We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Justin Moultrie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

As a kid I was always drawing, I was known for being the guy who could draw really well in school. I’ve always loved cartoons and anime. I use to draw the covers of VHSs & DVDs, comics in the newspaper, pause the TV to draw scenes, and even my own comics. Art classes in school helped sharper my skills and helped with realism. After drawing names, portraits, & cartoons for people, I always loved the reactions and the joy it brought others. Art is the best way for others to get a peak into my mind. It brings me comfort, it’s challenging, expressive & just indescribable.
During career day as a kid, I always wanted to be a Artist. I just always knew I was a creator.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Justin Moultrie and I’m a artist & Clothing designer. I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. I’ve been drawing since a kid. I have a strong passion for Hip-Hop and Cartoons. My art embodies the Hip-Hop Culture and nostalgia.

When I freelance projects for people, I get photo references and I help bring their idea to life! I send sketches before the final art, and then I execute with pen and markers. I usually do a little digital retouching on ProCreate.

My clothing line, viaHUSTLE is a brand for creatives. Everyone has a vision and is trying to get to that goal, by Hustling in some way. I started making clothes because in my town I felt like everyone was shopping in the same stores for the same fashions. I want to be the exception, so made a brand that I could stand behind and connected with me and my story.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think the time I met Spike Lee in 2019 best illustrates my resilience. At that time my wife and I were living in Bedstuy, Brooklyn and I came across a post on Instagram. It was Spike Lee saying that there’s a “Do The Right Thing” 30th Anniversary Block Party happening in about 2 weeks, which would be around the corner from where we lived and it was on my day off. I drew a scene from the movie and a portrait of him, KNOWING that I would see him. My plan was to have my art featured in his upcoming projects hopefully. I made a Print of the portrait i drew for a autograph too. Day of the event was craziness, there was so much people! The illustration I had was in a 18×24 frame and another frame that was about 8×10.
I had to hold the pieces above my head through the sea of people. I was actually able to get my artwork to the stage where Spike Lee was. There were pictures taken and autographs signed. The interaction was so fast that much wasn’t said. However, I did Manifest my interaction with Spike Lee. That whole experience let me know, that I can do and meet anyone I want, if there’s a will, there’s a way!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Meeting people from different aspects of life and different mindsets. Also, bringing people’s artistic visions to life and seeing my art in different places.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Viaarthustle.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/jjm.art93
• Facebook: Facebook.com/viaARThustle
• Twitter: Twitter.com/jjmART93
• Youtube: Youtube.com/@ViaHustleStudios