Chromatics

If you've seen Drive starring Ryan Gosling, you're familiar with Chromatics, and by extension, their label Italians Do It Better. In fairness, "Tick of the Clock" isn't the track most representative of their sound - their songs are typically more vocal driven - but the majority of their output still is a satisfyingly dark, melancholic take on pop music. Their latest album, Kill For Love, is a perfect example of this.

As tiresome as it's become when describing a band's music, the songs crafted by Chromatics on Kill For Love are genuinely cinematic, to the point where the band are offering a full size 25 x 37" poster of the album's cover art (complete with movie-style credits). Considering how prominent "Tick of the Clock" and "Under Your Spell" (by labelmates Desire) are in the Drive soundtrack (Chromatics producer Johnny Jewel even wrote an entire score for the movie that was unfortunately shelved), the "cinematic" descriptor feels earned for once. As such, when creating a piece for the band, I wanted the artwork to reflect that. Since they already have a poster that you'd find in a theater or box office, I thought I should do something for home video.

I don't know if the imagery is too on-the-nose, but I simply couldn't resist. As you'll see in the thumbnails, I considered including the entire band, or doing multiple versions with different band members (which is still a possibility). Yet, if there's one figure to include, it's singer Ruth Radelet.

Thumbs

Final illustration

Obviously, Frank Miller's Sin City was an inspiration. I generally avoid complex color schemes to begin with, so the plentiful blood seemed like a good opportunity to suggest that color had drained out of Ruth's body.

Final image

A more poster oriented version

Perhaps a full VHS package is in line?

Kevin Smith

I've been a Kevin Smith fan for a long time: his movies, his comics, his amazing Q&A's, and most recently, his armada of podcasts - especially "Fatman on Batman" in which he interviews pivotal figures in Batman's history, usually people from the brilliant Animated Series (i.e. Mark  Hamill, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, etc.). He got Kevin Conroy (the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman from the Animated Series & the guy who has been voicing the character for the past 20+ years) on the latest episode, and what an episode it is. It goes deep, an it gets heavy. It's an amazing listen for any fan of the Batman cartoon. Conroy actually attended Juliard the same time that Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve did (among other great stories and factoids).

At the very end of the podcast, Kevin Smith asks Conroy to give him life affirmations in his Batman voice, like: "Kevin [Smith], you were right to do what you did with Red State at Sundance" and "Kevin, you lost your father, and I lost my parents, but know they still love us." Some really personal and moving stuff that ended up inspiring the drawing I made.

When Smith announced he was doing a signing for his new book at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ (which would also be filmed for the new season of AMC's Comic Book Men), I knew I had to attend and give Kevin a piece of original art. Almost immediately, I thought of the "Fatman on Batman" podcast...

It was a brutal day (my brother and I waited on line for 6+ hours), but meeting Jay Mewes, Ming Chen, Mike Zapzic, and of course Kevin Smith himself made it all worth it. For all I know, he threw out the drawing as soon as I left, but he seemed genuinely appreciative (and just genuine in general), especially considering he was supposed to sign from 2 to 5pm, and ended up signing from 2 to 10pm - signing stuff people brought, posing for pictures, and talking with EVERYONE who waited.

Hats off to you, Mr. Smith. You're a class act and I hope you enjoy the illustration.

Thumbnails.

The final piece (finished while waiting on line).

Random sketch I did while trying to maintain sanity on line.

Me and the inimitable Ming Chen from Comic Book Men. He liked my Walking Dead t-shirt.

Me and Michael Zapzic (doing an excellent Kevin Smith face), also from Comic Book Men.

My brother, myself, and Jason Mewes (who is just as nice, ridiculous, and vulgar as you'd hope he'd be in person). He graciously took a ton of pictures with people waiting on line.

A few minutes before meeting Kevin Smith.

Me and Kevin Smith (who thought to grab the drawing right before we had our picture taken).

Big Black Delta pt. II

You can see my first post on Big Black Delta, including my original drawing and thumbnails, here.

I had indefinitely shelved my BBD poster until, seemingly out of nowhere, they announced a string of East Coast summer dates - most notably 3 intimate gigs in NYC: 2 at Pianos and 1 at Brooklyn Bowl.

Once we got tickets for the Pianos shows, I realized I had an opportunity to polish the poster I'd made, and make some show-specific versions of it. Looking at my framed NIN 'Wave Goodbye' posters for inspiration, I decided that I would make a general tour poster and 2 variations on the general one for each Pianos concert (August 9th and 17th respectively) - again, thinking like a fan, and thinking about what's appealed to me in the past.

The generic poster has no glitches, while the 2 Pianos versions have their own unique glitches in the illustration and in the text, not to mention their own slightly different color schemes. The awesome BBD logo in the bottom right was designed by the incredibly talented Caspar Newbolt of Version Industries, who has done amazing work for SONOIO, 65daysofstatic, Louis C.K. and many others.

U.S. Tour Poster

U.S. Tour poster graciously signed by the entire band: Jonathan Bates, Mahsa Zargaran, and Chris Hornbrook.

Pianos 8/9/12 Poster

Signed by Jonathan Bates

Pianos 8/17/12 Poster

Signed by Jonathan Bates:

My flyer for the 8/17 show which earned me a couple of free beers from the venue.

I didn't attend the Brooklyn Bowl show (which apparently had the band going on at 2:30am or so), but I was lucky enough to attend both Pianos shows obviously... and what shows they were. The first gig was more empty, subdued and intimate, while the second had a packed crowd of people ready to dance. Funny how a Thursday versus a Friday show makes a difference. Both nights were amazing, though, especially since both included new material which sounded great. In any case, I haven't danced like that in years. Needless to say, I can't wait to see BBD again. Look out for their next album to be released some time this October or November.

http://bigblackdelta.com/

Note: If any fans are interested in the above posters, I'm happy to print extra copies and send them your way, I only ask that you cover shipping and printing costs.

DARK HORSES - "RADIO"

I've been eagerly following England-based band Dark Horses for a while now, and it looks like we'll finally be getting their debut LP this Fall on Last Gang Records! Awesome! In anticipation of the album, the 'Horses have released a new single: "Radio," complete with music video and a guest vocal spot from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Robert Levon Been on b-side "Radio Offshore." It's been available digitally for a little while now, but the physical 7" went on sale on Dark Horses' website today. To commemorate its release I created a promo illustration depicting singer Lisa Elle. I had a blast making this, and I'm looking forward to doing more.

I also included the original, full-color drawing as well as an early digital exploration. As you could imagine, the color and vibrance weren't quite right for this promo: Dark Horses kind of demand to be black & white. Enjoy!!

Original, raw illustration (graphite, ink, watercolor pencil) .

Photoshop exploration.

Carina Round

I was looking forward to seeing Carina Round play the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, but fate intervened. I have fond memories of the Knitting Factory (I've seen two of my heroes play there: Ken Andrews and Chris Corner a.k.a. IAMX), and seeing Carina play there would more than make up for when I missed her opening set for Puscifer last year. However, the night I saw Electric Youth, Anoraak, and College play the Music Hall of Wiliamsburg for the first night of "The Drive Tour" my car got broken into. Fun! On the plus side, that triple bill was pretty fantastic - Anoraak in particular blew me away.

In short, I created a poster especially for Carina's gig at the Knitting Factory, but with my passenger window obliterated and in need of replacing, my funds and enthusiasm for Brooklyn were in low supply. The good thing about this was it allowed me to fine tune the poster a bit more, even if I wouldn't be able to get a physical copy to the band and some fans in person, as planned.

The original illustration was completed in pencil and watercolor pencils on watercolor paper. It was then scanned, and modified digitally as per usual.

Also, make sure you hear Carina's excellent new album "Tigermending." It's really, really good.

Thumbnails

Original "Dry" illustration

Early Photoshop exploration.

Just add water...

More Photoshop explorations. The following 2 designs are close to the ones I'd originally planned on printing and passing out at the Knitting Factory show.

Show specific: July 24th at the Knitting Factory.

General tour poster.

Final designs (for now at least).

"Generic" poster, sans the tour specific text.

Update (9/14/12): Some social media love from Carina herself!!