New Art 2013

This one was a fast doodle with a silver Sharpie on black board. I like working with high-contrast sometimes, and had fun going freeform without an outline too. I think subconsciously this piece had me thinking about an album cover by now-defunct Scottish crusters Sedition, featuring a Pictish man, cartoony, but in full adornment. I of course put my own twist on it by incorporating the Middle Eastern, Art Nouveau and Punk styles I often reference.

The Long Haul t-shirt

Here is a new t-shirt design for Southampton UK hardcore outfit The Long Haul. The idea for the design was to explore the human in its immanent presence while making some commentary on religion. The figure was to be sort of martyr-like but shown in the flesh, and therefore fallible. I think having human vivisection achieved that end too by essentially breaking down the relationship between man and his ideas (fear). Shirt will be available later this summer, 2012.

Ironhorse T-Shirt Design

Here is the latest t-shirt design for Boulder, Colorado’s Ironhorse. These guys play seriously heavy and abrasive hardcore/metal/crust/grind and should not be missed live. Like their name implies, a locomotive. The design is sort of a media critique where the main figure has a crown nailed to him – an unlikely king made by the vapid standards in which society makes kings from nothing. 2-color, scratchy style on a charcoal grey shirt.

Heartless t-shirt

Here is a new shirt design for the Heartless/Full of Hell tour. It’s printed black-on-black for the true cvlt hardcore kids that need fashionably-forward gear, shown here on dark grey. There were many iterations of this design – even more than the album itself – but this design is the final. Maybe I’ll post those up since it might be interesting to see the evolution of such things all at once.

Get this shirt and others at Heartless’ BigCartel store.

Scriptorium

Another script with some filigree added to suggest an origin of old.

Heartless – Hell is Other People LP-CD art and design

Here is the latest work I’ve completed for Pittsburgh’s Heartless. The LP is entitled Hell is Other People, after the Jean-Paul Sartre play No Exit, where it is revealed that the characters are locked in a room and have no torturers other than themselves. While working on visuals that would carry the theme, we came up with a central figure in collapse with disembodied eyes implying that these people are our judges, always staring. The back cover references isolation and broken teeth in the lyrics. There were some discussions whether this project would be in color or B/W, and ultimately B/W was decided, wherein the gatefold art needed to be done as well. I’m glad, and I love how the stark black with rough grey washes rounded everything out and gave the project a frantic, darkened look. Heartless‘ music is the real highlight (lowlight?) of all this – it’s a grimy, ugly and enraged slice of metal, hardcore, thrash and sludge all blended together into something really unique. This grey-blooded death beast was a true joy to be part of and I really moved forward with some of my own work. The LP/CD will be on Southern Lord, my favorite label and it’s easily one of the best. Needless to say I am excited and humbled.

Crown and Totem

A couple new ones, using a ton of ink and a frantic inskstyle. These are the explorative sketches for a project dubbed Beardprint.

Medical

Yep, medical.

Review on CVLTNation

Just got a stellar review from CVLTNation, a really great blog chock full of art, fashion, and metal/hardcore punk. I haven’t really gotten a lot of recognition or reviews outside of friends and a handful bands that I have worked with. I always get a bit nervous that I’m a hack (I am), but I’m glad others like what I’m doing. I think my artist’s “voice” is still developing and I like the trajectory I’m on into making more serious attempts at my work. I am really excited about this kind of feedback, thanks a bunch!

Warcharge sketch

I’ve been toying around with the idea of standardizing some of my sketching spaces into a format that happens to be proportionately scaled to fit an album or CD cover. Not that I usually work that way, but the formality of setting up nice paper on a board and going through the proper process doesn’t always work for the majority of the time I’m drawing, which is just flowing ideas in my sketchbook in my chair or whatever.

So, this one I’m calling Warcharge, and it’s more of a study than anything and I sketched all of it in the majority of one evening for a few hours. The interesting thing about it to me is the subject matter, or rather, the provenance from which it came and from where I get my inspiration after thinking about it for a minute. This is probably the ‘crustiest’ art I’ve intentionally drawn in awhile and it is an unabashed nod to those who came before me. These are obvious references to Bolt Thrower’s In Battle There Is No Law LP, Deviated Instinct’s Rock-n-Roll Conformity LP, the inside gate art of Axegrinder’s Rise Of The Serpent Men LP, and maybe a sleight to Inferno’s Tod und Wahnsinn LP, Negative Gain’s Back From The Dead LP and more that are similar such as early Kreator, Deathrow, and High on Fire. Efforts from Stormcrow, Sanctum and others also bear the stenchcore standard, in all their Mad Max-ed out Warhammered glory. It may be fairly obvious that Frank Frazetta’s heavy hand might behind all of this, a master whose work probably best captures all of this style.