Working on a new series titled “AfroStreetStyleInfinityExotic” and the precursor to this project are the fantastic brother and sister duo that is 2manysiblings. See more about them below and more information and posts on the series to follow.
A quick selection of editorial illustration commissions that I have completed from mid 2014 to April 2015. I have been working with the same guys for almost 3 years and it is interesting to see how the style I created for them develops depending on the commission.
I haven’t posted anything up for almost one year but that does not mean I have not been active. The digital age with its multiple platforms has seen my migrate and concentrate much of my efforts on Instagram, which now doubles as a place where I post my musings, activities and recent works. If you are on there, follow me if you please https://instagram.com/kibokohachiyon/
My first post of the year is filled with memories. The brief for the illustration was “my element”, and I had been commissioned to do something similar by the same person back in 2012. It is interesting to see both images next to each other, much has changed and in many respects will continue to do so.
Much of my time is now balanced between painting, illustration and recently writing and venturing back into curation and collaborative projects. Hopefully I will be able to maintain this blog and post more often and look forward to seeing where 2015 takes me.
Finally managed to get some clean pencils in and add some quick colour to the ASOBI painting proposals. The original image can function as one whole piece or be broken up into anything from 2 to 6 separate pieces, creating alternative narratives according to how the work is arranged. More images to follow.
Working away on roughs for a collaborative narrative painting. The idea is one image is divided into different blocks and the story can be read in different formats according to how the images are arranged. The piece will be titled asobi which means play in Japanese and shows freedom and enjoyment of life, the joys of being care free.
Fine tuning my illustration portfolio is taking an age, with the final intention of getting more work tailored to my style. Experimenting with the use of line and colour, and starting to enjoy using photoshop [think I mentioned this in a previous post] but it has taken me a while to get here.
Still prefer to put my lines down using pen or pencil, then photoshop for colours, but will experiment with any media and an added bonus, if you scan in work that already has been coloured by hand then it saves you half of the time. I am getting quicker, but it still takes me longer to paint digitally than traditionally.
I found a photo of the image above and kept it in my scrapbook awaiting the correct time for me to address it, and that took almost 8 years. It’s interesting when you look back at your own style and you realise that it has always been there, you just needed to believe in it and if need be fine tune elements of it.
Seems like an obvious lesson and a repetitive one at that, but the truth of the matter with most things is, it takes time.
See more via the link below.
A few years back, I used to love doing portraits or character portraits. I would pick an image I like, go straight into the drawing with a permanent marker or brush marker so that it came out raw with little need to rub or edit the image, it would be, what it would be.
This path of a freelance illustrator brings in a variety of jobs, some to just pay the bills, and ever so often, some stuff that really stimulates the whole of your creative being. I guess this kind of work does it for me, but now I have two styles and I am to produce more portraits in both these styles. Not to mention I feel I am finally getting the hang of this coloring digitally gig, and it has finally transformed from being a pain to a fun and experimental process.
I also like the fact that they look like the person, but don’t really look like the person, got to think about who it is, some more than others. It is always interesting what my eye sees in comparison to that of others. Throw a few of these into my portfolio in a few weeks time and see what happens.
Love the guys at Pictoplasma and what they do in setting and pushing the platform for character design. Love the books they have put out too and will very soon have them added to my library of reference material.
This is my entry for a call out for The Pictoplasma Portrait Project. Brought out some old muscle, one of my favourite characters, Soba Manki, part of a set of apes that I created and need to make better use of. See more about the project via the link below, as well as more about Pictoplasma and the work they do.
I love Just A Band, from the very first video I came across way back in 2009 if memory serves me correct, I knew this guys were on to something . Their creative approach and style of referencing takes me to simpler, better, freer, fun days.I will not pen more on them, a lot has been written about the group and they continue to shine. For more on the group see the link http://www.just-a-band.com/
The image above is my third installment at cataloguing a selection of videos they have produced from different albums. It is from their latest album “Sorry For The Delay”, another great production with a good medley of tracks that is a staple in my playlist. Did two versions, a brighter one and a more toned down, retro colorway. Pick and choose which you like the best.
“Dunia Ina Mambo” is the title of the song and the images above have been referenced from the video that can be seen via this link http://youtu.be/PXLLJg7AZyg , in my opinion a work of genius.
For more on the group,music and work see their website and you can also follow them on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/justaband?fref=ts
Really fun commission I had made me revisit watercolour painting. I have not touched this medium for over 10 years, but the brief called for a rustic vintage recreation of very old Japanese food/beer posters in my own style.
Wish I had more time on this one, but for a rusty 10 year comeback I am happy with the results and hope to explore watercolour’s more. The wet on wet blend has a voice of its own and I like the lack of control as the paint does its own thing.
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