Update
Friday, August 26, 2011 - 8:57 AM
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Cover text for the front of the album
Yosemite Roots
Monday, August 22, 2011 - 2:00 PM
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When we started this Dear Hunter & Kay Kay tour, we took a few days to visit Yosemite National Park. There will be a podcast released very soon of that footage, but we found this upturned tree along one of the pathways to Mirror Lake. we took a band photo in front of it which I hope gets used for something, and I'm also including this somewhere in our album art, though I've not yet decided where.
Gatefold Artwork
Monday, August 22, 2011 - 12:51 PM
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All the pen illustration is complete of the vinyl-exclusive art! I began watercolor a bit ago, and almost finished a lot of it. Keeping a 2 foot piece of fragile paper in the van is hard to do, but i bought a really cheap portfolio at Michaels to keep it in. We played in Atlanta recently, and I left the piece at home for Erin, my girlfriend, to finish it up. She's better at filling large spaces then I am. If you start at the bottom, you can see the progress happen. The top one right here is the most recent version.
This is a very special part of the artwork to me. I'll leave the reasons be unknown, but rest assured that this is one of my favorite parts of the artwork
My girlfriend and I took a trip to Helen, GA this last christmas, and i saw this on the way up there. I attempted to draw it for this gatefold, although i had to tell myself that i'm not going to be able to get all of that detail in there
Desert Dream
Monday, August 9, 2011 - 11:54 AM
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I just realized that my last post was over 3 months ago. I've been very very busy with the artwork, actually. There's an entire new piece now. This is going to be for the vinyl edition of our album ONLY, so anyone who picks up the wax version of Garden Window is going to be very pleasantly surprised! When you open up your record, your eyes will feast upon an entire landscape of expanded artwork not present in the CD version.
As you can see, I'm drawing more of those creatures from the back of the record. There's an interesting story about these three specifically. Last summer, we were on our way to new york to play a show. I was sleeping in the van as we were driving during the day, and I had this dream...
Our band was on tour, and we were a bit lost heading to our next venue. We started hitting some dirt / gravely roads, but we kept going in hopes that we'd pop out at the end at a street or something. The next thing we know, we're in the middle of a desert, driving right through the plains, while our van and leaves a trail of dust behind us. It's barren as far as the eye can see. Only an occasional sporadic tree graces the horizon surrounding us. Michael was driving, and stops the van in the middle of an open area. The dust cloud we were causing momentarily catches up with us, enveloping the van for a moment before clearing and revealing the vast plains around us. For some reason, Michael and I get out of the van and walk around to the trailer to get something out of it. He returned back to the driver seat, leaving me alone in the silence, and I open the side door to just grab whatever it was I needed. I start to get this strange feeling, like there's this presence with me. I turn around, nothing. I stared out across the desert, starting from the left and slowly following the horizon to the right. It's quiet, peaceful even. Nothing but a gentle wind blowing, the sound of a crow, just nature. After staring for a second though, I notice some movement off to the right very far away. I see three figures washed out in the distant heat waves, but moving towards me. Something doesn't feel right, I feel afraid. So I jumped into the trailer and turned around. They had closed about half a mile in mere seconds. Now I could make out two large, dog-like animals with swirling eyes rushing towards me with a younger baby between them. I panicked and tried to close the door behind me, but it only locks from the outside and doesn't stay shut, so I tried to squeeze in between all of our music equipment and hold the door shut very uncomfortably with my fingers. Somehow I could see out through the trailer walls, but you were not supposed to be able to see INTO it. The creatures were running in a sidewinding pattern, silently zig-zagging across the desert towards me. All three of them made every single movement in unison, and their faces never strayed away from my eyes, even as their bodies turned they still faced me. Suddenly they stopped right outside of the trailer and stood motionless, entrancingly staring into my eyes through the trailer walls. I was standing but bent over to the side in an extremely uncomfortable position, making it hard to even breath, barely hanging on to the closed door with two fingers. It was incredibly hot in there, sweat was dripping off me as my hushed breath struggled to even get in and out. They were just standing there, 5 feet away, completely still just waiting for me to let go of the door and fall out. I tried to see if they really could see me, so I'd move my head slowly to the right and left. Their faces all followed the exact pattern. My chest was hurting, my fingers were cramping, I couldn't breath, I was sweating, I was terrified. This frozen position continued for ten minutes. No one moving, no sound, nothing. Just painfully remaining still and losing my grip on the door.
And then I awoke. In the van again. I immediately gasped for breath and my eyes widened and I sat up and looked around. My mouth was completely dry, I was sweating and my heart was beating very rapidly. It felt so good to be back in the van again! I couldn't believe how scary that dream was, and I wanted to draw what i had seen. So I thought I'd try and capture the way they looked and add them into the artwork.
Watercolor Progress
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 - 1:57 PM
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I haven't been able to post anything for awhile, but I've been hard at work coloring everything in and adding lots of cool textures.
Watercolor Pencils!
Monday, March 28, 2011 - 2:45 PM
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After a lot of patient planning and preparation, I finally put the finishing touches of pen onto these two pieces of paper, I even did a little shading with it. I have a color sheet with all the different shades I could use, which is a hard task in itself. Now that everything is outlined, what color should things be? What color scheme am I going for here? These, and others, are the questions I must now ask myself. As you can see, things are coming along quite rapidly, this stuff spreads quite easily. Shading all these different objects is really fun, seeing things pop off the page and stand out. My girlfriend has been helping me with a couple of tricks she learned in art school, one being the use of salt mixed in with the wet paint, giving it a different texture, it didn't quite work on the grass, but I'm sure we'll try again in a different area. She said that rubbing alcohol works well to create a faded effect, and also color matched Olive Green so we could use a cu-tip to spread the paint more easily across the foreground. If you've never used these, I encourage you to give them a try. It's so easy and looks great, too. I'm probably going to get addicted to them, myself.
Progress Update #2
Friday, March 11, 2011 - 4:23 PM
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Above shows the entire piece at it's current state. I haven't gotten a chance to draw a lot lately, and we leave for SXSW in two days, so I think I'm going to bring it along with me so I can work on it in my down time.
I've taken the liberty to show each theme of the artwork below...
THE BLACK SNAKE:
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MONSTERS:
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| "from our split 7" with Sainthood Reps " |
I really don't understand where these things came to me. The first encounter I had with them was when we were staying at a friends house on tour. We were all hanging out and listening to music at his house after a show. I was laying on my stomach on the bed, relaxing and looking down at the carpet. Suddenly, the same way clouds can take shape, i saw something staring at me; this evil looking furry beast with hypnotic, piercing eyes and a mouth like I had never seen before. I froze. I couldn't look away. Everyone else's talking around me faded, and everything around me became blurred. I heard this indescribable sound as I watched the creature move and contort, my eyes widened, I was fixated on it. Even today, every time I look at our 7" artwork, I hear that sound still. It sounds like...a low, drone trumpet call, kind of. I heard a similar sound in the soundtrack to Hans Zimmer's "Inception" soundtrack. I frantically asked someone for a pen and a piece of paper. I couldn't look away, in case I were to lose the image. It seemed like forever till I got one, but finally someone (no idea who haha) gave me what I'd asked for, upon which I immediately did a blind contour drawing of the...thing. It wasn't until then did I snap out of my entranced state and return to reality. Here is that drawing
The whole thing was incredibly bazaar, and frankly, scary. I redrew that specific one for our vinyl, and I decided to create a few more for this new release.
I intend to draw this for our vinyl edition of the album. There's going to be exclusive artwork drawn specifically just for that.
CROWS:
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This crow is guarding a vase of olive oil, which was used for baptismal cleansing in the Bible, and symbolizes purity. I wanted it to be on the left panel, as if it had been stolen from the other side.
DEMONS:
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As I've written in the previous post, the spiritual beings in Garden Window, as well as our last album, were inspired by some dreams johnny had. These are the original drawings from The Death of Day that started it all
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Demons
Thursday, March 3, 2011 - 5:01 PM
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These are the first two demons I've drawn so far. They'll be on the left panel, coming out of the woods towards the house. I drew a few of these for The Death of Day on the outside of the home, peering into the window and running around in the darkness. I love visual themes, and I especially love reoccurring ones throughout a band's releases. I think these, along with the black snakes, will both become those things for o'brother. A lot of Tanner's lyrics deal with spiritual warfare, and Johnny has told me on several occasions that he has seen demons while sleeping and in his dreams. He described them as shape-shifting black figures, with sharp teeth and spiky hair, and that there was a ghostly trail following their movements. One specific time he said that he was in bed sleeping, woke up and couldn't move. He could feel a presence behind his eyes, and then saw it come into view, getting very close to his face with it's piercing eyes. This story influenced me to draw a visual interpretation of what I saw when he was describing it to me, and that's where I got the ideas for these creatures.
Progress Update
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011 - 9:40 AM
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I have much to post today. A lot of progress has been made on the second panel, which I'm thinking will be the back of the album. I really don't know what we're going to do with all this stuff, so for now, I'm just drawing and we can worry about that later. Maybe we'll crop some portions of all these things, I really don't know. But at any rate, I'm going to show you a few things I've been working on. For some reason, things have been coming together very quickly all of a sudden, as if something finally clicked in my head and transported itself into my hand. It took FOREVER to sketch out the first piece, but this one took roughly two days, if even that long. Then I started going over portions of it with pen last night, and I couldn't stop!
There is something I would like to draw attention to on the left panel below the tree. I drew a small thistle plant amongst the kudzu / ivy (the main theme of the artwork). The thistle is a prickly flower that protects against herbivorous animals, and is often times symbolic of evil or pain. It can also represent Christ's suffering, and may appear in paintings at the foot of the cross.
I want every detail of Garden Window to be there for a reason, it can be easy to just draw stuff for the sake of appearance, similar to a lot of art I see, but it's much harder to have everything mean something and correlate with the theme of the album. I just want these two panels to be conflicting with one another in a sense of ongoing spiritual warfare. A lot of the lyrical themes Tanner has been working on deal with spirituality, growth and nature, and I want the imagery to be directly connected to those ideas. It's one thing when an album has great artwork and looks cool, but when it enhances the music and lyrical content, even elaborates upon them, to me, that's what makes a record great, and I hope to give someone that experience of enlightenment and inspiration with this album. The left of these two panels represents evil and sin; the snake being a universal symbol of deceit and the apple of temptation, the parasitic ivy plant is associated with immortality, similar to evergreens, but is also a symbol of death, drawing moisture from the trees it grows on. Demons will be coming out of the woods, and I'm sure I'll think of other things to add. I want to make the sky darker on the left side, maybe use darker colors for everything too.
My recent playlist:
Eyvind Kang - Napoli 23 & Virginal Co-ordinates
Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday
Intronaut - Valley of Smoke
Kayo Dot / Bloody Panda - split 12"
Converge - No Heroes
St. Vincent - Marry Me & Actor
Six Organs of Admittance - The Sun Awakens
Rosetta - A Determinism in Mortality
Thrice - Beggars
Om - God is Good
Psychic Babble - My Brother's Ears / My Sister's Eyes
Neurosis - Given to the Rising
YOB - The Great Cessation
Woven Hand - The Threshing Floor
Harvey Milk - A Small Turn in Human Kindness
Snake's Apple Nest
Thursday, Feb 3, 2011 - 3:33 PM
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Leaves, Snakes and Wings
Thursday, Feb 3, 2011 - 10:27 AM
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This is the bottom left corner of the drawing. I just detailed everything last night, so I thought I'd scan it before I start working today and do anything else. If you click on the image for full size, you can see that there's still pencil lines underneath the pen layer, which i have not yet erased. Trying to do this can be a messy process at times, as the eraser can often wear down the pen line, causing it to fade considerably. I've had to go back over a few areas of this drawing and re darken some spots. I'm nearing completion with pen on the first panel however, upon which I'll start outlining the second one, and then I can finally begin using watercolor pencils!
Bowing Trees
Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 11:47 AM (Catch)
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These trees are in the background to the right of the house. For some reason, I thought of the story of joseph and his brothers in the bible when his brother's bundles of grain bowed down before him in a dream. I wanted all the trees to do the same towards the house. They're all outlined in the picture below.
And here's a picture of the whole piece. I don't think i've taken one since my first entry down there at the bottom.
My playlist this week:
Oceansize - Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up
Earth - Angels of Darkeness, Demons of Light
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Wolves in the Throneroom - Two Hunters
Cult of Luna - Salvation
Altar of Plagues - White Tomb
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Cave In - Planets of Old
Sleep - Dopesmoker
Gregor Samsa - Rest
Colour Revolt - The Cradle
Stebmo
Meshuggah - I
Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye
Burial Chamber Trio
Garden House
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2011 - 11:29 AM
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This is a series of sketches and pen drawings of the home that will reside in the garden. You'll be able to see each stage of the process, I want to show before and after pictures so you can see how I work. I'll keep updating this section and show the timeline.
stage two. I'm trying to do everything that requires a .01 pen (a medium "regular" width pen that's kind of my go-to, i have been using it for everything so far). When I'm all done with that, I'll switch to the extremely fine Micron .005, you can hardly see the tip of it, and since i only have a black color one and no sepia, the smaller detail parts will just have to wait. Michael's doesn't sell it, and to order it online will cost $10 for a $2 pen, so I'll head to this art supply store downtown to see if they have one. It may not look much different, but nothing you see is done in black, it's all brown ink. It can get pretty dark at times, and I'm wondering if it even makes a difference, but I personally think it has a more natural and unique appearance about it. If you're not familiar with the Micron .005, you'll be able to see how small of detail it can handle when i post pictures of it.
I'm trying to make the pathway have a snake-like appearance and have the door of the house be its head. It was a complete accident, and it's funny because snakes are one of the themes tanner and the guys wanted to incorporate into the artwork. Also, there was a root from the tree that i had outlined at the bottom, of which I also changed into a snake. You can see both pictured below. Once things start coming together a bit more, I'll post something about all the imagery and symbolism that this album will contain, both lyrically and visually.
first stage of house. these Prismacolor HB pencil sketches just outline the basics of what i want everything to look like, then I go over it with pen, sometimes following the line exactly, sometimes taking a chance and whimsically changing something.
Update
Thursday, January 6, 2011 - 10:39 AM
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I've been hard at work lately. Things are coming along very nicely, albeit slow and steady. i stepped back and looked at the cover and didn't realize how far i'd gotten. Half of the time I'm working, my head is inches away from the page, giving each section special attention to detail. here are few snapshots of what i've been doing.
here are some of the albums i've been listening to while drawing, as well
The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord & Days of Future Passed
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions & Black One
Yes - Close to the Edge
Early Day Miners and Unwed Sailor - Stateless
Meshuggah - Catch 33 & Obzen
Daughters - Hell Songs
Clint Mansell - The Fountain
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter From the Ash
Opeth - Watershed
Hans Zimmer - Inception
Tree Moss
Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010 - 8:15 PM
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This Week's Playlist
Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010 - 11:22 AM
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Both my ipod and cd player have been in steady use alongside my art this last week. Here is what i've been listening to as of late.
Earth - A Bureaucratic Desire For Extra-Capsular Extraction
Comus - To Keep From Crying
Eyvind Kang - The Story of Iceland
Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
Let The Night Roar
Bloody Panda - Summon
Clint Mansell - Black Swan
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward
The Heuristic - Parapraxes
sunn O))) - Dømkirke
jesu - Silver
Slowdive - Pygmalion
Colour Revolt - The Cradle
Daughters - self titled
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything & Loveless
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| art update |
Watercolor Pencils
Monday, Dec. 20, 2010 - 2:20 PM
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I made a replica portion of my artwork last night, and I tested my hand at using these pencils. They looks pretty incredible, actually. I think I learned enough how to use them to where i'm comfortable touching them to my actual drawings.
Sketch Update
Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 - 1:41 PM
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Kudzu Garden
Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 - 2:25 PM
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| i am going to attempt to draw this for the inner jacket |
Watercolor Pencils
Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 - 8:50 AM
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Last night i did a watercolor pencil test with my girlfriend. I've never used them, and she is very skilled in the ways, so she was showing me how to utilize their strengths. I'm really excited to try them out, i have always loved the way watercolor textures look, and with colored pencils, you can blend everything and have a lot more control over where you stop the lines. Here's a test run we did with them.
Kitty Interruption
Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 - 11:09 AM
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| Hard at work... |
Update #2
Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 - 10:40 AM
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Well, i woke up at 7 this morning and began work on my sketch for the cover. I ended up starting over again because i bought two 20 x 30 140lb watercolor pieces of paper, as well as a 18 x 24 watercolor pad last week at Michael's. I'm pretty excited to say the least, just having this really nice textured paper is inspiring and makes me want to work on them. I've never used watercolor paint, so i'm going to feel very out of my element, which i like. i've also never worked on such a large scale before, i always draw things actual size of what the finished product will be. With The Death of Day, i drew everything about 4 x 8 inches, using acrylic paint, pen and pencil. with our 7", i drew everything 7 x 14 pen and pencil, again, actual size. But this time around, I'm working as if this is for a 12" record (which I hope happens anyway) so it will be shrunk down to fit a cd. So I have a lot more paper to cover, and a lot more drawing to do. Although this will take longer and be harder to do, I'm going to be able to draw much more detail and get finer lines. I have a few Micron sepia pen sets, including a .005 fine point (which I've also never used) as well. The cover sketch is nearing completion, i would say. I'll scan it very shortly. I've been listening to Eyvind Kang the past two days. He has done a lot of cello, viola and violin work for some great records, including the incredible "Monoliths & Dimensions" by Sunn 0))), "Altar" by Sunn 0))) & Boris, and "Luminous Night" by Six Organs of Admittance. He also composed all the string arrangements for "Misery is A Butterfly" by Blonde Redhead. His solo stuff is pretty cool, I'm just starting to listen to it. I'm always listening to music when i do my art, I prefer it to silence always. Either my ipod or one of my records is always going on when I'm drawing, it's extremely peaceful. I better get back to it, we start pre production for our record at 2 PM today, which is most exciting. Until then.
Salutations
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2010 - 12:09 PM
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Hello, this is Aaron. I am doing the artwork for our new record, and will periodically update this section with scans or photos of what I'm doing, amongst other interesting facts on what I'm up to. Here is the first sketch for the cover, it's something that normally I would hope no one would ever see because it looks so stupid, but the guys want me to show updates on everything, so here ya go :)
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| Rough outline of the cover. |
