... you see, I don't want to bore you to death, but honestly... you'll have more fun following my treasure trail.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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..'
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.''
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
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
This is my most evolved CG painting technique... to be developed further.
He overlooks NYC... he overlooks humanity... he is it's protector.
That Statix looks like Rebel Origin's creator is by no means deliberate.
Atmospheric and painterly spread is a sample Rebel Origin's look..
Close portrait of one of the guardian masters.
Short description for this Portfolio item.
One of the seven masters rendered in dry brush technique... simulated.
An early concept for Rebel Origin. Still working on environment designs.
Believe it or not, but this is one of Mark's rejects...
This one was rendered in leather. Mark adds a boy on a roof... the skies opening.
...so I put Mr. Robot in a different scene and comp... homage to Astroboy.
The sketch, the inked drawing and the finish.
Working with Footprint Films and Full Measures Films on this..
Can't even tell you what's going on here... not yet.
Still firming up a style for this project. Still not sure of this yet.
Anime styled concept here. this works but I am going for another solution.
12 paintings, 12 songs, based on 12 clusters of verses from Psalm 27.
Part of the Psalm 27 collection for giclee print and nationwide exhibition.
This one's to be printed on metal. The rustic looks simulates soil.
4 paintings from the series comped to demonstrate how themes are linked.
Cover art for a story concept I wrote. It remains undeveloped.
Privately commissioned. The painting would become a family coat of arms.
A quick sketch done for the film director, Tony Mitchell.
I pitched Pilgrims Progress to Hodder. Here's the cover for the pitch doc.
All the prophets are eating stuff handed to them by angelic beings!
How do you read? Sequentially or do you read the picture as a whole?
Telling the story of the gospel... Samurai style.
The Samurai Jesus comes to village held by a vicious crim baron.
I enlisted the help of one of the greatest story tellers of all time.
Story is the stuff that human beings are made up of..
A game you could play while reading ancient works; an interpretation tool.
A red blood cell is the star of this short story of the nature of Redemption.
The three evil genius avatars assemble for a photo set.
Brilliant. Beautiful... even alluring. Witty and entertaining. Evil.
One of the last designed for EG. He's something from the Victorian age.
Our 'Bond' up against the evil genius and his henchmen.
I sculpted a figure for the 3D artists as a point of reference for the surfaces.
DOING HENCHMEN IS SO COOL! We had a great time doing these guys.
The first characters designed for the game American Dream is assembled.
I love this concept art. Not a fan of the house style agreed, but I like this guy.
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.
We created this for Nickelodeon. Such a great idea, it should be a series.
Sketches of stuff prior to design. These are what we call 'warm up exercises'.
For your pleasure; a single full image of one of the final paintings.
With respect to GTA promo illustrations.
One of the first expressions of a new style I was working on years ago.
...isn't the first time 2000AD would use a religious concept. Won't be the last.
This was when lots of us were just beginning to use computers.
Cover to the only Slaine series I ever did.
Messianic cover with Dredd as some sort of Christ.
Personal painting during the beginnings of computer paintings.
Slaine. If Pat Mills ever wrote me an appropriate script... I'd do it.
When I wasn't doing Dredd, David (Ed.) would hand me this strip for a while.
My final strip for Dredd. It was wonderful doing this strip.
Cover plus sketches sent to Matt (Ed.) for approval/comments.
I redesigned' Dredd's helmet &uniform. Soon, other artists were copying it.
The last Dredd strip... this time flat colours.
My Dredd career began with full paintings... by the end, I would be inking.
This strip became mine. Every Telguuth strip came my way for first refusal.
2000AD were at their best when they mixed satire with black comedy.
My stint on this well loved strip was short. Soon I'd be doing Dredd again.
I did this for Chris Moyles for his Channel 5 evening show. Nice guy.
From the Alien Invaders' series. Page numbers are titles.
2010/11 it felt like every UK children's book publisher wanted to hire me.
Cover for book three in the series. Nice set of books.
More manga styles here as my reputation for manga grows.
From the same series. Wish the greys could have been done differently.
The creator of 'Friends and Heroes' came to me for this development.
Page spread of our pitch. I had designed some main characters prior.
My character sheet for the publishers of this project.
Samples of the work produced locked away at BBC's meeting room in Belfast.
I kept thinking in film mode, but the director wanted my comic book brain...
Comic book comps are truncated , but this what Mitch wanted...
Eventually I stopped thinking film, and started thinking comic book.
A privilege to be involved in restating British culture for the 21st century.
Roughs of a style influenced by my one and a half year on EG. Resemblance?
A sample spread that demonstrates the morbid claustrophobia of WH.
Bleak House. The wind swept moors of Yorkshire: perfect setting for this story..
The best aliens I ever did! I will return to an update on these guys.
We were planning a manga video game. I really enjoyed doing the manga style.
More incarnations of my favourite aliens.
I believe this was from the video game, Alpha.
An NPC from another video game. Painted in acrylics.
Pencils! Part of my job as Visuals Director was to inspire the team...
... inspiring the team with great, energetic draftsmanship.
Put them together for a picture.
Nice.
Medieval age inspired science fiction.
I suggested producing styles unique to every game produced at Elixir Studios.
The first character we developed for the game.
I would love to take this somewhere else. Nice beginning...
My first game for Elixir. The first time we started stylising everything.
Alpha was very 2000AD. Very unlike manga with a brit-punkish attitude.
If he looks like he could be gay, that's because I designed so.
These robots would populate the arena caring after fallen gladiators.
An outdoor exhibition in the heart of London; Charing cross.
My art was printed on canvas and framed. Thousands viewed it...
A sample of how I conceive Jesus' angst in the Olive Grove as his trial neared.
This Libyan is forced to help. If you were the Libyan, what do you say to Jesus?
My irreverent 2000AD approach brought to bear...
This is is, peeps. Finished. Done. Wrapped up. Mission accomplished...
The betrayer approaches... with a whole battalion... a whole battalion for me?
After exhibiting here and in the States, we put the stuff into a book.
This has to be one of the most influential covers in Graphic Novels.
And this comes a close second. People kept coming into the shops to enquire.
The angel approaches... I endeavoured to do this in the most unreligious way.
Wars. Pillaging. Killing and human sacrifice... that's it, God's had enough!
PG! The cities came with giants... Moses thought it of no disadvantage.
One of my best pages... ever! Ever, ever? Yeah, ever.
Sweet little book. We did three of these thematic covers.
The second in the series. The books would be collected into a one volume.
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.
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.
siku@theartofsiku.com
