THOM YORKE FROM RADIOHEAD

I can't lie, I'm a pretty big Radiohead fan. OK, their songs won't be the first to be played on a grey Monday morning, that's for sure. But when it comes to creating beautiful music that actually touches you, they definitely get a standing salute from me. 'The bends' and 'Ok computer' will always sit pretty in my top 10 favourite albums of all time.

In regards to this painting, I've been stopping and starting with it for a good 2 weeks now ('man flu' and other projects are mainly to blame). But fortunately I finally had a chance to sit down and complete it last night. I think it looks pretty cool, hope you do too. :)

Magazine Commission.

These were for EMEL Muslim lifestyle magazine. They just started a new sports section, and commissioned me to paint caricatures of various sports personalities once a month as part of it. So far I've done three. Pretty cool for the portfolio. Always a good feeling when you get to see your work officially printed and published.
Hopefully this will be the start of many more magazine opportunities.

Mark and his fiance Naomi

My former work colleague Mark. A cool guy, he gave me a lot of great advice. This pic was for his wedding invitations.

MALCOLM X

One of the last great leaders.

"I saw all races, all colors, blue eyed blonds to black skinned Africans in true brotherhood! In unity! Living as one! Worshiping as one! No segregationists, no liberals; they would not have known how to interpret the meaning of those words"

"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole."

Malcolm X

ARSENE WENGER

Yeeeeaaaah, I'm a big Arsenal fan....Haters hold your gums.
For those that might not know, this talented old man is Arsene Wenger, legendary manager of Arsenal football club (soccer).

To date this is still my favourite piece of artwork. Not so much because of the finished result, but mainly because of the feeling while doing it.

It was one of those rare effortless moments where I just zoned out 100% into a pure and complete sense of focus. Didn't feel worried about losing likeness while exaggerating, or under/over using values, everything just .... flowed (Cheesy, I know. Lol). Came out pretty neat too. New years resolution....Need to get that vibe on a regular basis.

Jason 'WAN-CEE'

This pic is of my old multi-talented uni friend, Jason. Dude is a film maker, spoken word poet, rapper (Under the name Wan-Cee), and possibly one of the most confident people I've ever met.
Unfortunately this was another digi painting where I learned that exaggeration of features without permission, won't always bring praise from the subject. Lol.

DARREN.

This one is of my good friend Darren. How this guy is not on TV for his comedy talents, I'll never know. He's one of those rare gifted people who can deliver hilarious lines of the top of his head, with effortless comic timing.

GRAMPSY

Yep, this is a digi painting of my beloved grandma. Posted it on my Facebook page a while ago, and actually recieved a lot of praise for it. Sadly though, gramps is not a fan. Should've known straight away from her forced polite smile when I showed it to her.
But the killer blow was over hearing her saying to my mum (With her sweet Jamaican accent), 'Look wat di bwoi did to mi nose'.

BUGGIN OUT

This one is of a character named 'Buggin Out' from Spike Lee's brilliant, 'Do The Right Thing'. If you haven't already seen this movie i definitely recommend it. Powerful as well as entertaining viewing.
'Buggin Out' wasn't particularly one of my favourite characters from the film, but I really loved the expressive, somewhat iconic, black and white reference photo of him. I was pretty pleased with how the finished result came out too (a rare thing), mainly because it was one of my first attempts at digitally painting. Definitely plan to print it onto a few T shirts one day.

A few pencil sketches

Just a few pencil sketches, some of friends, and one of the Godfather of soul, mr. J B. :)