Hello people of planet earth!
This is my latest drawing. I don't have any progress shot's of it so I'll have to resort to words in order to give an idea of it's conception.
My musical obsessions are intense and wide ranging. The stuff I really dig becomes becomes a vital part of who I am, fueling my existence, stimulating the creativity glands. I've gotta know everything about it. I'll embark on an impossible quest to discover everything good within a genre. It's usually limitless! One style of music often blends seamlessly into another. The rabbit hole tunnels into unreachable depths.
Lately, I've been seriously getting in to old-school dub reggae. The roots. During the 70's some absolute legends down in Jamaica were smoking up major herb, expanding their minds, and pumping out some of the most blissful life-praising sounds ever imagined.
Engineering pioneers such as Lee Perry and King Tubby were changing the whole production game by making groovy instrumentals with a strong emphasis on drum and bass, potent melodies, and trippy effects. It's not often appreciated that this small community of high individuals are responsible for influencing an astounding amount of music that we all know and love. Whether it's techno, punk rock, hip hop or anything in between, the lineage to Jamaican dub sounds and recording techniques runs strong. And, by the way, the tunes are just pure good vibes!
So, coming from this place of love and gratitude, I was obviously stoked when a client reached out and commissioned a reggae themed drawing. I was elated. They specifically asked for dub vibes with some sort of interplay between the money-hungry greedy establishment and a more openhearted way of life. The Rastafarian way of life is all about cultivating love and returning to the ways of the earth. I knew from the start that I wanted to draw an elder Rasta priest to represent the side of good. For the other stuff I just started doodling, cause my art is naturally quite dark and freaky anyway. I just made sure to through some dollar signs in there. Obviously money is just a tool and is neither inherently bad nor good. I guess it's more a critique of corrupt individuals who aquire wealth at the expense of their fellow humans and planet.
Usually I let the art fall directly out of my mind in anyway it wants to. That was still the case for most of this piece except for the Rasta Love Wizard. For him, I used as a reference this album cover from one of my favourite dub groups, whos 'African Dub' chapters 1 through 4 are the epitome of this beautiful style of music, in my opinion. I would recommend checking it out if you feel like acquiring some peace of mind.
It's fun to challenge myself by drawing something from an external source every now and again. I'm too stubborn to use a pencil so it usually ends up being quite warped and different which I actually like.
As much as I would love to ramble about these things forever, I think I'll leave it at that. Hopefully the art has enough to say for itself.
Thank you for looking and much love!
Oh, the colour was added as a final step with Posca paint pens, in case anyone was wondering. The person who asked me to create this was pleased with the outcome too. So happy days and much gratitude to them for the spark of inspiration.
Peace.
