Artists to watch: Seye (@Seye_Art)

Over the hour Seye and I spent talking earlier this year, he revealed humour, wit, and such sheer talent that I considered lobbing my laptop when I realised my half of our read-along episode was corrupted.

So - when I made the website and started considering an XOW blog - this piece started to write itself. It's the least I could do to repay the time and the laughs he gave when we spoke. Here's a quick intro to Seye and his art while I experiment with ways to repurpose an hour of (one side of) a great conversation!

Let's get into it!

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MONET ST.CROIX

The textures. The richness of the skin tone. The head tilt. There's so much to Stan. Seye's art is lustrous and expressive, light and colours gloss and blend together to create images that look both polished and warm.

But the thing I like best is Seye's talent for expression. Being a comic book nerd is a commitment to art. We see a lot of artists. We see a lot of faces. We don't see a lot of faces like this. 'Aloof and Questioning' isn't an easy expression to capture, and this Monet evaluates you as much as you evaluate it. This is probably what it feels like to look Monet in the eye. I get a feeling. Not just recognition (this is how Monet looks), not just appreciation of the skill (this is an expression Monet would make)...but a feeling.

To know what character to choose, which moment to portray, and then to have the talent to bring it all to life is so applause-worthy. So here I am. Applauding.

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POLARIS

I hope - when I listen back - that I asked Seye to talk about the little flairs that he seems to experiment with in some of his work. Here it's pencil brushes that embellish Polaris' clothes. Seye's art is typically blended and smoothed to perfection. Folks are exfoliated, contoured, and greased as standard, so pencilling seems intentional here, and it has the effect of pulling focus to Lorna's face which holds the height of the detail.

This is another piece that returns your gaze, even if that look is a little exasperated. But I think back to her run in the X-Men, habitually hungover or ready to be doing something else, and - again - I feel like Seye has managed to capture a snippet of what a Lorna Dane face-to-face would be.

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SYNCH, PRODIGY, SUNSPOT 

Souls glowing. Afros sheening. Bald representation. I love this. We talked at length about the difference in undertone and expression, and how Seye casually flexes the knowledge and skills for which Black X-fans call out. Everybody's got 7-step skincare. Endorsement deals. Seye draws mutants flourishing. Is Roberto Da'Costa back from the brink? A gift!

I'm not asking whether it's unreasonable and unrealistic to want a whole book at this level (including bodies, action and plot) because the answer gets in the way of my agenda. This isn't the time to be rational, walk with me!

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JEAN GREY

So, so many good things happening: The Dauterman outfit. The discoball-lensflare-powersignature. This looks like a shot straight from Jean's Insta. Casually intelligent decisions like this are why you should have notifications switched on. His work is a joy (I'm also a big fan of the glowing pink eyes.)

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COSTUME PARTY GROUP SHOT

A big paragraph would only distract from the trove of humour here. Use the time you would have spent reading this to look at everything twice.

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STORM

This is the portrait that convinced me to reach out to Seye and is the most "formal" in this article. It reminds me of the paintings Presidents commission once in office. It's regal and imposing; the strength of the pose given depth and movement by billowing hair and a glinting chain caught mid-flight. There's awe here, emphasised by how Seye drops us down. We look up at Storm, seeing her for the titan of mutanity she is. This is the Storm experience!

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These characters are so often depicted posed, shrouded in their iconic signatures, blasting, soaring or punching through brick. Seye's framing is refreshing because it doesn't rely on those trappings, but also because the interaction his art evokes between viewer and subject invites us to meet the mutants he draws, not just to see them.

Seye's art moves us from fly-on-the-wall to behind-the-camera. We're looking at characters who know we're looking, bringing to mind a more personal, intimate version of the magazine covers that supported the Hellfire Gala.

Seye draws with the sensibilities of a mutant photographer documenting candid moments; the unguarded, the poised, the informal, and the spontaneous. He zooms past the powers and into the people, creating a stunning set of lifelike portraits that effortlessly disprove the idiom "never meet your heroes".