Art of Records 3

 

 

Rough sketches

Initial concept

For the second time this year the "Art of Records" premieres a group show featuring artwork inspired by two highly claimed and collected records. The "Art of Records 3" hosted by DJ Low Key and the Denver Solution was held on November 8th, marking the 20th anniversary of "Enter the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers" and "Midnight Marauders" album release dates, considered by many as classic albums, "36 Chambers" is ranked #387 on the top 500 albums of all time. 

I chose to create a custom version of the Wu-Tang album, and after a few different thumbnails I ended up falling on a concept based on a skit contained within 36 Chambers. In this clip Wu-Tang members are doing a radio interview, and Method-Man says "We form like Voltron, and Gza just happen to be the head". The reference is to the members of the group coming together to form a larger, stronger and potentially more dangerous entity than the individuals as a whole.

This small excerpt from the album inspired me to create this illustration, using elements from the Voltron cyber-mech from the 1980's and a serious, but caricaturized portrait of Gza. To further finalize the product of an album cover I collaborated with my good friend and designer, Dan Castillo who created the full vinyl layout and design. In this post I have also included a concept that I had initially wanted to paint, but scrapped it for the "Voltron" variation. 

I worked up the sketches and process in Photoshop and the final painting was executed in acrylic on board at 13" x 13". The painting consists mostly of glazes with some direct painting thrown around in the half tones and core shadow area. 

The final twist to the concept was the full custom designed vinyl cover, which Dan and I wanted to have a feel reminiscent of a Mad Magazine cover. All the elements to the design and illustration had this end goal in mind, focusing on a caricature style GZA and the layout elements of Mad from the font to the "tagline" at bottom. The final design is printed on vinyl and paper elements made for folding and housing the vinyl record. Very pleased with the final product from this collaboration project on a short deadline. The artwork is on display at Family Affair in Denver until Dec.13 if you want to see the painting and the rest of the other great works from the artists below:

Here is a write-up from the Westword about the show:

Tonight at the Meadowlark, the Solution is presenting the third installment of the Art of Records, its unique artistic series, which combines music and art in a compelling way by having local artists offer up their interpretations of classic hip-hop albums. This time, the talented cast of artists include Xencs L Wing, Jaime Molina, Thomas Evans, Karma Leigh, Triston Minton, Aisha Renee, Michael Coriano, Tiredpirate, Joseph Martinez, Delton Demarest and Dunn the Signtologist. The albums: Midnight Marauders by Tribe Called Quest, and Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), both of which came out twenty years ago on November 9, 1993.

Thanks to DJ Low Key and Denver Solution for the opportunity and thank you for stopping by to view the posts.

Here are links to the previous Art of Records shows:

AOR 1

AOR 2