PERSONALITY
I wanted to grab elements of the real Jean-Michel Basquiat, and use them to mold the King Samo character. The beauty of JM Basquiat is that he was a combination of several things: urban graffiti artist, painter, poet, and fancy Giorgio-Armani-suits-wearer while barefoot. Urban motifs with a fashionable wardrobe. He was a badass revolutionary. I loved his epigrams and use of symbolism to show imbalances of power and inequality in society. In his work, the crown and the tuxedo were both symbols of riches and power, and as a result, a contrast symbol to their opposites: poverty and inequality. I wanted to communicate that, alongside his shy, yet charming demeanor. I wanted him to be a Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne kind of character, yet at the same time, the complete opposite. Basquiat did not come from money, and I did not mean to imply that, but he was worth $10 million at the time of his death. His self-built life trajectory is bigger than any Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne, and I wanted to channel this “self-built man” concept, as a metaphor, via his use of an armor, or external body suit (ala Iron Man). King Samo, without the armor, is a shy, quiet man, wearing nice suits, who’ll blow you away with his charm if you give him the time of day. King Samo with the full bionic armor, is a giant, a sentinel, a larger-than-life being that embodies his life struggles and the violent strokes of paint he portrayed on each canvas.
AESTHETIC
I wanted King Samo to be both the most grounded and down-to-earth, and the most self-aggrandized. I think that’s why I chose to portray him without an armor or costume in his bust portrait (sharing later), and at the same time, create a massive robot-like armor that stands taller than any of the other Seven Luminaries. After a few scrapped designs, I decided to include the crown at the top of his helmet, as a way to also display his unique hair. Initially I’d had him wearing a full helmet (because it was practical and logical), but from a design point of view, for him, it felt more right to have him show off his hair. He wouldn’t have wanted something squishing it down.
REDESIGN
Quite possibly the biggest redesign was done with Basquiat’s character. The original design from 2017 was this muscular, trench-coat-wearing, robot -arm-wielding, massive action hero, called “Mr. Tuxedo” (a nod to his suits — even though he wasn’t wearing one). In retrospect, it just didn’t feel right. It felt forced, and out of character. I’m definitely happier with the new direction of the redesign.
NAME
King Samo is a nod to both his defunct graffiti tag, “Samo” (from “same-old”, pronounced, “Same-Oh”), and the “king” motif across his paintings.
POWERS/ABILITIES
Super human strength, agility, stamina, healing, supersonic flight — all powered by suit. Charm and wit.
KEYWORDS
Charm, suave, boxer, king, poet. Crown.
OLD 2017 SKETCHES
Project was originally conceived in 2017.
(*for this specific project, I narrowed “artists” to those who create static [no moving pictures] works of art.)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely on purpose 😏
