While the world waits for Gilbere Forte's album Pray to drop in its entirety, he's released his second single, "Nolita," with three captivating pieces of cover art. Illustrator Dessie Jackson spoke to us about the process of creating artwork for it, which meant bringing the character Gilbere raps about to life.
She says,
"The process included Gilbere, DeNiro, and I attempting to describe this figure. I sat with the song and truly tried to visualize who this woman was, and how I wanted to describe her visually. After listening to the song, I sensed a very cold, raw, and sexually deviant human being. Gilbere and I wanted to incorporate all of these traits, by illustrating cold eyes and almost expressionless lips, but still eluding to something under a mask. Pulling visual information from multiple features of women—eye shape, color, and style—we created this feeling and brought an illustrated version of Nolita to life. The process included many sketches and drafts. I created her with many different mediums including watercolor, gesso, chalk pastel, and charcoal."
Pray is scheduled to drop on May 15.
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