ABCDEFridays: Inspiration through Struggle

Unsure of whom to write about or even where to begin I decided to search for someone who was interested in both portraits and typography, two struggles that I have encountered while at Tyler amongst many more. Portraits were a struggle that I've always wanted to grow at skillfully and now typography knowing how important it is to being successful in the field of graphic design. As I searched there were plenty of artists and images that caught my eye, drew my full attention and made me feel warm inside in hopes of someday being that good but one that really drew me in was artist Cris Wicks. 

Cris Wicks doesn't seem to have much information about him available for the public he lives in LA and has done digital art for numerous clients, mostly a free lance artist but nonetheless inspiration for me. His typographic portraits of famous African American musical artists definitely related and right off the back were recognizable to me first glance. As I looked closely at the first image I found of his, trying to figure out what words were arranged to make that particular face I then realized it was comprised of lyrics from Mos Def's songs, the most apparent line being from a song entitled "Fear Not of Man." As I looked at his other portraits, one of Bob Marley and the next Erykah Badu, those too used lyrics from their songs to create their portrait. What really caught my attention, however, was how realistic and strong a resemblance there was of each artist. Wether Wicks created the portrait in monotone or multiple colors the depiction of face seemed to be dead on. Wick's claimed in a biography that he loved being literally hands on when it came to art so seeing his hand done quality (which is not easily seen first glance) you can tell he without a doubt made sure to include in his process before bringing it into the computer to most likely add the finishing touches of color along with shadowing .  Some fans on Cris Wick's blog have commented on his work stating there was a great combination of typography and calligraphy. 

Here's a link to other typographic portraits done by some inspiring artists posted on a blog by another inspired individual: Typographic Showcase

From this site I found other inspirational artists with typographic portraits and here are some favorites of mine I wished to feature. 

I than looked for tutorials as to how to go about creating a typographic face. Knowing everyone has there own method to going about doing things this was just one of the quicker videos to show what possibilites can come about >>>> FlashingHD <<<< After seeing this however it gave me an even greater appreciation for Cris Wicks works seeing he takes the time to create his portraits hand done. It gave to me a stronger sense of passion and sense that he really loves what he does. And with this blog inspiration it has me realizing I have a long way to go but persevering is key to being successful. I know I have a way to go but struggles and all the inspiration is out there and can definitely find it's way to me so I can learn how to master it all. 

“I definitely learned a lesson this time. I know that I can be broken. I am not as tough as I thought. I see it now. At this point, it's the only thing good that came out of all of this. I know myself better now and know what I have to do.” ― Henry Rollins, The Portable Henry Rollins