really like these too. I like to feel glad.

You can pick one up for yourself here while they last.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks

This past month, I tried something new. I designed and offered a limited run of BlackCatTips beach towels — big, bold, colorful towels featuring my art, made to bring a little joy to your summer days. I called them Summer of the Duck Towels.

I wasn’t sure how it would go, but to my surprise and delight, they sold out. All of them found good homes. I’m grateful for everyone who supported this project, took a chance on something a little different, and made it a success.

There’s something special about making a small batch of something, knowing when it’s gone — it’s gone. These towels won’t be reprinted. They’re out there now, soaking up the sun, getting a little sandy, having a fun time.

Thank you to everyone who grabbed a Summer of the Duck Towel.

Thank you for believing in what I make.

Thank you for drying off in BlackCatTips style :) .

I’ve got more ideas floating around — who knows what’ll come next?

See You Soon,
 Kyle  BlackCatTips Brooks