Lupe Fiasco "Lasers" Concept Series: I Don't Wanna Care Right Now

This particular track from Lasers was definitely one of the ones that irritated me. There is a sharp contrast between what Atlantic Records wanted and Lupe Fiasco's style as a rapper. It's painfully obvious that this is what the label forced him to do. Auto-Tune saturates this song. If you go back and listen to Shining Down (A track that was supposed to be on Lasers.) Lupe states that he doesn't agree with the way everyone jumped on Auto-Tune after T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Kanye West picked it up.

This song sounds like it's better suited for the Black Eyed Peas or Usher. Anyway I wanted to create a piece that symbolized Lupe's values and his labels expectations. I wanted to go with something more realistic than the previous piece but still abstract to a point.


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Lupe Fiasco "Lasers" Concept Series: Words I Never Said

This piece was extremely ambitious for me. It's been some time since I've done any realistic portraits in Sketchbook Pro. I believe Sade was the last. I'm not too crazy about the content on Lasers but Words I Never Said is just a masterful track. I wanted to go all out on this piece. I wanted to convey several things in this piece. For one this track is clearly different from the others. The lyrics are potent and not dumbed down like most others.

Also Lupe is taking several shots at key figures in the media and in politics. I wanted to show Lupe as villainous for making such a track. I personally support his music but I wanted to portray him from the perspective of Atlantic Records and those who don't understand his music. I just had to go with The Joker. (The Heath Ledger representation.) First I painted Fiasco like I would any portrait. Next I added the face paint (almost like a make up artist) on a separate layer. This let me erase the top layer to let skin show through. After doing that he really looked like The Clown Prince of Crime.


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Skyzoo Series: The Burn Notice

This is the second painting in my Skyzoo Series. I named it after one of the songs on his colab album with Illmind: Live From The Tape Deck. Naming this one The Burn Notice turned out to be a good move since in the reference photo he's been lit in red. I did this one in Brushes.


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Speed Painting: New York State Of Mind

I just got back from my trip to New York City. I went to see Talib Kweli at The New Era Flagship store. He was signing posters to promote his new album, Gutter Rainbows. Before he arrived I started this painting and then finished it when I got back. I gave Talib a portrait I did of him in Brushes too. That will be posting tomorrow with a YouTube video also.


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Skyzoo Series: Return Of The Real

"The ceiling might move when I lift up to pen my cursive/ They predicting it will so the hype is fitting it's purpose/ They was missing the real/ I write it and make it worth"-Skyzoo

Lately I've felt like doing portraits of my favorite artists in music. (Sade, Rhymefest) Skyzoo is my top MC bar none. It was only a matter of time before I painted him too. He's a rapper from Brooklyn and he's got style, and some of the deepest lyrics I've ever heard. His debut album The Salvation tells captivating hip hop stories of inner city struggles. I wanted to create a series based on some of his songs. I titled this after one of his tracks.

This painting gave me another chance to push my limits in ArtRage. I wanted to do a portrait that would be on par with my realistic work. I throughly enjoyed this piece. I must've finished it in two sittings. After posting a part of my comic I figured I'd give myself a window to tackle this.


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Featured Illustration: El Che

I've been a Rhymefest fan since his Blue Collar album came out a few years ago. This past year he released El Che. I just got my hands on it and I love it. The way he MCs is just dynamic, funny, and thought provoking. Fest is extremely underrated. There are political undertones on the album and that led to this latest piece. Rhymefest is very good at producing hip hop with a message. One of the themes on the album is that he is a hip hop revolutionary. There are several skits that play up this with the government hot on his heels.

Rhymefest is forced to leave the country due to the Hip Hop he creates. His real name is Che Smith. (Hence the title of his album.) I wanted to create a piece to not only pay homage to Rhymefest but also this masterful album. My first thought was to juxtapose his image with the iconic image of Che Guevara. I wanted to create a illustration that screamed hip hop revolutionary. I wanted a gritty and painterly look for this one too. The palette knife didn't seem appropriate for this.


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Speed Painting: Beats Solo HD

I am a gigantic Hip Hop head. For Christmas my Mom got me an expensive pair of Beats by Dre headphones. Sorry Apple but those ear buds just don't cut it. Aside from the sound quality I love the design of headphones too. Just before I left work last week I started a quick painting of them. The style I had in mind was the one I used for my Mom's tamales. I've been coloring my comic book exclusively for weeks now so it's nice to switch it up too.


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