Recently in ART/SKETCH BLOG Category

It's here! Thomas Dolby's first new studio music in 20 years, the "Amerikana" EP is released today, and I can finally divulge the news that I will be working with Thomas Dolby on ALL of the design work leading up to and including his new album, "A Map Of The Floating City" later this year. It's a dream come true for a huge Dolby geek/fan, but I've had a great time collaborating with Thomas so far, and there's some really cool stuff coming up in the near future!

Here's the official press release:
Today I'm releasing my first new studio music in nearly 20 years. It's called Amerikana, and it's available ONLY to members of my online fan community, The Flat Earth Society.

"I've chosen not to make this a full commercial release for various reasons. My plan has always been to put out a series of three digital EPs (taking their names from the 3 sections of my upcoming album A Map Of The Floating City) followed by a physical album with additional tracks. But as I've yet to settle on a particular release method for that album - be it self-publishing, a record label, or some new hybrid - I'd prefer not to undermine the album's commercial appeal by pulling the trigger too early. However, my 'hardcore' audience have been following my adventures on my blog and web site as I go through the process of writing and recording these songs, and it's only natural they would want an early listen to my new music. So I arrived at the idea of releasing the EPs exclusively to FES members. You will only be able to buy it here on my website, and not on iTunes, Amazon etc.

Amerikana is an affectionate look back at the 22 years I lived in the USA before returning to my native Britain three summers ago. While living in the States I became very fond of roots American music. And as it's music that was always spread and shared by travelers sitting around camp fires, I felt I'd add my traveler's voice to its ongoing story. Needless to say, I'm no hillbilly or good ol' country boy, so my own flavour of americana is a bit twisted, a bit mischievous. 'Road To Reno' charts the progress of a pair of hapless lovers as their red convertible blazes a trail across the desert in a kind of indie road movie, serenaded by my longtime cohorts the Jazz Mafia Horns. 'Toad Lickers' is about a group of crazed eco-hippies in the Welsh mountains who get high on Bufo alvarius and creep into the local town after hours in search of munchies. It has cameos from Imogen Heap on jaw harp, longtime FES member Crackers on accordion, and fiddler Natalie MacMaster.

But the EP's 'coup de resistance' is a 7?38? epic entitled '17 Hills'. Very much in the tradition of 'I Love You Goodbye' and 'Budapest By Blimp', this song weaves a bittersweet tale using words, sounds, textures, and surprising left turns in the arrangement. It features beautiful playing by Mark Knopfler, who graciously allowed me into his private studio as he added some of his signature licks, complimenting my vocal to perfection. Pedal steel player Bruce Kaphan, who produced American Music Club and has toured with David Byrne, adds soaring atmospherics. Natalie MacMaster injects a touch of Cape Breton charm with a mesmerising looped fiddle solo. Radical string quartet Ethel beckon us into the realm of the surreal. And Jeffrey Wash's pristine fretless seems to channel one of the greatest bass guitar showcases of all time, Joni's 'Hejira'.

As I mentioned, Amerikana is only one section of my album, and three of its four songs are represented here. The price, including high-res MP3s and a print-ready digital booklet, is a very affordable $3.00 / E3.00 / £2.00. The subsequent two EPs 'Oceanea' and 'Urbania' - available later in 2010 - have quite different styles, and some may prefer one over another. My albums, as you know, often cover a wide range of genres, because like a novelist I really enjoy exploring a new idiom, instrumentation, time and place; and thankfully my core fanbase has been willing to go along for the ride. So you have options: you can choose to wait for the full album and get all the goodies in one package, or you can plunge in now, and see where you end up! The eventual AMOTFC album will definitely contain at least 3 songs not included on the EPs.

That said, there is a theme running through the EPs that you might want to be aware of. The album has a backstory which is something you will have to dig a bit to uncover. Contained on each EP is a 'clue', and you're going to need to unravel its secret at each stage of the proceedings. I won't say more than that for now. My recent visit to JJ Abrams' facility in California might give you a hint about what I'm up to!

Here's the link to buy the EP. If you're not already a community member, you can sign up here!

I hope you enjoy Amerikana, and will look forward to hearing your feedback."

So there you go; sign up for his online community and get free cool new music, designed by me! It's a win-win situation.

A pin-up done for my good friends (and fellow Michiganders) Adam Withers and Comfort Love, who do the amazing and visually stunning comic book THE UNIQUES, a book that is what the Teen Titans SHOULD be, without all the bad writing and screwed up characterization.

They release all their books for free online for people to check out, and sell them like gangbusters at conventions all over the place.
You can check out the latest book they're doing, an off-shoot title called UNIQUES TALES, which focuses on the backstory of the UNIQUES, and the history and lineage of the current super-heroes in the book, at this link.

With this in mind, they've got an amazing assembly of artists working on the art and pin-ups for this series, and they asked me to lend my penchant for doing old school retro posters for my contribution, showing the League of Seven, their book's version of the Justice League. I had a blast with this one!

New stuff from the DRAW EACH OTHER and REMAKE threads, this week re-imagining YOUNG ROMANCE #1.

This is a strange one, but completely within the jurisdiction of how I made this available via Creative Commons. Dude gave me full credit and provided the work as a free download. It's a mod or "spray" on a game called DAY OF DEFEAT that uses my Black Angel REmake "Kick Their Axis" poster:

Actually kind of cool to see.

Here's the full entry:LINK

This week's REMAKE/REMODEL challenge; the redesign of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider Man.
One illustrative, one typographic.

Wow, THIS is going to be an interesting week...
The pitch from Warren Ellis:
"So here's the deal:

You are an artist/designer. You have to put together the cover for a comic called SUPERMAN. It is issue 1 of this book.

You have been told that Superman is a man who dresses predominantly in a shade of blue, and wears a red S symbol. You know nothing else about the character.

The cover must include a logo and the text THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE DARING EXPLOITS OF THE ONE AND ONLY SUPERMAN.

And that's it.

It's up to you what kind of company you're at. What kind of comics you make. How you translate that description of Superman. What era you're in. Who you are, even. Go nuts with it.

You have one week. Go."

Decided to whip out the type-fu for this one, go all Swiss on it.
Worked really hard to keep it simple, and assume nothing more than exactly what was given.

Here's a bunch of recent stuff that's been posted on Warren Ellis' WHITECHAPEL forums in various places. Gotta be true to my commitment to keep making 2010 a year of MAKE.

After a short hiatus, the REMAKE/REMODEL thread is active at Whitechapel. Here's this week's challenge:

"Skyrocket Steele was a hero in the year X. He was assisted by Sari Marston and Invex the Invisible Man. His nemesis was Vance Roy.
Skyrocket Steele was the first character created by Bill Everett (the guy who created the Sub Mariner."

So here's my take on it:
"Skyrocket" Steele, the most highly decorated pilot of the French Negro Air Corps of 1923. His daughter Sari served as his mechanic, and the corps were funded by the "invisible" Invex Corporation, a secret group of investors.

Been screwing around for a few days with some freeware called ALCHEMY. Very cool, randomized sketching software, more dedicated to the chaotic creation of forms rather than straight up representation. Not sure how it's best used, but it's a nice distraction and brain clearing exercise. Check out the website for download and sample work, along with the designers showing how it can be used. Very cool!

Here's a desktop design I did last night, again just messing around, but some cool directions may come from this.

Lots of stuff in the hopper right now, and lots of things on the horizon. Good stuff. Fun stuff. So here's a catch up on some art posted on the Ellis boards for some of the recent REMAKE threads: