4.25.2005

Illustration Friday: Daring


The Heavens. That's what graff writers call the freeway billboards. To "hit the heavens," means to get your name up on one of these incredibly high signs. I've seen some mad painting done on some of the highest signs in Atlanta before, and I honestly don't know how they do it. Talk about daring. It's crazy.

All for the sake of getting your name up.

19 comments:

  1. I like what you did with the colours.

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  2. love your linework and the colours.

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  3. Wow! I think this is your best submission yet! Seriously. It's that great! I can't stop looking. Hats off to you, Ward Jenkins. You amaze me.

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  4. Wicked man! It definitely reflects your work with the moving image. It is really telling a story. I thinhk it would be cool to see this fleshed out in an animated short...

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  5. Very nice; imaginative use of color. The sky and lights are my favorite

    I guess my graffiti career would be confined to stuff I could reach from the ground, I don't think I would want to climb one of those billboards.

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  6. Thanks, guys. Glad you like it. Funny, I didn't use the pastel brush this go 'round.

    And James, I have thought about doing a piece on graffiti, but it's perpetually "in the works." I was hoping that people would get the story here, that there's two distinct panels. Sometimes my initial concept gets lost when I finally execute it.

    And Jason, I don't blame you. All my graff work has been down on the earth. My feeling is that my life is more important than gaining notoriety or fame.

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  7. Ward;
    this one I looked at twice, and had a different reaction both times. I must confess that at first glance I thought the person was female, mistaking the hood for a long head of graphic hair. Upon closer inspection, I realized my error. My comment is this: I actually liked the piece MORE when I thought the he was a she. Don't ask me why, it just seemed even more compelling. This is just an emotional response, hopefully not some sort of latent sexism, I think. Nice stuff, though.

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  8. i like the use of those colours - the greens and browns - such nice hues. They bring out a warmth to the subject.

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  9. nice technique! good choice of colors! bout the article.. yep.. i'll do the same thing if that's my ultimate goal.. ey, drop by sometime - anthony.i.ph
    ciao!

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  10. Wow..I like the colors and idea .. very nice illo..
    have a great week!

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  11. Nice visuals and shadow work. I like the idea of a close-up view of the perpetrator.

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  12. Very cool, really like the mood of this. Great stuff!

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  13. you know I love this... and as much I love your graff pieces, I appreciate the fact that you put your family before climbing a billboard to paint. it would be cool to see one your characters looming over the downtown connector, though.

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  14. Ditto, Robert Pope. I thought it was a female at first and was intrigued. Liked it best that way. But either way it's awesome. Cate

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  15. composition, color, idea, oh my ! how do you make it look sooooo easy ?!!!

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  16. Aw Ward, why'd you have to go and make it a brotha?

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  17. I really like the monochrome colour here! And like a few others, I thought it was a girl at first...

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  18. First, big thanks to all of you for your compliments. Makes me all gushy inside.

    As for Robert's and Cate's replies, umm, I can't see what you're talking about since I drew it knowing that it was a guy with a hoodie, so I wish I could respond accordingly. Sorry.

    Don, I'm so glad you brought it up. (Really!) I did not create this character with the idea that he was black. If you check out some of my own graffiti work (go here, here, and here), you'll see that I do not actually depict a certain race to my characters. As I started creating and developing this certain style of character when I began to do graffiti, I realized that these guys became "mirrors" to whomever viewed them. That they could seem almost like a visual Everyman, where the viewer could possibly see themselves in them. (See me here.) I would like to think that, yes, there is a little bit of ethnicity in the characters that I design, but they are merely mirrors to the guys that I hung out with when we'd go out and paint.

    I plan on talking more about this in a future post about my graffiti experiences, as well as a post about character design.

    I appreciate your comment, Don. And I'm loving your blog, by the way!

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  19. Wow, those are fantastic. What a great thing in that wall card for your wife. My wife would fall apart if I did something like that. Course, I would too. I think I'll show your wall to my wife, and tell her thats what Id do for you if I had time. Think I'd earn any love points? Did you just find a public wall and start painting, do you project an image up onto the wall. Your character developement is great.

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