oOge

I met New York City based illustrator Charles Brian Ugas (also known to his friends and followers as 'oOge') through my friend and art dealer Jeanne Frank.

oOge is an amazingly talented artist who is in the process of creating a graphic novel.I have seen his book-in-progress where each individual page is a piece of artwork unto itself. See more on his instagram page.

oOge is Brooklyn born and raised by a single mother on the border of Ridgewood and Bushwick and was heavily inspired by CINEMA.

He started drawing at a very young age thanks to his father, an amatuer photographer and Film Maker who introduced him to ART and Film during his weekend visits. It wasn't long until oOge realized his calling, Illustration.

Story telling, in a visual sequential format came naturally as he followed through on this passion through the years. Starting out with simple stick figures as early as first grade then rapidily transitioning into dynamic, movie influenced imagery by the time he was in High School. It was around that time that his multi~layered characters and detailed compositions were compared to Comic Artists Todd MacFarlane and Moebius.

Years before graduating with a Fine Arts degree from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, oOge had already steadily developed an original style that eventually caught the attention of Legendary Movie Director Ralph Bakshi (Lord of the Rings, Cool World, Fritz the Cat),  Illustration Veteran Mark Texiera (Conan), Bad Boy Entertainment, Double Barrel Studios, Vexed Comics, Universal Records, Levi's, Converse and most recently, Nike, to name a few. He is a regular contributor to NewYorkNatives.com

Balancing various commissioned projects for an ever expanding clientele, oOge has also been working on his very own Illustrated Sci-Fi Trilogy, called NEW KRYO which has gained a nice following on Instagram since joining the site just two years ago. (@ooge3600)

oOge hopes to see his work make the transition to the big screen some day. As he would say,  "To see, actual actors portray my characters on the silver screen would be my ultimate dream come true. I feel it in my heart that I'm ON MY WAY...."

Who says it can't happen?