ARTIST SHOWCASE
The artist showcase was engineered to display extremely talented artists trying to make their mark on the world of art, through their own original avenues. These artist have been inspired by various mediums and have used those inspirations to create works of art with substance and personal meaning. Each of these artist have been interviewed and asked an assortment of questions to reveal what keeps their passion thriving to develop new projects.
Name: Greg Magezi
Age: 22
Where: London, UK
Art Type: Visual (Referenced & Imagination)
Q: What kind of people or things inspire your art?
A: Anything can inspire my art. From watching a movie, to having a random conversation with a stranger.
Q: Describe your visual concepts and how you come up with new ideas?
A: When it comes to referencing, the references have to look dope. Meaning the way they are posed, whats being worn, the angle at which the picture was taken from, even the facial expressions have to be taken into consideration for me to decide to draw it. When it comes to drawing with only my imagination, I grab my inspiration for the experiences I go through on a daily basis.
Q: Is your artwork something you do for fun or is it your profession?
A: Art used to be something I did for fun but now I’m in the process of making my career path.
Q: What keeps you motivated and why do you continue to produce new art?
A: If I could describe it, it feels like I’ve got an entire universe in my head and art is the medium to which I can express these thoughts/feelings. The more I draw or the better I get, the more that can be expressed. That’s what keeps the fire burning.
Q: If you could hang out with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
A: What would you guys do? Either Michael Jackson or Tupac Shakur, just having a conversation or getting something to eat would be enough.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: Owning my own animation studio/company, creating some of the craziest projects with my team. Solidifying my name in the art industry.
Q: What do you want people to take away or learn from your artwork?
A: I want people to feel the energy that I’m trying to portray. Once they understand that, I’ve done my job.
Most of Greg's work can be seen on his Instagram page @oOGregg_
Sample of Greg's Work
Name: Durty (Durty Art)
Age: 27
Where: Pittsburgh, PA
Art Type: Urban Artist
Q: How did you get started in this art form?
A: I got started in this form of art by a close friend of mine saying “Try doing stencils, you already paint in concept, just use stencils”. From there on out I’ve been making my own stencils. I use spray paint cause I like the way it lays on the canvas, and how it looks when the piece is completed, it has the urban feel to it.
Q: Describe your visual concepts and how you come up with new ideas?
A: My visual concept is an urban style. I’m a hip hop head so I tend to do more hip hop related art and artists. I have done a vast amount of portraits of hip hop figures, from Tupac to Chuck D to Eyedea to Aesop Rock. I’ve also been known to place gas masks on childhood figures, like Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat, and Hobbes. This, in my mind is protecting the innocence of my childhood from all the bullshit that goes on in the world.
The way that I come up with new ideas is through the music that I listen to. There are certain lyrics that just strike the creative side in me and I start to visually see an image that I think goes with the lyric or the song. Also, my mood can reflect my creativity, if I’m happy I can create a nice happy style painting, if I’m pissed you’ll see a more angry style of art.
Q: In three words, describe your character.
A: Passionate, determined, hip hop
Q: What advice would you give to other up and coming artist?
A: I would say to them this – Do it all on your own terms, go against the grain and make the connections you want to be associated with. Don’t drink the water, be yourself and do it your way. Don’t take “NO” for an answer, if you want to get your art viewed, then go out and make it happen. Study your audience and connect with them. With the growth of social media make sure you respond to people who comment on your posts, including the compliments and the hate. There will be a time when you get hate mail, always respond to those as well, use them as motivation.
Q: Do you have a favorite project or piece of artwork that you have created? Why is it more special than the others?
A: I actually have two. One is a called the “The Friendly Beast” it’s a painting of a large gorilla and little girl holding a banana in front of him. It shows the innocence of children and how they look at people. They don’t judge them before they get to know them. They tend to like everyone unless they have a reason not to. The other one is one that I did of Hobbes in a gas mask going towards another Hobbes in a gas mask. It’s call “Personal Conflict”. It’s almost like a self painting, it’s me dealing with my own personal issues that I have.
Q: What separates you from other artist? What makes your artwork different?
A: What separates me? I’m consistent, I move fast and I’m hungry. I’m very determined, not saying that others aren’t, but I work at getting my vison out there. I want everyone to see how I see things, even if they don’t agree, I want them to see it. My work is different cause I try to stay challenging myself and be more diverse. I’m not just an artist that does portraits, or landscapes, or abstract, or whatever. I’m trying new things, and keeping my style the same. I’m always trying new techniques to improve as an artist, and put out the best that I can.
Q: Do you ever get tired of creating new projects?
A: Not at all. That’s the fun part of this. Setting up the idea, and seeing it played out. Nothing is better than seeing your vision come to life.
Q: What do you want people to take away or learn from your artwork?
A: I want people to take away from my art feeling the same passion as I did making it. I want them to feel inspired and challenged at the same time. I want people to think about the mood that I was in when I painted it, what I was thinking when I painted it. I want them to see that we all have a comfort zone and that I went against mine.
You check out and follow Durty's work on the following social networks and website!
Instagram: @durtyart
Twitter: @durtyart
Sample of Durty's Work
Name: Howard Coolin
Age: 27
Where: Houston, TX
Art Type: Graffiti Art, Digital Art, Clothes Design
Q: How did you get started in this art form?
A: I've always been an artist since I can remember. I began doing graffiti my senior year in high school.
Q: Describe your visual concepts and how you come up with new ideas?
A: I usually derive alot of my influence from 80s and 90s pop culture, mixed with a modern street flavor. I design my characters in a child like fashion but push mature themes for a twist.
Q: What kind of people, places or things inspire your art?
A: Open minded people elaboraterate cultures inspire my bright color pallete. My mature twist on my characters is inspired by my inner voice. The voice everyone has inside there head that says "this chick is so (bleeping) annoying" when what really comes out is,"Sure I want company ". I illustrate that voice.
Q: Do you have any other hobbies? What are they?
A: I produce hip hop music and upload regularly to YouTube.
Q: Is your artwork something you do for fun or is it your profession?
A: I do 95% of my art for fun. If I didn't do art i would probably explode lol.
Q: Who is your favorite cartoon character or show of all time?
A: Favorite cartoon show of all time has to be the 90s Xmen. Favorite cartoon character is probably Stewie from family guy.
Q: What keeps you motivated and why do you continue to produce new art?
A: The love of art and the overwhelming positive feedback keeps me creating new and more challenging art.
Q: What separates you from other artist? What makes your artwork different?
A: I think my unique style of graffiti characters and blunt twist to a toonist look keeps me separated from other great artist.
Q: If you could hang out with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
A: What would you guys do? Probably Malcom X. I'm not religious or real hard equality fighter, I just love to hear great speakers speak. And I feel he was one of, if not the best speaker of the 20th century.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: Raising my awesome sons and gifting great art to the world.
You can find most of Howard's work on Instagram @Howard_Coolin
Sample of Howard's Work
Name: Q (QonceptTheAlmighty)
Age: 23
Where: Atlanta, GA
Art: Multimedia
Q: How did you get started in this art form?
A: I've been a traditional artist since I was 3. I began using markers when I was about 12 and digital art at about 15.
Q: Do you have any other hobbies? What are they?
A: Yes, I really enjoy doing music and designing fashion outside of just graphic tees. I'm actually in the process of learning how to sew to create personal items for my brand.
Q: What advice would you give to other up and coming artist?
A: Keep drawing and understand that you will never master art you will always have something to learn.
Q: Do you have a favorite project or piece of artwork that you have created?
A: Why is it more special than the others? My favorite piece so far is a piece I call Game6. It depicts my character doing Jordan’s infamous dunk. I created it as a present to myself as I turned 23.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: I see myself being a very successful artist in all aspects of the word and really inspiring others to create.
Q: What keeps you motivated and why do you continue to produce new art?
A: I just want to be inspiring and I can't help but create.
Q: What separates you from other artist? What makes your artwork different?
A: The way I go about creating and the way I blend. Some artists love the hard shadows I love gradient like graduation.
Q: Do you ever get tired of creating new projects?
A: At times I do, so I take some time to create another way like writing music or poetry.
You can find most of Q's work on Instagram @qonceptthealmighty
Sample of Q's Work
