(Timelapse video sped up 12800%.)
Total painting time in Photoshop was about 22 hours, plus idea sketching so I think total work time was about 24-26 hours for this project, which is a bit more than usual for me. But I obviously have a lot to learn about the creative process.
The Swedish crust infused death metal band Envig are close friends to me, and to my band. We’ve been friends for a couple of years and done a lot of shows together. For a while I think every other show was with Envig on the same line-up. So maybe it’s not a surprise that I was lucky enough to get to paint the artwork for them again (I also did the artwork for their last album, “Gutwound” a couple years ago, which we were very happy with).
They approached me about working with this EP last fall, around October I think. They hade quite a clear idea for the cover already which always makes my work a lot easier. Here’s the beautiful sketch sent to me by Damien Terry (lead vocals/bass-player).
After receiving the idea brief on what the artwork should portray, I started sketching with pencil on paper as well as collecting reference material, both photos to study horses and such, as well as some artwork to use as quality reference and inspiration. Some of my absolute favorite artists are legends in the genre, such as Dan Seagrave and Pär Olofsson. I put all of my reference material into a file in the program PureRef just by dragging and dropping. It’s a great tool which benefits my work flow a lot.
After the first sketch I scanned it into my PC and then started the process of digital painting in Photoshop. First on top of my sketch, and then slowly moving away from the pencil sketch and going all digital. I try to progress the painting only so much that I can show the band which direction I am going with it, to make sure they are liking the direction. I have been in too many situations where I’ve put several hours into a painting, going down a road that was not requested by the band, and having to go back and throw a lot of working hours in the bin. So I always try to make sure the band knows what direction I am heading. If I do any major changes, I try to spend as little time on it as possible while still getting the idea across, to see if they want to keep it or not.
From what I remember, my main challenge in with this project was keeping a coherent style throughout the piece. Sometimes I feel I stray a bit from my own style. I guess it has to do with experience and me still learning a lot with every painting, and also from being influenced by different artists throughout the process. And I feel like I always struggle a bit with composition, which is one of the most, if not the most important, aspects of a painting. However, since this painting is mostly a centered motif, the composition was quite straight forward.
Finalizing the illustration, we went back and forth a bit regarding what to have in the middle of the artwork. In hindsight I think they definitely made the right choice.
I also did the layout of the jewelcase and booklet (available to view on my issuu page) for the CD print. Looks like it came out quite nice.
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