Markers on Canvas · Jazz Series · 2026
SoundLines
Alberto "Sting" Russo
Four icons. Four canvases. Four explosions of color and line, drawn without sketch, without hesitation, in direct confrontation with the canvas.
Markers on Canvas · Jazz Series · 2026
Alberto "Sting" Russo
Four icons. Four canvases. Four explosions of color and line, drawn without sketch, without hesitation, in direct confrontation with the canvas.
01 · Jazz Series
03 · Live Work
A 150×200 cm piece created live in front of an audience, in a single session. Markers on wood panel. A tribute to the Miles Davis centennial — the sound made visible, one line at a time.
04 · Artistic Approach
Each piece begins with a blank canvas and four markers: yellow, orange, magenta, cyan. No preliminary drawing. No safety net. The lines accumulate in dense cross-hatching, building form through rhythm and repetition, the way jazz builds a solo through improvisation.
The flowing lines in the background are not decoration, they are the sound made visible. Smoke, breath, vibration. The music escaping the frame.
05 · The Artist
Born in Lausanne in 1974, Alberto "Sting" Russo has been drawing since childhood and tagging since 1991. The street gave him his pseudonym, his relationship to the immediate mark, and his understanding of line as energy.
Trained at the École Romande d'Arts Graphiques, he founded AREA DESIGN in 2000, working with Nike, Puma, Universal Music and Absolut. From 2015, he turned exclusively to painting and illustration, developing a vocabulary rooted in the masters: Rembrandt, Dürer, expressed through vivid color and raw immediacy.
A recognized caricaturist, drawing instructor and published author, he now brings that same intensity to large-format marker portraits. Brand ambassador for Royal Talens and Sakura, he works exclusively with professional-grade materials. The Jazz Series is his most personal work to date.
06 · Movie Posters
These alternative movie posters were created for Hero Complex Gallery in Los Angeles — one of the world's leading galleries dedicated to pop culture art. Each piece is an original painting, a personal reinterpretation of a cult film through acrylic, watercolor or ink. A new reading of an iconic image, filtered through a painter's eye and hand. Fine Art Giclée prints available exclusively on hcgart.com
"Pathetic Earthlings"
Inspired by Flash Gordon · Acrylic on canvas
07 · Black Lines
Over 200 black-and-white illustrations exploring animals, everyday life, pop culture and visual storytelling. A tribute to the line and the balance between shadow and light.
The Book
The Ink Art of Alberto Russo
Six years of ink. Over 200 illustrations — animals, everyday life, pop culture, visual storytelling. Black Lines is a celebration of the line in its purest form: direct, instinctive, permanent.
128 pages · A5 · Bilingual FR/EN · Preface by Carlos Leal.
Buy the Book · 30 CHFLimited Edition Fine Art Prints · Signed & Numbered
Three formats. Made to order. 2 to 3 weeks delivery.
A3 and 50×70 prints include a certificate of authenticity, signed and numbered by the artist.
What's next
New series and works in progress. Be the first to know.
