#EastLA

November 8, 2025

“The Midnight Ice Cream Truck.”

Grand Theft Auto 3, East L.A., and a neighbor’s “ride” that didn’t need a key. Follow me on X: @punisherpapi · IG: @punisherpapi Back in 2001–2002, I was an usher at Dodger Stadium. One of my coworkers, Arturo—Art—became my boy. Looked like a cholo (shaved head, mustache, heavyset) but he wasn’t; chill, funny, good dude. After late games… Continue reading

Journal

#Early2000s, #EastLA, #EchoesOfTheGarage, #FunnyStories, #GTA3, #LifeInLA, #Memoir, #StoryTime, #TrueStory, #WeekendVibes, #writingcommunity, life, south central, writing
November 5, 2025

The Boy Who Doesn’t Belong 🥷 — A Hood Chronicle

Follow me on X: @punisherpapi · IG: @punisherpapi Another day, another puff of this cig — little swirls of smoke gliding between my fingers. Here in South Central I sit, on the curb, seeing. Today’s story is that of a young man, twenty-two years of age, soon to be twenty-three — a young man caught between two worlds.… Continue reading

Hood Chronicles

#EastLA, #pain, #rawwriting, #realstories, #streetphilosophy, #UrbanWriting, #wordsofsouthcentral, blog, family, grief, storytelling, writing
October 28, 2025

You Don’t Have to Wait for the Storm

Follow me on X: @punisherpapi · IG: @punisherpapi 📓 Sunday, October 19, 2025 — 4:39 p.m. El Mercadito, East L.A. There’s a woman who always buys from me. She’s in her forties — kind eyes, warm smile, a little tired. Her mother usually runs a stall here at El Mercadito, but she’s in Mexico right now, getting treatment.… Continue reading

Journal

#EastLA, #ElMercadito, #everydaylife, #melancholy, #nostalgia, #quietmoments, #rainydays, #soulofthecity, #streetstories, #urbanpoetry, #writerscommunity, blog, grief, hope, humanity, life, losangeles, love, mental health in the hood, poetry, reflection, south central, storytelling, writing

About Me

I’m Roberto Sanchez — illustrator, writer, and delivery driver in Los Angeles.

By day, I sell plastic bags out of a van across South Central.

By night, I draw, write, and build my life brick by brick.

I graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2022 with a BFA in Illustration, but art has never been just school to me. It’s survival, reflection, and expression. My illustrations come slow — patience is part of the work.

I live and create out of a converted garage.

That small room became Echoes of the Garage — the place where I put words, drawings, and the pieces of a life I’m rebuilding one step at a time.

Here you’ll find journal entries, Hood Chronicles, and visual experiments that try to capture the absurd, the painful, and the human in everyday life.

This is where I put it all: drawings, words, and fragments of a life in motion.

This site is where I put it all: drawings, words, and fragments of a life in motion.

#EastLA

“The Midnight Ice Cream Truck.”

The Boy Who Doesn’t Belong 🥷 — A Hood Chronicle

You Don’t Have to Wait for the Storm