Who is Mr Shiz?
I’ve been an artist since I was a kid. I went to an art college in France (George Sand) for a couple of years where I learnt the basic techniques that would help me develop my style later on. When I graduated I still had lots to learn, so I used to practice drawing until early morning.
When I moved to London in ‘99 I used to go to the museums on Cromwell rd and draw from the statues and still life. After working in different fields, I realised that all I wanted to do was to earn a living doing something related to art, so I went to Portobello market for 8 months. I printed my designs onto T-shirts and hoodies and I got such a buzz when I sold my first garment. Over the 8 months I was there, things developed towards custom painting and graffiti art.
As the work was a bit slow then, I used to work as a carpenter and study 1 day a week at a joinery college. It left me no time to paint so for a year, I hardly painted at all. Things finally got too much so I stopped working in the building trade and I started painting again, felling good and more confident than ever. I painted non-stop and the more I painted, the better I got and I got more and more customers.
After meeting 303db (Justin) in Waterloo tunnel one day painting a mural, I got interested in photography and filming as well. Although at the time when he tried to explain ISO, Depth of field or Shutter speed, it made little sense to me.
I’ve been an artist since I was a kid. I went to an art college in France (George Sand) for a couple of years where I learnt the basic techniques that would help me develop my style later on. When I graduated I still had lots to learn, so I used to practice drawing until early morning.
When I moved to London in ‘99 I used to go to the museums on Cromwell rd and draw from the statues and still life. After working in different fields, I realised that all I wanted to do was to earn a living doing something related to art, so I went to Portobello market for 8 months. I printed my designs onto T-shirts and hoodies and I got such a buzz when I sold my first garment. Over the 8 months I was there, things developed towards custom painting and graffiti art.
As the work was a bit slow then, I used to work as a carpenter and study 1 day a week at a joinery college. It left me no time to paint so for a year, I hardly painted at all. Things finally got too much so I stopped working in the building trade and I started painting again, felling good and more confident than ever. I painted non-stop and the more I painted, the better I got and I got more and more customers.
After meeting 303db (Justin) in Waterloo tunnel one day painting a mural, I got interested in photography and filming as well. Although at the time when he tried to explain ISO, Depth of field or Shutter speed, it made little sense to me.
After I got my first big graffiti jobs and I started appearing in magazines, I was far from being the best graffiti artist in the world, but I felt like I was making good progress in my art forms (graffiti art, body painting and airbrushing). At that point I felt like my photography skills had to be better, so I got myself a digital SLR and I was taking my own body painting pictures. It felt great to be able to turn my vision into photographs without having to rely on an other photographer in London.
The day my dad gave me his Ricoh camera with his f1.7 lens, is when I started being truly involved and interested in photography. I was so used to taking many shots as they are free that I didn’t take the time to take a good picture, but by going back to film photography I had to take my time and select my shots carefully, which made me improve considerably. I now realise that the camera I shoot with isn’t as important as I thought, only the light matters. My shinny new equipment is great for ease of use and to take pictures in a low light environment, but my main goal is to master the light so I can keep taking better photographs.
I love painting murals whether it’s to do graffiti, body painting or airbrushing and I also love photography and filming. I used to be a bit conscious about the fact that people wouldn’t take me seriously, doing so many things, until I realised that being an artist helps a lot towards great composition in photographs.
Being creative is what I do, and what I want to keep doing, whether it’s with a spray can or a camera.
Shiz
The day my dad gave me his Ricoh camera with his f1.7 lens, is when I started being truly involved and interested in photography. I was so used to taking many shots as they are free that I didn’t take the time to take a good picture, but by going back to film photography I had to take my time and select my shots carefully, which made me improve considerably. I now realise that the camera I shoot with isn’t as important as I thought, only the light matters. My shinny new equipment is great for ease of use and to take pictures in a low light environment, but my main goal is to master the light so I can keep taking better photographs.
I love painting murals whether it’s to do graffiti, body painting or airbrushing and I also love photography and filming. I used to be a bit conscious about the fact that people wouldn’t take me seriously, doing so many things, until I realised that being an artist helps a lot towards great composition in photographs.
Being creative is what I do, and what I want to keep doing, whether it’s with a spray can or a camera.
Shiz
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Murals 2
body painting
body painting 2
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Shiz
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