Monday 21 November 2016

'Cuppa' by Selina Nwulu


Cuppa
April 30, 2016



Put the kettle on.
I’m not being funny but he’s well fit
no, you don’t understand
they’re all sinking in the Mediterranean sea
I’m actually speaking objectively here
our borders have become dense and long
it’s more an observation really
his face is near symmetrical
and their ships have burst into splints
it’s hypnotising
the sea is bloated with people’s limbs
it’s post attraction really
I’m appreciating him as a work of art
their memories did not make it either
well, of course I wouldn’t say no!
they’re all sinking in the Mediterranean sea
but that’s not the point
anyway, we still going out Friday?
watch how the bubbles float and pop.
Kettle’s boiled.

By - Selina Nwulu

Monday 3 October 2016

Art Challenges



The Albatross

It's been a long time since I've been able to do one of these! Here's my third Inktober drawing. The rest can be found on my twitter - @GreenEwan


Tuesday 23 August 2016

Mama Can't Raise No Man




Mama Can't Raise No Man will be published with a huge launch at the Hackney Empire on the 27th September, and can be preordered - here. The details of the artists performing live at the event are on the same website. 





At first, I included some explorations of compositions, and different ways to show the idea. After one was chosen I fleshed it out, and after one more round of feedback, I began drawing the final image.






I cycled around Richmond for a while, taking reference shots from suitably knobbly trees, to evoke the idea in the brief that the character has grown up wrong in the absence of a father-figure, and settled on this Horse Chestnut. I also took some grass for the base. 

For the colours, my brief was to include the Pan-African flag colours of green, black, and red. This would be a little tricky, as the flag colours weren't very naturalistic, but after checking out what they symbolised, I figured we could use the figures and tree to stand for black and green, and the text could have the red. Here's the explanation from wikipedia - 


"The Universal Negro Catechism, published by the UNIA in 1921, refers to the colors of the flag meaning:[6]
Red is the color of the blood which men must shed for their redemption and liberty; black is the color of the noble and distinguished race to which we belong; green is the color of the luxuriant vegetation of our Motherland."

 It was an absolute pleasure to work on this cover. I really hope it helps Robyn get as much exposure as he deserves. He's an inspiring guy, not least because he's not one for waiting around for people to come and find his book. -




Finally, the back cover. This book sounds awesome!






Friday 3 June 2016

Prisoner to the Streets




This is the cover I designed for the republication of Prisoner to the Streets. It was commissioned to celebrate the publication of his new novel Mama Can't Raise No Man, which is coming in September! 

This was a real team effort with the author Robyn and our publisher Crystal, and after a lot of back and forth I'm super proud of the final result. 

Thursday 3 March 2016

Vancouver Science World




Thanks Kendra and Cody for an awesome day at Science World! The staff had never seen someone scrutinise the human arm for so long. At one point we were standing around this poor woman, everyone with their sleeves rolled up, trying to match muscles with a real disembodied human arm. I have so little pigment in my skin, I may as well have been an exhibit.