#odera igbokwe

Here is my newest illustration that I painted for the Cortex Prime Handbook #CortexRPG! As an illustrator it’s such a joy when a client has a clear vision that perfectly aligns with your artistic voice and desires.

Mythological and fantastical? Swaths of light and energy? Centering intersectional identities and not just allowing for a limited scope of ~diversity~ ? Yes. Yes. Yes!

Thanks so much to the AD Tina Collier, and the entire team. The handbook is looking *so good*

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the IG livestream yesterday. We had some technical difficulties but it was so fun to sketch alongside the one and only @fumichun. She drew Card Captor Sakura which inspired this painting of The Windy card

The Nsibidi Knights

4.5 x 6 inches each

Pencil and acrylic on mixed media paper

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Yesterday was the opening for Gallery 1988: LA’s Paper Pushers show! It was so fun to go back to the basics of pencil on paper. I really had a desire to draw braided hair styles and armor, and with that in mind the Nsibidi Knights were born.

Often when I think of Fantasy, I try to envision characters that can exist without the layer of colonization or centering of Medieval times and the Tolkien canon. But for these drawings I asked myself, what would African/Black characters look like who are living in a world that centers medieval fantasy. How would they dress themselves if they were knights that were longing for decolonization and connecting with their roots. What would be discarded? What aesthetics and designs would fuse together?

The Nsibidi Knights (1 of 4)

4.5 x 6 inches each

Pencil and acrylic on mixed media paper

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This month on Patreon I created a few pencil drawings featuring the “Nsibidi Knights”. Often when I think of Fantasy, I think of characters that can exist without the layer of colonization or centering of Medieval times and the Tolkien canon. But for these drawings I asked myself, what would African/Black characters look like who are living in a world that centers medieval fantasy. How would they dress themselves if they were knights that were longing for decolonization and connecting with their roots. What would be discarded? What aesthetics and designs would fuse together?

You can see all four of these drawings on my patreon at patreon.com/odera or at Gallery1988’s Paper Pushers show starting February 21st.

Ikenga,

Protector of the Sands of time

We look to you for strength and clarity

Fill us with the wisdom of our ancestors

Short story illustration for “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington” by Phenderson Djèlí Clark

Featured in FireSide Magazine’s February 2018 Edition

Art Direction by Pablo Defindini

“Dragon Herder” by Odera Igbokwe (that’s me!) is available for purchase at Every Day Original. You can own this original painting of a dragon that reminds you to eat your leafy green veggies!

https://everydayoriginal.com/product/dragon-herder/

This piece was created with Acrylics on board. Sealed in archival satin varnish. 6 x 9 inches.

‪Here’s a preview of a new painting that goes live tomorrow on @everydayoriginal . Super excited to share the full thing tomorrow morning! ‬

‪A special thanks to my patrons on patreon who have been there for the entire process start to finish.‬

A new book cover illustration I painted for “The Hero of Numbani” written by Nicky Drayson. So much thanks and gratitude to Betsy Peterschmidt for her Art Direction and Cover Design! Orisa and Efi are such fun characters, that it was a joy to contribute to this collaboration between Blizzard/Overwatch & Scholastic✨✨‬

“The Breath of Life” from the Spirit Child Collection

↑ Meditation, Rest, Peace, Inner Harmony, Mindfulness
❂ Obatala, The Hermit, Temperance
↓  Chaos, Stress, Tension, Isolation, Withdrawal

The Breath of Life travels through dreamscapes and peacefully guides our inner voice to a place of calm and rest. They use their fans as conduits of inhaling, exhaling, filtering, and literally giving yourself life. The Breath of Life beckons us to pause and invite moments of ease through an act as natural as breathing.

Explore and shop this piece and more from The Spirit Child Collection

“The Volcano” from The Spirit Child collection

↑ Stability, Resilience, Transformation, Vindication

❂  Amadioha, Shango, The Tower

↓ Festering Anger, Vengeance, Inaction

The Volcano is an avatar of Black Rage that is anchored in love and protection. They alchemize centuries of debilitating anger into a call to action that seeks transformative justice. They are the ancestral flame that scorches violent systems to make room for new life. They hold a bouquet of flame that can light the fires of change, or to release the heaviness that comes with a slow and patient eruption.

Oils and Acrylics on board. 18 x 24 inches.

Sealed with an archival satin varnish.

Featured in Vancouver Special: Disorientations and Echo at Vancouver Art Gallery.

Explore and shop this piece and more from The Spirit Child Collection

“The Opening” from The Spirit Child Collection

↑ Acceptance, Shadow Work, Clarity

❂ Eleggua, Eshu, Ekwensu, The Devil (from the RSW Tarot)

↓ Winding Roads, Triggers, Fear

The Opening is an avatar of the inner child coexisting amongst darkness. Despite our traumas and deeply routed wounds, we have the power to sit on top of the winding roads of chaos. We hold the key to the gateways, even when the contents behind that door are filled with terror and fear. The Opening beckons us to confront our fears and our shadows, and to remember that the darkness is where we go to rest and where we start to grow like seeds. In spite of all of this, peace and contentment can still stabilize and have dominion over these scary places.

Explore and shop this piece and more from The Spirit Child Collection

The Spirit Child is the avatar of new beginnings. They are relentless in their need to explore, imagine, and play.  I am keeping that same energy as I start this new chapter of Oracle & Tarot inspired paintings! The first collection is live on www.odera.net where we have prints, postcards, and originals available!! Thanks so much for the support y’all

Share, ogle, and gift your coins and cowrie shells

The Spirit Child Collection — Odera.net

Prints from The Spirit Collection will be available in 18 x 24 and 11 x 14 inches on April 25 on odera.net.


If you have seen any of my recent work and thought, “oh I need a print of that” then this is your time! This is your song–this is your show, and I won’t let you go.

The Spirit Child collection arrives April 25th on Odera.net! One of the earliest pieces from the collection is “The Breath of Life”. Let’s dig into the process from the Patreon vault

The earliest scribbles in my sketchbook. At this stage I don’t care about clarity or even making a good image. Rather it’s just getting any of my thoughts onto a picture plane. 

More pencil scribbles with the occasional checkmark or phrase to to fan the embers

The first round of intriguing thumbnails I’ve taken into photoshop to cleanup. This is the no pile. Usually it’s a no if I don’t even want to refine the image further.

The maybe pile. Thinking of a previous painting inspired by Obatala, and what it would look like to capture a narrative moment from a warrior of Obatala 

The finalized yes pile! This is where the compositions, characters, and narrative start to come to life. I didn’t know much, but I knew I was interested in the metaphor of fanning, breath, and protection.

Some watercolor explorations I was doing on the side to scratch the itch of what this character could look like when they’re more developed

We chose choice A! Wavecaps, Durags, Fan dances, and embodying Obatala energy.

And then we move into the final pencil drawing!!! I accidentally did that artist thing where I didn’t document the in between steps. But alot of the ease in this jump is knowing my strengths & weaknesses–there’s a time refine & a time to generate quick + raw materials!

For the next post we will jump into color, references, and the constant layers and layers.

More figure drawing with @thatbarelifex@arte_muse. For these longer poses I had a lot of fun trying to keep the acrylic washes as soft as possible. Usually I’m all about jumping into the opaque pigments, but the quality of light was so soft that I wanted to capture some of that on paper. ⛅️

I had so much fun with this figure drawing session with @ ThatBareLife with models DamianxDragon & Serg_Sherpard. When two figures interacting have chemistry, it’s so magical to try and capture the sense of touch, overlapping forms, tension, weight distribution, and of course the challenge of drawing tattoos within the time limit is a fun bonus!