s i k u: d r e a m - w e a v e r

narrative designer: artist: theologian: writer: musician: creative director
Download my Portfolio or browse my Portfolio Browse my folio quickly here...

... you see, I don't want to bore you to death, but honestly... you'll have more fun following my treasure trail.

Media, Clients, Crimson angels and the Cerulean floor

TV

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I got featured on BBC's Breakfast News, painting a mural live on C4's Big Breakfast Show. A childhood hero of mine was on set... Grandmaster Flash! My manga work was featured on More 4's evening news and Chris Moyles' show on Channel 5 gave me the chance to save the audience from electric shocks by winning a game... I lost the game and the crowd duly got electrocuted... then I found out I had been played. They were not electrocuted.. the whole audience and crew played me!

US press

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I got a call at 3 in the morning from an in-law of mine. He was on a flight back to Washington and bought an issue of The New York Times. I think he nearly choked on his croissant as he came across the spread with my interview! Now, this is the truth I tell you; the night before, in London, he was making fun of my book, The Manga Bible... that same book would be featured in his favourite newspaper only hours later.

UK press

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My work on samurising Jesus took the press by storm. at one point, I was doing 35 interviews on radio, internet, press and TV (at one point, I performed 10 interviews in one morning). Only two nationals are featured here.

Brazil &Denmark

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My wife is from Brazil. So when she took the call from some journalist from Brazil, they began to speak Portuguese. When he found out she was from São Paulo (his base), things really began to spark. They ended up doing a feature on me and... my wife.

Some of my clients

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Solving my client's problems is like wrestling with crimson angels. I never give up. I always think there is an answer to any problem.

Public speaking

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It is said that your gifts will place you before kings. I regularly give talks on contemporary culture and interpretation at Eton College including speeches to academics at The Queen's Foundation at Queen's College at Birmingham and Greenbelt. It's like standing on the cerulean sapphire floor of God's throne room. The prophet Ezekiel talks about this place and I imagine that; to stand before kings and queens is like some rehearsal to standing before God.

The Projects: case studies


The Baishe Kings

The Baishe Kings are a new left-field Hip hop collective signed to Big Dada. They needed avatars and a comic strip to launch their band's identity. The south London septuplet also wanted a non-hip hop look, so graffiti styled art was out of the question.

My solution was the manga chibi look with Baishe Kings' 4 colour house style and pulp print look. They thought it was 'swaishe'!

'The Baishe Kings' comments on Siku here..'


The Baishe Kings


Mark Evans' Robots

Mark is a great artist. He works in leathers by scrapping upper layers for a monochromatic tonal effect. Simply put, he produces photo-real drawings in leather!

He wanted New York's Manhattan buildings shaped in robot form. The idea is inspired by the 'If you can make it in NY, you can make it anywhere' concept. The robot represents the challenges posed by Gotham the giant vs. the little person with vision and faith.

I am currently developing more robots and a new project with Mark.

 

'Mark's comments on Siku here.''


Mark Evans


BBC's Atlantis

Tony Mitchell, director of Atlantis wanted the 300 look for this big budget docudrama. That's why he roped me in. He wanted comic book framing for his cinematographer. Mitch and I were locked in a BBC boardroom in Belfast, N. Ireland for two weeks, sketching storyboards, discussing art, wives, philosophy and religion.

The extreme angles you see in comic books only work in films on a conceptual level. They will not work on a merely cosmetic level.

 


'Siku is a rare find - an incredibly talented individual who works in a very demanding industry and still manages to have a fantastic sense of humour. He has a tireless approach to his work and always strives to delivery what the client wants. His breadth and ability as an artist seems never-ending. He creates breath taking, imaginative imagery, but his true strength is in telling a great story. Working with Siku is always both fun and productive in equal measures.'


Tony Mitchell

Director of atlantis

 



Evil Genius

Think of a James Bond spoof. Now, invert the theme so that your story isn't about the super agent but about super baddies, their hench personnel and minions. This game glorifies all the things we love about evil geniuses; the secret mountain lair, gadgets, triumphant speeches and maniacal laughter, the endless supply of minions and their sociopathic-psychopathic hench persons.

Well, I got to work on a game that puts the player in charge of evil genius type characters. They come in three flavours; Blofeld type, Emperor Ming type and Dynasty's Alexis template. You were expected to build your evil empire culminating with the overtaking of the U.N. On the way, you'll have to do battle with secret agents assigned to bring your empire to destruction; Bruce Lee's, Van Damme's and Bonds all have a go.

At this time I was Elixir Studio's Visuals Director, so I came on board developing a total art style with lead artist Brian Gilles.. This was what we came up with; a retro look from the 60s.

 

'Siku has three unusual talents: 1)Versatility. He can take a brief and create four or five very different interpretations.

2)Breadth of imagination. Siku doesn't do derivative.

3)Attitude. I've never met a more ego-less artist. He doesn't take criticism personally, is immaculately professional and always has a smile on his face. I have no hesitation in recommending him.


Joe McDonaugh

Director at Blue Manchu Games

Portfolio with LightBox: Rebel Origin

  • Thetis


    This is my most evolved CG painting technique... to be developed further.

  • Statix


    He overlooks NYC... he overlooks humanity... he is it's protector.

  • Statix


    That Statix looks like Rebel Origin's creator is by no means deliberate.

  • Sample strip art


    Atmospheric and painterly spread is a sample Rebel Origin's look..

  • Silver


    Close portrait of one of the guardian masters.

  • Silverbird


    Short description for this Portfolio item.

  • Gargamoth


    One of the seven masters rendered in dry brush technique... simulated.

  • Cityscape


    An early concept for Rebel Origin. Still working on environment designs.

Working with Mark Evans & my Secret Project

  • Cityrobot


    Believe it or not, but this is one of Mark's rejects...

  • Robot New York


    This one was rendered in leather. Mark adds a boy on a roof... the skies opening.

  • Robot New York reboot


    ...so I put Mr. Robot in a different scene and comp... homage to Astroboy.

  • Robot New York comp


    The sketch, the inked drawing and the finish.

  • Project X


    Working with Footprint Films and Full Measures Films on this..

  • Project X- The Hand


    Can't even tell you what's going on here... not yet.

  • Jump


    Still firming up a style for this project. Still not sure of this yet.

  • Rock turns


    Anime styled concept here. this works but I am going for another solution.

Personal projects

  • Confidence


    12 paintings, 12 songs, based on 12 clusters of verses from Psalm 27.

  • Psalm 27:7


    Part of the Psalm 27 collection for giclee print and nationwide exhibition.

  • Psalm 27:8


    This one's to be printed on metal. The rustic looks simulates soil.

  • Comped


    4 paintings from the series comped to demonstrate how themes are linked.

  • Rouge State


    Cover art for a story concept I wrote. It remains undeveloped.

  • King of kings


    Privately commissioned. The painting would become a family coat of arms.

  • BV


    A quick sketch done for the film director, Tony Mitchell.

  • Bunyans'


    I pitched Pilgrims Progress to Hodder. Here's the cover for the pitch doc.

Drink It! I have invented a bible course... 'Bruce Lee meets Miles Davis meets The Bomb meets Jesus, style!'

  • Drink It!


    All the prophets are eating stuff handed to them by angelic beings!

  • Picture Perfect


    How do you read? Sequentially or do you read the picture as a whole?

  • Ronin Gospel


    Telling the story of the gospel... Samurai style.

  • Ronin Gospel again


    The Samurai Jesus comes to village held by a vicious crim baron.

  • Hitchcock presents


    I enlisted the help of one of the greatest story tellers of all time.

  • Story


    Story is the stuff that human beings are made up of..

  • What genre?


    A game you could play while reading ancient works; an interpretation tool.

  • Mr. Goodblood Pt. II


    A red blood cell is the star of this short story of the nature of Redemption.

Video games: Evil Genius & American Dream

  • EG


    The three evil genius avatars assemble for a photo set.

  • Alexis


    Brilliant. Beautiful... even alluring. Witty and entertaining. Evil.

  • Colonel Blackheart


    One of the last designed for EG. He's something from the Victorian age.

  • EG poster


    Our 'Bond' up against the evil genius and his henchmen.

  • EG poster + sculpture


    I sculpted a figure for the 3D artists as a point of reference for the surfaces.

  • Elias & Freak


    DOING HENCHMEN IS SO COOL! We had a great time doing these guys.

  • American Dream group


    The first characters designed for the game American Dream is assembled.

  • Cowboy c/u


    I love this concept art. Not a fan of the house style agreed, but I like this guy.

Nickelodeon, glossy magazines and Dot Robot

  • Vowels


    A series of paintings for digital insertion into a live shot. I never did see the finished product, but I made a small gif file here to see what it could have looked like projected onto a wall.

  • Rubbish Man


    We created this for Nickelodeon. Such a great idea, it should be a series.

  • Graffiti roughs


    Sketches of stuff prior to design. These are what we call 'warm up exercises'.

  • Graffiti


    For your pleasure; a single full image of one of the final paintings.

  • Men's Health


    With respect to GTA promo illustrations.

  • Twisted


    One of the first expressions of a new style I was working on years ago.

  • Zoo


    Magazine strip done in the 2000AD style.

  • Dot Robot


    From Jason Bradbury's techno-thriller trilogy series.

2000AD

  • Ichabod


    ...isn't the first time 2000AD would use a religious concept. Won't be the last.

  • Deadlock


    This was when lots of us were just beginning to use computers.

  • Slaine


    Cover to the only Slaine series I ever did.

  • Dredd Fetish


    Messianic cover with Dredd as some sort of Christ.

  • Dredd helmet


    Personal painting during the beginnings of computer paintings.

  • Slaine page


    Slaine. If Pat Mills ever wrote me an appropriate script... I'd do it.

  • Sinister & Dexter


    When I wasn't doing Dredd, David (Ed.) would hand me this strip for a while.

  • Dredd page


    My final strip for Dredd. It was wonderful doing this strip.

2000AD extra

  • Ichabod Total


    Cover plus sketches sent to Matt (Ed.) for approval/comments.

  • Dredd cover


    I redesigned' Dredd's helmet &uniform. Soon, other artists were copying it.

  • Dredd page


    The last Dredd strip... this time flat colours.

  • Dredd spread


    My Dredd career began with full paintings... by the end, I would be inking.

  • Telguuth


    This strip became mine. Every Telguuth strip came my way for first refusal.

  • Scromyx


    2000AD were at their best when they mixed satire with black comedy.

  • Sinister & Dexter


    My stint on this well loved strip was short. Soon I'd be doing Dredd again.

  • Judge Chris Moyles


    I did this for Chris Moyles for his Channel 5 evening show. Nice guy.

Children's books

  • 11


    From the Alien Invaders' series. Page numbers are titles.

  • 52


    2010/11 it felt like every UK children's book publisher wanted to hire me.

  • Takeshita Demons


    Cover for book three in the series. Nice set of books.

  • 174


    More manga styles here as my reputation for manga grows.

  • 10


    From the same series. Wish the greys could have been done differently.

  • LS


    The creator of 'Friends and Heroes' came to me for this development.

  • LS2


    Page spread of our pitch. I had designed some main characters prior.

  • CG characters


    My character sheet for the publishers of this project.

Atlantis storyboards & Wuthering Heights

  • Atlantis storyboard 1


    Samples of the work produced locked away at BBC's meeting room in Belfast.

  • Atlantis storyboard 2


    I kept thinking in film mode, but the director wanted my comic book brain...

  • Atlantis storyboard 3


    Comic book comps are truncated , but this what Mitch wanted...

  • Atlantis storyboard 4


    Eventually I stopped thinking film, and started thinking comic book.

  • Wuthering Heights


    A privilege to be involved in restating British culture for the 21st century.

  • WH concept


    Roughs of a style influenced by my one and a half year on EG. Resemblance?

  • WH 12


    A sample spread that demonstrates the morbid claustrophobia of WH.

  • WH spread


    Bleak House. The wind swept moors of Yorkshire: perfect setting for this story..

Video games II: Alien Agency et al

  • Hurakkan


    The best aliens I ever did! I will return to an update on these guys.

  • Face


    We were planning a manga video game. I really enjoyed doing the manga style.

  • Dragonalien


    More incarnations of my favourite aliens.

  • Gargantua


    I believe this was from the video game, Alpha.

  • Pyrite


    An NPC from another video game. Painted in acrylics.

  • Fantasy action


    Pencils! Part of my job as Visuals Director was to inspire the team...

  • Image Title


    ... inspiring the team with great, energetic draftsmanship.

  • Hurakkan all


    Put them together for a picture.

    Nice.

Video games III: Alien Agency & Alpha

  • Fantasy Indigo


    Medieval age inspired science fiction.

  • Generic terrorist


    I suggested producing styles unique to every game produced at Elixir Studios.

  • Alien Agency character


    The first character we developed for the game.

  • Hurakkan weapon


    I would love to take this somewhere else. Nice beginning...

  • Alpha group


    My first game for Elixir. The first time we started stylising everything.

  • Alpha group


    Alpha was very 2000AD. Very unlike manga with a brit-punkish attitude.

  • Albino


    If he looks like he could be gay, that's because I designed so.

  • Stretcher


    These robots would populate the arena caring after fallen gladiators.

Manga 'Passion': An outdoor exhibition

  • Stations


    An outdoor exhibition in the heart of London; Charing cross.

  • Manga Passion


    My art was printed on canvas and framed. Thousands viewed it...

  • Stations 2


    A sample of how I conceive Jesus' angst in the Olive Grove as his trial neared.

  • Stations 7


    This Libyan is forced to help. If you were the Libyan, what do you say to Jesus?

  • Stations 8


    My irreverent 2000AD approach brought to bear...

  • Stations 10


    This is is, peeps. Finished. Done. Wrapped up. Mission accomplished...

  • Stations 3


    The betrayer approaches... with a whole battalion... a whole battalion for me?

  • Manga Passion cover


    After exhibiting here and in the States, we put the stuff into a book.

The Manga Bible and Manga Jesus books

  • The Manga Bible NT


    This has to be one of the most influential covers in Graphic Novels.

  • The Manga Bible OT/NT


    And this comes a close second. People kept coming into the shops to enquire.

  • NDOA 4


    The angel approaches... I endeavoured to do this in the most unreligious way.

  • TMB spread


    Wars. Pillaging. Killing and human sacrifice... that's it, God's had enough!

  • TMB PG


    PG! The cities came with giants... Moses thought it of no disadvantage.

  • The Manga Jesus


    One of my best pages... ever! Ever, ever? Yeah, ever.

  • TMJ cover 1


    Sweet little book. We did three of these thematic covers.

  • TMJ cover 2


    The second in the series. The books would be collected into a one volume.

Siku

The 411 on Siku: The Artist


Siku—artist, author, theologian and musician— is one of Britain’s leading comic book/concept artists having worked for 2000AD; producing titles such as Judge Dredd, Slaine and a strip he co-created called Pan-African Judges. He has also worked for Marvel UK and COM X.
In his role as Visuals Director of Elixir Studios in London, Siku has been credited on a number of computer games such as Evil Genius which won IGN’s Most Innovative Design award. He has been developing concept work for TV commercials and producing network identity and promos work for Nickelodeon. Siku’s writing and art is also featured in professional industry bibles such as The Best of British Illustrators, The Art of Game Worlds, The Art of Game Characters, Digital Art Masters volumes I and II, and the definitive Comic Art Now.

The Author


He has appeared on TV interviews with ITV’s The London Program, Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast while painting a mural in 2 hours live on air in 2002. He also appeared on Channel 5’s Chris Moyles Show, Gloria Hunniford’s Heaven and Earth Show and with several national radio shows including Jeremy Vine’s radio show, TV News interviews by the BBC News and More 4 News. International press interviews include New York Times and National Geographic. He is the author and creator of the best selling The Manga Bible which is translated into 16 languages and the author of The Manga Jesus. Recently, Siku has been experimenting with narrative preaching (preaching while painting) while producing a new anime series on the life of Christ and a visual art/commentary project and solo music album on Psalm 27. He was also consultant on BBC’s ground breaking docudrama, Atlantis.
Besides executively co-producing The Manga Jesus anime series, Siku is writing a series of theological fiction novels.

The Public Speaker


Siku is also a public speaker and teacher, regularly giving speeches at Eton College and given talks to academics at The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham about his work on contemporary art, hermeneutics and rhetoric. He most recently is concluding the creation of the world’ first bible study graphic novel titled, Drink It! It is the product of a 'liquid' reading technique innovation Siku calls, ‘graphic theology’.
He is currently listed as one of London’s most noted blacks in the book; Black Londoners- A History.
Siku is married to Bell and ‘works’ from his Tardis in Essex with a bronzedcrunchyafrolock-haired six year old kid who thinks daddy actually works.

My resume

This is how you get me

You may contact me by email.


Siku:

siku@theartofsiku.com

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