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Actual CD Cover Illustration Gig.

cdCOVER%28jr%2Bjv%29.jpg

My first!

Jim Rye was kind enough to contact me to illustrate his and Joe Vazquez's country music cd, "Stars n Bars". We worked well together to create an image that reflected the emotional depth of this duo's musical efforts. I really enjoyed the opportunity to do art that made a connection to my zeal for music.

cd%28folded-out%29.jpg
(the complete cd folded out with the song titles on the back)

Technically, it required lots of thought and flexibility. The method of doing each layer separately gave me all the room to create the diffiernt lighting effects: LAYER 1, the musicians; LAYER 2, the bar front and landscape; LAYER 3, the signage over the door; LAYER 4, the bar interior and, finally, LAYER 5, melding all of them together and tweaking the lighting effects. Then, of course, the graphics required a couple of layers, too. Sense all the layers were independent of one another, the creative process never had the obstacle of having to redo anything as a whole. As we improved the image, all I had to do is make sure it came together as a unit at the end.

This process of illustration gave me all the freedom to do my own drawing style with all the advantages of doing my designing with Photoshop. Very pleasant experience.

Comments (17)

GarandFan:

That is way cool!

Steve M:

Cool that you got this project and cool that they got some great art for their CD.

Terwiliger:

VERY cool cover.

What's the music like? Judging from the song titles, they seem to have an affinity for 60s through 80s rock.

Kevin The Zeroth:

Just a couple'a guitar slingers about to rock this joint.

That wouldn't be a couple of towers burnin' in the left window, would it? I must be seein' things.

John Cox:

Hey Garandfan, Steve,
Thanks for the kind word.

Hey T
I'll let you know when they send a cd.

Hey Kevin,
Just an indistinguishable overhead light source. Interesting take, though.

GarandFan:

Too bad you can't 'play' a cut of their music while viewing the CD cover.

snowdog:

Hey all,

It's a collection of Southern Rock/Country cover tunes my buddy and I worked up over the last year. It's our second CD. John was kind enough to invest some time to create the elaborate multi-layer art (I didn't know it had THAT many layers!) from the idea that had been floating around in my head for months. Just a project to pass around to friends, family, and unsuspecting strangers.
I'm still working on the finals mixes of the music, but the cover came out quite nice. Working with John was a pleasure and I suspect I'll be hitting him up for the next CD.
-Jim

Chris in CO:

Awesome! Congrats on the new type of job, as well as how you executed.

Terwiliger:

HEY JIM

Sounds like a fun, cool project. I'm glad some folks still have the drive to do this kind of stuff--AND JUST FOR FUN.

I "worked" as a semi-pro musician for a number of years.

TRANSLATION: I humped a huge PA, amps, & my guitar rig into dives for $200 a night split 4 ways (& more nights than not the club owner would try to stiff us on part or all of the "pay") hoping to get the occasional country club wedding gig for "big bucks".

I always wanted to do something like this--maybe even some originals--but as music goes, I've been nothing more than a basement woodshedder for 15 years.

Good on ya for actually doing it.

snowdog:

Hey Terwiliger,
I know what you mean. Been in a few bands over the years, and since I'm mainly a keyboard player, I've done my share of humping heavy equipment. Now, both my neighbor and I have set up small studios and we just drag people over to our place to record. I miss live playing a little, but not enough to get back into it.

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About

John Cox is a painter, cartoonist, and illustrator for hire. For information about purchasing existing work or commissioning new work, contact him by e-mail at john555cox [at] hotmail.com.

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