Portraits

Geordie LaForge (approx 8ft x 7ft, aerosol on wall, 2012)

(photo by the homie Nutly)

(in progress)

(photo by Nutly)

What's crackin? Here are a couple aerosol portraits I knocked out over the weekend up here in Edmonton. Above is a portrait of LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordie LaForge from Star Trek: The Next Generation that I painted last sunday. You already know I'm a nerd like that. I chose LeVar Burton because he was one of the cats I looked up to as a kid. His character Geordie on Star Trek: TNG was unlike any other Black character I'd seen on TV — well-respected, tech-savvy, professional, and an integral part of the team on the Enterprise. What a boss! I'm proud of how this piece came out; I've been working hard on my portrait game, but this one was definitely a challenge, especially with a bit of wind and limited colour selection. By no means did it end up perfect, but I feel like I'm getting better! 

 Lots of people have been asking me lately if I use stencils or markers or an airbrush or anything like that, especially for the more realistic looking stuff — just to set the record straight, it's all free handed with spray paint only, it's more just about practice, thinking in layers, and understanding the medium. The LeVar Burton portrait took me about 5 hours to paint, and the one below took me about three and a half.

 Portrait Demo #1 (8ft x 4ft, aerosol on board, 2012)

(photo by Tiffany aka Zombiffany)

(in progress)

(photo by Maigan van der Giessen)

The black and white portrait above was created for an aerosol demo I did at Colours Art & Supply on the south side here in Edmonton last Saturday. The piece iteslf will be moving between Colours art stores, likely every few months. I learned a lot while doing both of these portraits, hopefully conveyed some knowledge, and happened to get a lot of props from passers by as well — thanks for all the love Edmonton! 

Gettin' Fresh in the Clubhouse

Carlton Says... (Get Fresh) (approx 8ft x 6ft, aerosol, 2012)

Yaaooo! I've been meaning (Mingin') to show you these photos of my work at The Clubhouse, a not-for-profit arts organization here in Edmonton. They commissioned some work from me and a couple other artists as a part of their Culture Days celebration — they're one of the selected spaces for the festival, and will be showcasing several bands, an arts workshop by my man Ben, and much more! Check them out at 9510 105th ave above the bottle depot. Alberta Culture Days runs from Sept. 28-29th and is free and family friendly, so come check it out at the Clubhouse (after, of course, you come see me painting live for another Culture Days event on 104st and Jasper ave — I'll be painting a canvas live from 4:30 onwards, and also will be painting a piece live during Politic Live's set!). The portrait of Alfonso Ribeiro (aka Carlton from Fresh Prince) that I painted definitely seems to think you should come hang out!

CAPS feature wall (detail) (aerosol, 2012)

This here piece is one of my contributions to the feature wall, a collaboration with a local arts advocacy group called CAPS. You'll be hearing more about them soon, but for now, come see all the art we made — Ben, Bernie, and Miles all dropped some heat in here.

CAPS feature wall (detail) (aerosol, 2012)

Clubhouse Bar (aerosol, 2012)

Lastly, here's the bar I painted. OK, I gotta run — I'm due in Calgary for a United Way event tomorrow, then back on Friday to get my Culture Days on! Catch you soon homies!

Walk & Don't Look Back

I'm The Toughest (R.I.P. Peter Tosh) (approx 8.5ft x 4.5ft, aerosol on billboard, 2012)

The whole billboard about 3/4 finished

Yo homies! I've had an eventful week — on Tuesday I finished a mural along with Joker from Ihuman (see: last post) which is getting a little internet love, so far about 1000 likes on facebook and a ton of shares and comments. Jonathan, the main writer and producer we worked with on the project, is a hella cool guy, and let us do whatever we wanted on the billboard we were originally supposed to paint. I did a greyscale portrait of the Reggae legend Peter Tosh, and Joker repped his old graffiti name and crew. I'm proud of how the portrait came out, and although I still have tons of work to do on this area of my game, I'm excited to move forward and step it up! Peep this classic (and hilarious) video of Peter Tosh choppin it up with a wild-eyed Mick Jagger back in the day right here. Ok, that's it for today, I'm painting a pair of murals for Edmonton's The Creative Clubhouse tomorrow so I've gotta get myself sorted with supplies and that. Thanks for comin to kick it! One Love. 

Rest In Power GURU

Photo credit: Anton Louden

This work was created with spray paint at the Hip Hop in the Park 2010 event as a tribute to Keith Elam, AKA Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal (GURU), a legend and major originator in Hiphop music and culture, and one of my favourite MCs. His presence is sorely missed - he was most famous for his seminal work with DJ Premier in the group Gangstarr, as well as for being a major force in Jazz-Hiphop fusion with his Jazzmatazz projects. Rest In Power GURU (1961-2010). Both pieces were purchased at the event and now belong to Khy of Locution Revolution - check his crew out after the jump.(http://locutionrevolution.com/home.cfm)