Austra

Continuing with the band posters theme, here's the one I did for the band Austra, easily one of my favorite groups right now. I'd rank their debut album, last year's "Feel It Break", in my Top 5 (or Top 2) of 2011 without question. The initial idea for this poster (the blood-soaked hair), as seen in the thumbnails, was inspired by their song "Trip" which has some great, evocative imagery in its lyrics. Once I decided on that, I sought out reference of singer Katie Stelmanis, ultimately working from a still taken from the music video for "Lose It."

Thumbnails:

RAW pencil illustration:

Photoshop explorations:

Final image:

I love the idea of the blood-drenched hair and the nose-bleed being separate events, the latter being a last-minute idea that came from the still I was looking at. I don't know if that theme comes across or not, but if it does, hopefully it adds some intrigue to the piece. The various debris and typography that frames the image was an attempt at a.) acknowledging the title of Austra's album ("Feel It Break") and b.) drawing the eye back to Katie's face, which should be the visual anchor, despite the downward motion of the overall illustration.

Zola Jesus

I've been a fan of Zola Jesus (a.k.a. Nika Roza Danilova) since she went on tour opening for The xx with Warpaint. I had tickets to said tour when it rolled through NYC in October 2010, but sadly, I arrived late and missed her set. However, I still sought out her music beforehand, and was instantly impressed: it's hard not to be blown away by her song "Night" on first listen. Since then, she's released the "Valusia" EP as well as a full-length album titled "Conatus." She writes and sings in a grandiose, operatic fashion... which isn't a coincidence: Nika is an Opera-trained singer who eventually abandoned the idea of pursuing a traditional career in Opera. This influence combined with her seemingly innate dark, moody sensibilities makes for some very powerful and memorable compositions. Despite her young age, she has already completed impressive collaborations with M83, Pictureplane, Former Ghosts, Orbital, Prefuse 73, and LA Vampires. In short, she's a remarkably talented and unique voice, even in 2012's colorful musical landscape.

So when it came time for me plan an independent study for my final college semester, I was strongly leaning towards a music-related project. Ultimately, I decided to illustrate and design posters for my favorite bands, and Zola Jesus was one of the first that came to mind. Nika's inherent photogenic qualities and ethereal aesthetic made her an obvious choice. I also finished posters for Steven Wilson, Atari Teenage Riot, Big Black Delta, and Austra - all of which I'll be posting on this blog if I haven't already. Each of the posters are meant to be the kind of thing sold at a merch booth during a concert, but I still aimed for a design that could be appreciated by someone who had never heard of the band/artist before. In other words, I hoped to strike a balance between maintaining a fine art feel while still accurately promoting the band/artist to those familiar and unfamiliar with them.

This led to me creating 2 main versions of my Zola Jesus poster: one "generic" version that isn't show or album specific, and a "Divine Ricochet" one which directly advertises her recent concert at the Guggenheim featuring JG Thirwell and the Mivos Quartet. (Divine Ricochet is the name of the concert series that Zola Jesus participated in) Here's a rough breakdown of the poster-creating process.

Initial thumbnails and ideas:

Raw scan of final illustration:

Photoshop explorations:

Final "generic" design:

Final "Divine Ricochet" design:

Interestingly, Nika has expressed a slight frustration in her music: she writes huge-sounding songs but does so primarily through keyboards and software. Ideally, she'd be recording her tunes with massive symphonies. While she has yet to do this, she came as close as she ever has on May 10th, 2012 when she, JG Thirwell, and the Mivos Quartet played live at the Guggenheim in NYC. I was lucky enough to get a ticket the day of the show, and couldn't be happier I did. With JG conducting the quartet through Zola's songs (which he arranged for strings specifically for the event), and Nika herself singing with great presence (despite her demure figure), the one-of-a-kind performance soared. The combination of the strings, the vocal, and occasional backing-track of electronic beats was often emotional, and always captivating. The crowd was appropriately respectful and reverent throughout - the gravitas of the music heightened by the iconic interior structure of the Guggenheim.

After the show, I walked around a bit aimlessly and eventually grabbed the setlist (which included an encore/reprise of opening number "Avalanche" in which Nika deftly went into a very high vocal register I'd never heard her do before). After leaving the museum and mingling on the sidewalk directly outside the entrance, I handed out a few "flyers" of my poster design on black and white 8.5x11" paper. Everyone seemed to be happy to receive them, including one fan who asked for an extra. A little later on, I found that same fan again, who asked me if I drew the flyer I gave him. I told him "yes" and asked if he liked it. He also said "yes" and mentioned he'd just gotten Nika to sign it! (!!!!) I of course freaked out and asked if she seemed to like the drawing: the fans responded affirmatively. They each got their copies signed by her, and proceeded to share the proof with me:

(EDIT 9/1/12 - Thanks to David for the hi-res scan of the signed flyer!)

Apparently, it was their 3rd time meeting Nika, and they had nothing but nice things to say about her (they were "Fan number 1" and "Fan number 1-and-a-half" respectively - awesome). They felt bad that I had missed her, but I was too taken aback by the fact that she had a.) seen my art, b.) signed it, and c.) acknowledged it in a positive way. They also asked me to sign their individual "flyers" which was of course my pleasure. At the beginning of the night, I imagined my best case scenario would be getting the high-quality, full-color print of the poster I brought to a Museum staff member (who could maybe pass it along). I was elated by the way things had actually turned out.

"Machete Peach" score

Shockingly, I don't think I ever posted about the hilarious short film my dear friends made, titled "Machete Peach", shot on location in Panama. I had the honor and pleasure of creating an original score for "Machete Peach" which was finally completed and posted this past September. My friend Ryan Smith (who is currently scoring an even more ambitious film as we speak) wrote the amazing music that plays during the intro, and I wrote everything beginning at the 2:45 mark. The score went through numerous drafts, but myself and the film makers are both happy with the final product. Would love to do it all over again.

You can watch "Machete Peach" and its predecessor "Machete Cake" at the following link. The 3rd part in the trilogy is currently in pre-production! Enjoy!!

http://vimeo.com/28917407

Maybe Bomb art

My brother John and I are finally zeroing in on an art direction for his solo music project Maybe Bomb. The album, titled "Dotted Lines and Whispers" (listen to the title track here, has been mixed and mastered for a while now. The one major factor that's been holding back its official release is the artwork and design for the album.

Make sure to "Like" Maybe Bomb's facebook page and follow them on twitter. Don't forget John's soundcloud page either!

Here's some recent tests I've done.

Sketch-up

Oh boy, first post of 2012! ...in late March. Here's some recent sketches.

Rachel Solando (from Scorsese's 'Shutter Island'):


Madame Charlotte Gainsbourg (also with blood on her face for no real reason):


Headphone girl:


Escape:

Souncloud

I finally registered a page at Souncloud. I think I might've joined a few months ago, but now I've got a personal URL where you can listen, download, favorite, and comment on songs of mine I've uploaded. It makes a lot more sense to host my songs there, rather than have anyone who visits this blog crudely download mp3s from sendspace. Using Souncloud is sleeker and more streamlined, so I'll simultaneously update the blog when I post something new there.

As of this post, the only thing I've got up there is the remix I did of MUTEMATH's "Odd Soul" - the title track from their forthcoming album - as a part of the contest they're currently holding. It's a little rough around the edges, but I was anxious to finish, and overall, I accomplished what I wanted to with it. Hope you like!

Also, be sure to check out my brother's submission for that same contest at his Souncloud page. He strips the song down to drums and vocals while adding a new and beautiful synth chord progression. I like it more than the original personally.

Jim Penola at Souncloud:

http://soundcloud.com/jimpenola


John Penola / Maybe Bomb at Souncloud:

http://soundcloud.com/maybe-bomb

Odd Soul ("Ever Higher" mix) by jimpenola

The obsession continues...

Here's a 16" x 20" painting of Fincher's Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara), once again based on the W cover. Not sure how I'm gonna do the text/tattoo yet, but I had to share now since it could be a while.