The story below is from our July/August 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
This issue’s iconic cover re-creation is thanks to Bryce Cobbs, an award-winning local artist portraying his love of our region through his unique perspective.
Which iconic Roanoker cover did you choose and why?
I chose the 2005 March/April cover because I grew up really into sports and athletics. This cover spoke to me because of the energy and movement in the photo and I wanted to translate that into my own work in a way that expressed that inspiration and love for Roanoke.
Briefly describe the process of recreating this cover and how you chose to interpret it.
This piece was created using Procreate, a digital painting software. I wished to show my love for my hometown of Roanoke and our signature star on Mill Mountain. I felt that is one of the most recognizable symbols of Roanoke and wanted to make sure I included it in the piece. I wanted to show my respect and appreciation of the older cover and include a basketball player dunking a basketball over top of the star. The energy and fun of the piece was my main focus; I wanted the painting to have a similar feeling of movement and fun as the original cover did.
Bryce Cobbs
Where can readers find more of your work?
My work can be seen on my website and Instagram page.
Bryce Cobbs is an artist born and raised in Roanoke. He studied Communication Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University for three years before returning home to work professionally as a freelancer in his hometown. He has been a professional artist for over six years now. He works in a variety of materials such as graphite, charcoal, marker, colored pencil, oil paint and digital illustration software such as Photoshop and Procreate. His subject matter always reflects the beauty of Black culture and the narrative aspects he wishes to convey through the Black experience. You can learn more about Cobbs and see his work at his website ArtByBryce.com, or visit his social media pages on Facebook at Bryce Cobbs or Instagram page @ArtByBryce.
The story above is from our July/August 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!