I’ve just finished this promotional piece for London based vocalist Koko Monroe. Click on the link below to read more and see a step-by-step guide of how it was created

This is a scan of the original artwork I did in pencil and ink

I began colouring in Photoshop, strengthening the black outlines and adding the initial fills. It looked a bit green at this stage ( I might keep this colour in mind if I ever have to create a zombie picture)

I found a colour scheme that I was happy with and added gradients using Photoshop. The brief was to use  a bold and vibrant style in keeping with the Soulful House vibe of the music.  I decided to use pinks and blues to achieve a ‘fantasy art’ style

I usually add some textures that I’ve created myself or in this case one from the CG Textures website.  It’s working well on the character but is a bit too ‘grungy’ for the background on this picture

The texture has been kept for her face and shoulders only. After some experimenting I created a futuristic pattern for the background that works well.

I’ve added the finishing touches including some rim lighting and … here it is the final piece. I hope you dig it!

Half page advert in DJ Magazine

The Breakin Bread Radio Best of 2011 show has dropped. DJ’s Skeg, J-Squared & Steve The Sleeve have outdone themselves this year and they’ve put together an amazing selection of tracks ranging from funk to hip hop and disco to wonky beats. Breakin Bread have laced me with loads of good music over the years and I knocked up this picture for their December radio show, a portrait of Fonce Mizell the legendary producer who died in 2011 . The show is available to listen to via Mixcloud, Facebook and Sensei FM.

]]> http://bangsbrothers.co.uk/2011/12/16/breakin-bread/feed/ 0 http://bangsbrothers.co.uk/2011/11/28/new-sketchbook-stuff/ http://bangsbrothers.co.uk/2011/11/28/new-sketchbook-stuff/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:58:22 +0000 bangsian http://bangsbrothers.co.uk/?p=147 read more »]]>

I’ve recently dusted off my moleskin sketchbook after being inspired by a website called ‘urban sketchers‘. Yes urban sketching is where all the cool kids are at, lol. There are some very talented artists involved with this website from around the globe such as the peerless Tommy Kane from New York.

My drawings above were mainly done on location, apart from the Fitzrovia ones which I did with the help of Google Streetview and the people were mostly added afterwards; I just made some initial sketches based on characters walking past.  I’ll post some more sketches up for you here soon.

I’m looking forward to seeing these in print!

I’ve recently been working on some illustrations and web design for Tigre Fair, a boutique record label based in East London

This is a picture of the rapper Roxanne Shante, created for the brilliant Volume Magazine. There are lots of sites dedicated to old skool hip hop but my current favourites are Fat Lace Magazine and a blog called Scan The Contents.