The Phuncky Feel One...

Wow – 2 posts in a week? Yep – I’m on a roll here. Truth be told, work is dead slow at the moment with most of our clients already broken up for the Christmas break, so during my down time I’ve had a chance to flex some artistic muscle.

I’m a huge Cypress Hill fan – have been since they dropped their debut. They were the first Hip Hop act I ever saw live, back in the early / mid ‘90s at Brixton Academy, and their first 2 albums remain firm favourites of mine to this day.

Anyways, this particular illustration has been sat half finished for the last 3 or 4 month, and it took a prompt from TROY blogger, Markshot to get me motivated enough to finish it.

So, here it is – a vector illustration of nasal-toned, Cypress Hill frontman, B-Real.

Have a butchers and let me know what you reckon.

Happy Holidays,

Mark 563

Big Poppa...

It’s been forever and a day since I updated this place – same old story, again and again. And more excuses – on the real, I’ve been pretty sick, laid up for well over a week with Glandular Fever, so doing anything other than sleeping really hasn’t been a priority.

Anyways, getting back to work in time for everything to slow down to a crawl for the Christmas period allowed me some spare time to flip a quick scribble.

Here’s my Notorious BIG offering. Rest In Peace Biggie.

Have a safe Christmas and New Year, if I don’t see you before hand.

All the best,

Mark 563

Rainy Dayz...

Here's another quickie for ya.

I've been wanting to do a Raekwon The Chef (Wu-Tang Clan) portrait for ages, but have struggled to find the right image to work from, so in the mean time here's a simple biro caricature I flexed between clients at work.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Mark 563.

Brooklyn Zoo...

Here's a quickie for you all on a slow Friday.

Just a 5 minute scribble of Wu-Tang's much missed Ol' Dirty Bastard. Rest in Peace Big Baby Jesus.

Have a cracking weekend folks.

Mark 563

Check Yo Self...

What's up, folks?

I can't believe I'm posting a new update here so soon, but I guess it's been a productive few days.

The World Cup has ended and I'm a few Dollars better off for it thanks to the work Sweep-stake, if that wasn't a great way to begin the week, my boss is off work this week and next week I'll be having a holiday too, so the mood here is great.

Work has had it's slow moments lately so I managed to get some vector artwork done. This time it's a caricature of West Coast Legend and ex-NWA member, Ice Cube. I started this illustration a while back, but had been flat out here so never got around to finishing it off until now.

As with my other vector pieces, I started with some rough sketches, scanned them in, and set to creating some smooth vectors.

Check out the result below (click to enlarge) and let me know what you reckon.

Cheers,

Mark 563

The Ruler's Back...

What's going on, folks?

This week I stumbled across a great website jam packed with the cracking artwork of Brothers Scritch and Scratch. As I worked my way through the pages of pictures I found myself more and more motivated to try an update this place a little more frequently. The guys there seem to post up pictures on a daily basis and the quality of their artwork is top notch. It was the rough sketches posted by Scratch that really inspired me.

I have always been a keen drawer. From as far back as I can remember there was nothing that kept me happier than to be drawing something or other. I'm that guy that always has a pen and a pad of paper at hand, and I find myself scribbling doodles all the time. At work I have a stack of small blue pads that were made using scrap paper. I am constantly sketching rough ideas on these pads, and I often come home with my pockets stuffed with blue paper.

So, taking my cue from Scratch, I thought I may as well share some of the unfinished sketches that consume my down time at work.

Here's the first offering - a Slick Rick caricature I flipped the other day using a trusty Bic.

Cheers,

Mark 563

Capital Punishment...

Yes yes y’all. What’s cracking?

I know I say it every time I update this blog, but life is mad hectic and feels like I haven’t been keeping this place updated as much as I should. As if my normal day-to-day wasn’t busy enough, the World Cup has been keeping my up at all hours of the day (and night) for the last couple of weeks, so drawing has really taken a back seat.

This weekend however, my Wife and Daughter were interstate meeting the newest edition to the Family – Congratulations Charna and Shauny on the arrival of Chae – so it left me with some free time to crack out the pencils and flex a new sketch.

With a repeat of the dismal England match in the background I worked on a portrait of Puerto Rican legend, Big Pun. For those that don’t know, Pun tragically passed away from a heart attack in 2000.

Anyway, peep the drawing below (click to enlarge) and let me know what you think.

All the best,

Mark 563

Above The Clouds...

What's good everyone?

Life at Run The Line Mansions has been somewhat slow as of late with the whole family representing colds.

Runny noses aside, the news of Gang Starr emcee, Guru's tragic death recently inspired me to sharpen my pencils and rock a portrait.

Online, it seems like everybody and their grandma is flexing a Guru Tribute of some sorts or other, which just goes to show the impact Keithy E had on us Heads. In the last week I must have listened to 10 or more different Guru Tribute mixes, including DJ Premier's insightful radio salute.

I had the pleasure of meeting Guru a few times. As an other-enthusiastic aspiring DJ, I did my best to holla at him at the Gang Starr Full Clip Tour after party at London's Astoria, but he was understandably more concerned with talking to the ladies than listening to me. I wasn't mad. He passed through Mr Bongo one time while I was on my lunch, and my boy Wayne Wonda scored me an autographed 12" (good looking out). I also met him at Camden's Kung Fu randomly - he joined us at the bar and chatted for some time, and was real cool and super humble.

Obviously the questionable final statement and Solar's bizarre behaviour have had the internets buzzing, but I don't want to dwell on that. Instead I'd just like to offer a simple Rest in Peace to Guru - my thoughts go out to your friends and the Elam Family.

Anyways, check the sketch below (click to enlarge) and feel free to leave a comment.

All the best,

Mark 563

DJ Mark 563 Live Mix @ Wax Museum Monthly Jam...

What's going on folks?

Life here has been pretty hectic of late. Aside from my day job, the local football has been keeping us occupied with Melbourne Victory’s unfortunate A-League Grand Final performance and their current Asian Champions League campaign. Add to that the demands of a rapidly growing 1 year old Daughter, and I'm left with very little spare time, which means not much drawing. That said, this Easter Weekend is a 4 day holiday, so aside from my regular commitments, I hope to get some artwork done at some point.

In the mean time, I've been meaning to post this up for ages but for whatever reason I've not gotten around to it until today. A few months back the good folk at Wax Museum Records invited me down to their Monthly Hip Hop Jam at The Order Of Melbourne to spin a 2 hour set. I did it, and had a blast doing so. Below is a link to the set I played, which was recorded for the Wax Museum Podcast.

DJ Mark 563 Live at Wax Museum Records’ Monthly Jam

Here’s the tracklist:

Miles Tacket / Kid Named Miles - Ring Of Fire
Sister Nancy - Bam Bam
Rodney P - Nice Up
Louis Rankin - Typewriter Feat. Red Hot Lover Tone
Sister Nancy - Big Bam Beat
Capleton - Wings Of Morning (Remix) Feat. Method Man
Big Daddy Kane - Stop Shammin'
Big Daddy Kane - Who Am I Feat. Gamilah Shabazz
Black Sheep - Flavor Of The Month
Fat Joe - Watch The Sound Feat. Diamond D & Grand Puba
Showbiz & AG - Fat Pockets (Remix)
Diamond D - Best Kept Secret
Heavy D - Blue Funk
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Straighten It Out
Ed OG - Love Comes & Goes
A Tribe Called Quest - The Jam
A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It
Capleton - Original Man Feat. Q-Tip
Time Zone - Zulu War Chant
Frankie Cutlass - Puerto Rico (Instrumental)
Das EFX - Real Hip Hop
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin & Juice
Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Pt II
Nine - Whutcha Want
Dr Dre - Next Episode
Gang Starr - Full Clip
Nas - Nas Is Like
Nas - Halftime
Nas - Made You Look
KRS One - Step Into A World
Busta Rhymes - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See
Notorious BIG - Hypnotize
Big Daddy Kane - Ain't No Half Steppin'
D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice
KRS One - Sound Of The Police
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Super Cat - Ghetto Red Hot (Remix)
Funkmaster Flex - 6 Million Ways To Die
Gang Starr - DWYCK Feat. Nice & Smooth
Main Source - Fakin' The Funk
Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill A Man
Diamond D - Sally Got A One Track Mind
Masta Ace - Music Man (Remix)
Breakestra - Cramp Your Style

Check it out and feel free to leave a comment.

Have a great long Easter Weekend.

Mark 563

Gin & Juice...

What’s happening folks?

This weekend I got another chance to break out the pencils and do some drawing while Corrie had lunch with the girls.

I’ve wanted to draw a Snoop Doggy Dogg portrait for a while, but hadn’t really found the right source image – I wanted a ‘Doggystyle’ era image, rather than a more recent picture, so was stoked when I came across this particular photo.

Have a butchers at the image below and let me what you reckon (click to enlarge)

Cheers,

Mark 563

Universal Magnetic...

Happy New Year everyone – I trust you all had a great Festive break. We had a quiet one here – a couple of weeks of family time with Corrie and Marley and very little else, aside from a couple of DJ gigs (Section 8 on Christmas Eve and support for Redman & Method Man on New Years Day) and linking with my old mate Graeme Sinden (big up to you and the Missus – safe journey home) while he toured Australia.

Considering we really didn’t do anything, I still struggled to find time to draw, so this weekend, while Corrie and Marley were out for the day, I finally found some time to do some much needed sketching. It’s mad hot out here right now (sorry my UK peoples), so closing the blinds and bunging the air con on while I flexed my pencils was a good look.

I’ve been a fan of Mos Def for the longest – from the old Urban Thermo Dynamics to guest spots on De La, Bush Babies and Tribe joints, not to mention his own 12”s on Rawkus – so I thought I’d rock a portrait of the man himself.

Check it out below and let me know what you reckon (click image to enlarge)

Cheers,

Mark 563