It's far from my standard uber-nerdy fare, but every now and then I get inspired to do something out of the ordinary. This one is for Jacob, who one day linked me to a German Hip Hop video on YouTube by a group named Deichkind. The video featured a female MC called Nina (sometimes referred to as Nina MC). Here is my interpretation of the very striking Nina MC:
click above for larger view
And here is the aforementioned video by Deichkind, entitled Bon Voyage (No, I'm not confused--yes, it is a German track with a French title):
My sketch is a somewhat loose take--it's more caricature than portrait, and not much of a caricature at that. But I think it captures some of her spirit. Keen-eyed observers will note that while Nina sported a pull-over hoodie in the video, I drew her with a zip-up hoodie. My personal bias for zip-up hoodies aside, I was also looking for an excuse to draw an exaggerated, over-sized zipper.
My pencils and inks were a little bit cleaner this time around, but i was looking to do a little something different with the colors, so I took the suggestion of my friend Charles, and loosened up some. I still used Photoshop, but instead of making my usual super-careful lasso selections, I just colored the whole thing with the paintbrush tool. I chose the brush that mimics a marker tip, and brought the opacity down (30%-60%). I'm pretty happy with the results.
Don't get me wrong, Nina is Jacob's gal--as far as raven-haired Euro-hotties go, Nigella Lawson is more my speed (call me, Nigella!). Now, the lovely Nina aside, let's talk about Deichkind--these dudes are freakin dope! I have no clue what their lyrics are about, but they got "mad flow" as the kids say.
Actually, now that I stop and think about it, there are only two people that I know who understand any German at all, and one of them is my Dad. Dad, if you are reading this, I apologize in advance if you heard any explicit German lyrics, and I implore you to NOT tell me what those lyrics say, because the last thing I need to hear is German obsenities translated into English by my father. Thank you.
Here for your enjoyment, is another Deichkind video, sadly sans Nina, but awesome nonetheless:
For more on Nina MC:
- http://www.moundmarkus.de/hiphop/nina/nina.htm
- http://www.newyorker.de/?arg=en/entertainment/artists.html&tp=1 (artists listed alphabetically)
