David Gonzales (born 1964 in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

designer, and toy designer. He is the creator of the Homies line of toys.

Biography

Gonzales was one of five brothers who were very close. He grew up in a tough, impoverished

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

neighborhood. After attending

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

elementary school, Gonzales begged his parents to put him in a local public high school because the art program was better. Gonzales began drawing comics while he was in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. His amateur comic strip was called ''The Adventures of Chico Loco,'' and the characters were based on "

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

guys."Bir, Sara
"Where the Heart Is: With Homies, gangsta is in the eye of the beholder,"
'' Metroactive'' (Apr. 10, 2003). The main character, based on Gonzales himself, was called "Hollywood." Gonzales attended California College of the Arts in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. He had changed the title of his strip to ''The Adventures of Hollywood'' when it was picked up as a monthly feature by the San Jose-based '' Lowrider'' magazine and steadily gained an audience. In the early 90s Gonzales began drawing characters from ''The Adventures of Hollywood'' on T-shirts and other products, which he and his wife sold at local beach stands,

swap meets A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

, liquor stores, and eventually urban clothing stores.Mendoza, Beto
"David Gonzales Art - Creator of the Homies: Lowrider Draw the Line,"
''Lowrider'' (June 18, 2013). These characters were the templates for Homies. Under the Gonzales Graphics name, Gonzales also sold shirts geared toward "

La Raza The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...

," with

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

designs,

Pachuco Pachucos are male members of a counterculture associated with zoot suit fashion, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as '' caló'', and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society that emerged in El Paso ...

imagery, and illustrations of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

. Gonzales lived in Taos from 1994 to 1998, when he moved back to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

.Fischer, Zane
"Homie Sweet Homie: Sexy urban icons have New Mexico roots,"
''Santa Fe Reporter'' (February 4, 2009). It was at that point that Gonzales shifted direction from T-shirts to toy design. He released the first set of Homies figurines, which were initially sold in

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

vending machines in Chicano communities throughout California. Gonzales initially had trouble selling his product, in particular because the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

claimed that the toys glorified gang life.Napolitano, Jo
"Two-Inch Latino Role Models, for Good or Ill,"
''New York Times'' (May 1, 2003). In response, many stores stopped selling the Homies. Gonzales repeatedly explained that he “did not create Homies to glamorize gang life.” Met with the challenge of re-imagining his characters, he went back to the drawing board and gave each individual Homies character an inspiring biography. He created stories for each characters on the Homies website, with each one embodying a positive trait. Stores quickly returned the Homies to their shelves; the resulting media coverage of the controversy helped Homies gain ever more popularity. The toys were widely popular, with the first series selling a million Homies figures in four months. Gonzales claims that after he re-invented the Homies characters, police representatives have introduced themselves at public functions and individual police officers have even ordered Homies figures from him personally. In 2004, Gonzales released the Mijos toy line of youth characters related to the Homies. Also in 2004, Gonzales introduced a toy line named The Palermos, featuring a fictional

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

former mafia family now running a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...

;Sullivan, James
"Homies go from figurines to branding phenomenon: Richmond native has runaway success,"
''San Francisco Chronicle'' (June 10, 2003). By 2013, Gonzales had shifted his focus once again to apparel, creating the T-shirt brand DGAtees, featuring his own art as well as his son Anthony's.

Personal life

Gonzales has three grown children. After living for many years in Hercules, California, by 2013 he had relocated to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. One of Gonzales’s brothers, Robert, has become peripherally involved in the Homies toy line. After a life of crime and violence, Robert became a priest. Himself using a wheelchair, Robert suggested that Gonzales create a Homie in a wheelchair. Willie G, as the character was named, has since become one of the more popular Homies, even being promoted by the Special Olympics. In addition, the Homie character Padrecito ("priest") resembles Robert, and has been used to connect with and help those looking for a route out of the

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

. Through Robert's “El Padrecito’s Online Church,” Homies have made it easier for society to connect with those looking to improve their lives; on the website people can create religious figurines, such as saints.

References

External links

*
Homies.tv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzales, David 1964 births Living people American artists of Mexican descent Artists from California People from Richmond, California People from Contra Costa County, California