Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! I hope that everyone had a great evening. I had a great time with a few friends from Portland, OR and a few of my favorite people here in Seattle at the Neurosis show. They played a 2 night NW engagement staring Thursday December 30th with Wolves in The Throne Room and Black Breath and NYE with Ludicra, Yob, and Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth. It was a crushing show and one of the best ways to start 2011. Neurosis played 3 new songs and gave us all something to look forward in the new year.
Speaking of new year, I have several things coming up. I'm still working on finishing the Hell Hath No Fury LP/CD cover and almost finished with a new Kylesa shirt design. I will continue working with Mark Morton on some new LOG designs as well as joining my friend, Brian Mercer, in creating some designs for a new NASCAR endeavor that Mark and his wife have going. I finally get to work with the mighty Buzzov*en by designing their European tour shirts. There will also be a few sticker packs coming out and I've talked to a few friends who will be making prints of a few designs this year.
Also this year, I'll be tour managing Kylesa for their East and West Coast tours in support of "Spiral Shadow". The East coast tour starts January 13th in Atlanta, GA and will feature supporting acts Zoroaster (1/13-1/20), Rosetta (1/21-1/29), & Fight Amp. I'll be around so come out, see some good music, and say hello!
Cheers all and I look forward to another great year! In the words of Jonathan Nuñez, "It's going to be the best last year ever".

The new Noisear, Kylesa, and a NW green chile weekend.

I know that it's been a while since I posted anything, but it's been busy over the past few months. I'm finally rested after the 6 week Sanctioned Annihilation Tour came to an end and I'm back in the art room.
Since I've been back, I've been working on sketches for the next few projects that are coming up. I've also started up where I left off on the Hell Hath No Fury "So Shall You Reap" cover. Among the projects coming up during the month are a new Kylesa shirt design, Buzzov-en European Tour shirt, and original designs for a new sticker pack. Prints are also being worked on. I have more designs coming up, but am going to take more time on them so that I can up the ante on the work that I am putting out.
The new Noisear "Subvert The Dominant Paradigm" cd/lp has been posted for pre-sale at Relapse Records (http://shop.relapse.com/store/product.aspx?ProductID=41978). For those of you who don't know who Noisear (www.myspace.com/noisearare) should really check them out. Once again, my hermanos from New Mexico turn out a brutal assault on the ears via 29 sun baked spazztic grindcore tracks. I was amped when Dorian called to ask if I could once again design the cover for the new LP. He sent me a text filled with a string of words, each being small ideas to be included in the cover . I took those ideas and added in the images that the album title suggested and ended up with a cover that everyone was happy with. Of course, the basis of the image is the New Mexico zia constructed of bone that lies behind most of the main images. The nuclear bomb cloud is also a nod to New Mexico and their history of tests within the state. When thinking about the dominant paradigm, I wanted to convey the idea of brainwashing under the watchful eye of the dark powers that be. I also tied the nuclear cloud in with the vomit coming from each of the skulls mouths to convey that what spews from the mouths of society is as poisonous as any nuke. Dorian, Joe, and the guys at Relapse are pretty stoked on the cover and I can hardly wait until I have it in my hands.
In other news, I just got done tour managing Kylesa's 3 mini Pacific Northwest Tour over the past weekend. I stuffed them full of green chile and had a blast watching them tear shit up on stage. They started in Vancouver, BC at the Media Club, for a packed and heavy show featuring locals Haggatha and Baptists. The next night was at Seattle's own Funhouse. The show was sold out and stuffed to capacity as Book Of Black Earth, Lesbian, and Kylesa laid waste to the stage. The 3rd night was actually a private party/show in Portland, OR. It was Stumptown Coffee Roasters 11th Anniversary Bash and they managed to put together one hell of a show with Red Fang, Kylesa, and Baroness. Portland was cold outside, but inside of Berbati's Pan it was raging. We were all treated exceptionally well and were completely grateful to the folks at Berbati's and Stumptown. That party makes me want to work for them. heh. It was a great weekend and a fun quick visit from the Kylesa crew.
I will be seeing them again soon, though. Starting January 13th, Kylesa will be embarking on a 2 week East Coast "Winter Tour" with Zoroaster, Rosetta, and Fight Amp. You can find all of the tour dates and news at: www.tonedeaftouring.com/kyl.html. I'll be once again tour managing and slinging merch for this tour, so come out and say hi, get me high, whatever. Just come out and have a good time!
Back to work for me. Every day I'm hustlin'.

Back in black!

  I know that it's been a while, but I am back! The Sanctioned Annihilation Tour is over and I'm home safe and sound with my amazing wife. Being Kylesa's tour manager and merch slinger was a great time and I have to thank them for the opportunity! I also have to thank Brady (HoF TM), all my good friends in High On Fire, and my new friends in Torche. There will be pictures and more to come. I'm taking a few days off to rest

Prints

 Fresh out of Monkey Press and just signed and numbered, Kylesa's "Spiral Shadow" prints will be available on the Sanctioned Annihilation Tour featuring High On Fire, Torche, and Kylesa. 

Subverting paradigms and a sanctioned annihilation.

 I  took a look at my last post and it was over a month ago. What the hell have I been doing? As usual, I've been extremely busy at the art table and not everything has been about art.

  I just finished the new cover for Noisear's "Subvert The Dominant Paradigm" cd/lp that will be out later in the year on Relapse Records. The image to the left is a detail from the cover and I'll be revealing the rest of the cover once Relapse has announced the album. I don't want to give too much away, but the design has everything to do with the cover.

 I've also set up the Hell Hath No Fury cover and it's ready to be inked. I wanted to get this done before I go, but it'll have to wait until I get back.  

 Now, here is the main reason why I've been awol for a while. Starting September 29th, I will be Kylesa's tour manager for their Sanctioned Annihilation Tour (featuring High On Fire and Torche). With the impending release of Kylesa's "Spiral Shadow" I was asked by Phillip if I would like to go with them. We didn't know how we were going to work it out and finally Phillip asked if I could be their manager and merch slinger for this tour. It's not the hardest thing to do, but it is time consuming and definitely a new experience. You can find the tour dates here: www.tonedeaftouring.com/kyl.html . So, if you live in one of these cities be sure to stop by the booth and say hi and bring me a joint. 

 It's going to be a busy month and one hell of a time. See you on tour!

Spiral Shadow cover art.

 I woke up a little later than usual today to find that Season Of Mist Records has finally unveiled the cover art for Kylesa's 5th album, "Spiral Shadow". I've been waiting for this day so that I could post the cover, too (I usually don't like to release cover art before the band or label is okay with it). There's a second cover that will be included in both the limited edition and regular versions, but I'll keep that until the album is released. 

 I was honored and excited when Phillip called months back to ask if I'd like to design the cover for their new album. He wanted something really simple for the cover and as he went on explaining his idea, the design was going to be something that wasn't in my immediate comfort zone. The theme of the album was that of looking back on your life at where you've been and where you're currently going. The other specifications were that the art was to be in a circular pattern, be super simple, contain no skulls, and somehow work OP ART patterns into it. It seems like such an abstract idea, but working with them for years now I've been able to come up with designs rather quickly that have seemed to reflect the words and music's intended meaning. At least that's what Phillip and Laura have been telling me. With all of the information that Phillip has passed along, I thought about a tree right away. Trees and humans live out their lives in similar fashion. Trees contain rings that tell the story of it's life, reveals it's age, and identifies everything that it's been through. Humans contain the story of their lives inside their hearts and minds. Spirals are also a huge part of life and are found throughout nature, math, art, etc and that organic nature combined with the human and tree element fit the theme perfectly. I wanted an oak seed to be the center of the design and have the tree grow in a spiral pattern up and out of the picture. The idea would be that you can look back on where you've been, but where you're going is unknown. You'd figure that drawing a circular tree would be easy to draw and detail, but I always do things the hard way and detail the fuck out of whatever I touch. The back cover continues the tree/human idea and has two trees growing out of bone roots, fusing together the the two most important meanings behind the design. I thought that my part of the cover was done when we all decided that there would be an extra design made for their stage set-up and for the limited edition version of the cd. It really didn't matter because I was totally into getting the cover to be as sick as I could get it. All 3 pieces of art took a little over a month to complete.

 After the illustrations were done it was time to add OP ART pattern to the backgrounds of each of the covers. I scoured the web researching OP ART patterns and found that a lot of them are copy written. It's a hassle to go through the process of getting permission and there was really no money to pay for rights, so we turned to the graphic designer on this project, Casey McKinley (www.myspace.com/mckinleyillustration). Casey is a sick illustrator on his own, but the man can hook up a cover with his design skills. He went and created several OP ART patterns that turned out sick! They are scattered throughout the booklets and are included in all of the covers. He also set up the cover for the limited edition version 3D lacquered cover printed on a holographic board. The idea was to have something amplifying the movement of the pattern in the back ground and simultaneously creating a tripped out effect. So, jump on that limited edition version it looks fucking great and comes with a dvd. You can get info on ordering, pricing, and other Season of Mist artists at: www.season-of-mist.com/ . "Spiral Shadow" will be released in Europe on October 25th and in the US on October 26th. 

  My brain hurts from writing all of that.

 

Productive July.

 July has been a great month for completed projects, future projects, and tons of sketching. I have to turn up the speed on getting designs finished as I have a full load of incredible projects coming up. So, I'm sketching as much as I can when I can find the extra time.

 I've sent out the Buzzov-en sketch to Kirk and will be re-working the design and trying to get it to look more ominous. There's more to come on that one.

 A sketch for a new Lamb Of God shirt was just finished and sent off for Mark's approval and ideas. It's based off of the song "Condemn The Hive" and will be another detail fest. I'll have that one inked and colored in the next few months. After that, Brian Mercer (www.mercerrock.com) and I will be collaborating on another design for Lamb Of God. I'm psyched to be working with Brian on the shirt design and can hardly wait to see what he comes up with to start the project. If any of you have been out to the Mayhem Festival this year, you've no doubt seen a few Brian's designs. It was nice to go to the merch tent and see my Lamb Of God shirt next to designs from Brian and Mike Sutfin. It's good company to keep. If you weren't able to go to the festival and wanted one of the "Choke Sermon" shirts, you can get one here: http://lambofgod.shop.bravadousa.com/Product.aspx?cp=800_30451&pc=BGCTLO79

 Speaking of Lamb Of God, I have to thank Mark Morton again for the hook-up on the concert tickets, backstage passes, and for hanging out for a while a few times during the day. Mark's a great guy and is helping me with some contacts of bands that I would die to work with. Plus, continuing to work with them is a good thing, too. 

 August 1st I'll be starting work on the cover for L.A's Hell Hath No Fury (www.facebook.com/pages/HELL-HATH-NO-FURY/335880005869?ref=ts ). The album will be titled "So Shall You Reap" and will probably end up with a massively detailed cover because the idea is has so many elements to it. I love that kind of shit though. I've been working on a sketch and a few ideas for the piece over the few days and am pretty sure that I have a solid design in mind. The cover will be the first time that I have worked with HHNF, but i've known the guitarist/lead vocalist since we played together in Sistema Nervioso back in the mid-90's. She's a good friend and I want to create a sick cover for her band. We'll see what madness comes out the sketching process.

 Also, sketched are a shirt design for Blackbird Clothing Company, 2 shirt designs for The Ocean, and looking to finally finish a shirt design for Better Than Everyone Records (I've been trying to work this design out with the idea that I was given for over a year now and have had a hard time. I need to just make something brutal and fitting). Busy, busy busy and a small vacation coming up at the end of August/start of September.

 Time to pick up the pencil and get some of this shit out of my head.