South Africa 2010

Sports Illustration

Sep 29

Written By Charis Tsevis

Studying the richness of the African patterns heritage and the modern football (soccer) subculture.

Dedicated years of studies on African-born visual vocabularies, like Kente, Adinkra, and many, many decorative ideas from the black continent. From the complex to the simple, and from traditional to contemporary visual expression, this project is an ongoing experiment in mosaics, pattern theory, and visual design.

Algorithmic mosaic of two footballers chasing a ball, made of triangles in green, ochre and brown, with AFRIKA lettering — South Africa 2010

Algorithmic mosaic portrait of Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon 2010, built from earthy triangles, with his name in bold letters — Samuel Eto'o: Cameroon 2010

Mosaic portrait of Didier Drogba of Cote d'Ivoire in African pattern tiles and symbols on pale yellow, with name caption — Didier Drogba: Côte d'Ivoire 2010

Mosaic portrait of Emmanuel Adebayor of Togo with dreadlocks, made of triangles in brown, blue and cream, plus Togo flag — Emmanuel Adebayor: Togo 2010

Mosaic portrait of smiling Benjani Mwaruwari of Zimbabwe built from tiny African geometric patterns in green and ochre — Benjani Mwaruwari: Zimbabwe 2010

Steven Pienaar: South Africa 2010

Mosaic of Alex Song running in a yellow Cameroon shirt, surrounded by dense African textile patterns in green and brown — Alex Song: Cameroon 2010

Mosaic of Mickaël Essien in a red Ghana kit, in Ghanaian geometric patterns of blue, yellow and green, with his name — Mickaël Essien: Ghana 2010

Mosaic portrait of Didier Drogba shouting, built from small yellow, blue and patterned tiles in a Kente-like style — Didier Drogba: Côte d'Ivoire 2010 (Third mosaic illustration)

Mosaic portrait of Didier Drogba shouting, made of tiny blue, cream and ochre triangles within a patterned border — Didier Drogba: Côte d'Ivoire 2010 (Second mosaic illustration)

Mosaic portrait of smiling Oguchi Onyewu of the United States, built from small triangles in purple, green and orange — Oguchi Onyewu: United States 2010

Mosaic portrait of Djibril Cisse on ochre, built from small dark square and star-shaped ornaments and white sparkles — Djibril Cissé: From Western Africa with goals

Mosaic portrait of Eddie Pope, a bald head built from tiny stars and stripes in navy, red and white on pale ground — Eddie Pope: Stars and Stripes mosaic portrait

Mosaic of a footballer in blue kit dribbling a ball on a pale geometric pattern, with Ngiyabonga Thank you text — Ngiyabonga!* Thank you!

Mosaic portrait of Maurice Edu in orange, olive and navy interlocking patterns, with a small American flag at the neck — Maurice Edu: USA in South Africa 2010

Mosaic portrait of Landon Donovan in red, blue and olive ornaments on pale grey, with USA lettering at the bottom — Landon Donovan: USA in South Africa 2010

Mosaic portrait of Lionel Messi built from light blue and white horizontal bars with small suns, on white — Lionel Messi: Argentina 2010

Mosaic of a Brazil footballer kicking a ball on deep blue, made of green, yellow and blue diamonds, Brasil seis Estrelas — Brazil: Six Stars 2010

Robihno: Brazil 2010

Mosaic of Ronaldinho in a number 10 Brazil shirt kicking a ball, made of diamonds in blue, yellow and green on lime green — Ronaldinho: Brazil 2010

Mosaic of Ronaldinho in a blue number 10 Brazil kit running past a ball, built from diamonds on a golden yellow ground — Ronaldinho: Brazil 2010 (2)

Mosaic of Marcelo juggling a ball in a blue Brazil shirt, built from green, blue and orange diamonds on bright yellow — Marcelo: Brazil 2010

Mosaic of Pato in a yellow Brazil shirt, arms stretched out and dissolving into diamonds, on a sky blue ground — Pato: Brazil 2010

Mosaic of Kaka in a yellow Brazil shirt with both arms raised in joy, built from diamonds on a green background — Kaká: Brazil 2010

Mosaic of a dancer balancing pots on her head in an orange dress, made of small diamonds on a teal background — Welcome to Africa (Ndere dancer 2)

Mosaic of a kneeling dancer balancing a pot on her head, made of tiny stars and squares on a red background — Welcome to Africa (Ndere dancer)

My African star

Mosaic portrait of AKON built from tiny stars and stripes in green, red and cream, fading into a Senegal flag shape — AKON: The R&B Star from Senegal

Mosaic portrait of Tupac made of interlocking T-shaped pieces in green, red and gold on black, with TUPAC lettering — Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius

mosaic portraitathletemotionsportsSports eventscultural identitycultural heritageleadership

IKEA: Long Live Diversity

Cristiano Ronaldo: El camino REAL