Designed graphics for One True Maverick Vodka. OTM is a a tri blend vodka, distilled at The Thames Distillers, London. One True Maverick (OTM) is a producer of lifestyle products from selected Maverick creators, who stick, build, weld, machine, distill, paint and sketch... Creating the finest of products with we will bring to you.

The main idea was given to me by Paul Boulding who wanted me to create a visual of a horse looking straight at you that maintained all of the original strengths of a photograph. We also explored an element of decay in the head, as half of the horse's head becomes skull looking and disguised into its mane. The mane also helped me by giving a flow and a more spiritual feeling into the artwork.

I began by using pencil and graphite shading to create the look and shape of the horse. I created a large library of graphics for this project by using porcelain tiles as a canvas and drawing shapes with Copic markers. By squirting spirit on these shapes they where giving me an ideal look to go into the final piece which was finalised and compiled in Photoshop.

The feedback has been very good generally. I have noticed that working on a black background can give the artwork a lot of power and mystery. It can also be very challenging because the shading is much harder to see on a black canvas digitally. You need a good monitor to detect any mistakes or unwanted shapes.

Alexis Marcou

International artist Alexis Marcou has been doing freelance work since 2007 for a wide range of clients such as Nike, Air Jordan, PepsiCo, Atomic Skis, BMW, Hewlett Packard, ESPN, Cisco and Acco Brands.

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