This is a new piece I did for Alex Chow over at Nylon Guys.
The assignment was to do a portrait of Timbaland, and incorporate imagery from his new video game, Beaterator. This was a fun assignment because I have never dealt with the subjects Hip Hop or video games in my illustration, and I was excited for the chance to see how I could translate those subjects into my own language. Alex sent me a link to the Rock Star Games trailer for Beaterator.
I was trying to imagine a place where club life and video game life merged, something that I thought was interesting because they're opposite life styles, one incredibly social, and the other very anti social.
When I looked at the web trailer, I realized Timbaland's presence was very slick and cool, but the excitement was downplayed, so I tried to contrast his coolness, with an exciting party backdrop.
This was the first version I did of the piece, The art director was happy with this, only wanted to see the expression on Timbaland's face be more exciting. I asked for reference for the specific expression he was looking for which he was happy to provide,
I ended up redrawing the head, and was surprised at how different the two faces looked (the first image up top is the final) and ended up being very pleased with the new version. Thanks Alex.
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