Simultaneous contrast and color symbolism

This is my band, Pistol Monk, performing at a house party in Ewing, NJ. I feel the contrast between the performers who are wearing all black and the colors on the wall, really brings out the intense pink and green tapestry. Green and pink can be complimetray to one another, one being a warmer color and one being a cooler color. They are placed next to eachother in order to contrast. This provides us with a simultaneous contrast.

This is the EP cover for my old band, Scythe of Azrael's 2005 release, created by our friend Mike. When one sees the colors red and black combined, it creates some sort of ominous feeling.  The color of red is symbolic of many things, but in this piece, I feel it is meant to symbolize blood or fire, though either texture is never implied.  One just makes the association based off of the color alone. That is why I feel this is a good example of color symbolism.  We don't need an explicit texture to feel what this color symbolizes.

Value Emphasis and tone

This is a photograph of the lead singer from Local Demise performing at the Whisky Tango in Philadelphia, PA.  His image is in the light and the background is dark.  It's obvious he is the focal point of the picture and that is achieved through contrasting. That makes this photo a good example of Value Emphasis.

The tone in this photograph of Slutty Earth mixes several complimentary hues of green, really contrasting the black in the photo and bringing out the figures of the members.  I find the overall tone of this picture very appealing.

Op Art and Blurred outline

This is the 2010 summer tour flyer the band Ominous Black used.  Their main picture at the top is Op Art. It's meant to trick the eye into believing that there is movement. We're drawn by the spiral into the center of the circle and triangle. The grid allows the illusion of distance and depth.

This is a photo of Touch and Taste perorming at the Tritone in Philadelphia.  The form of the bass and the performer are blurred.  The blue lights streak across the picture following the bassist from right to left.  This is a goo example of a blurred outline.

Juxtaposition and hieratic scale

This is a flyer for the band Ominous Black for a show they played at JR's back in August. This image utilizes juxtaposition. The white fist in the lower left corner is meant to contrast the image in the top right hand corner.

In this photo of the Devil's Blues Band of St. Paul Minnesota, the members are arranged according to their musical importance, creating a hieratic scale. 

Pattern and texture

The band Inka Rot of Levittown, PA, created this humorous image of themselves, making use of a repeating pattern using their own photographs. The pattern is consisten, they are all dressed similarly, every photo has the same background and has a similar proportion. The frame enhances the pattern, almost a pattern in itself.

This is a flyer from 2007 for the M Room, a venue in Philadelphia. They give the illuision of texture. To me it looks like some sort of stained paper or old package.

Biomorphic and abstract

This is the profile picture for the Philadelphia self described "psychadellic/thrash" band, Da Comrade. This is a good example of abstraction. The form is there; the eyes, some sort of vanishing plain; but it has little resemblance to reality.

This is a work of art created for the band Raise the Red Lantern from Chicago.  I feel this is a biomorphic piece.  The shape of the face is obvious, but the hair and the waves coming from the faces mouth are not obviously defined. They are, however, organic in nature. Even the text at the bottom, "Raise," continues the organic feel.  The color also lends to it's natural aura.

MegaZilla and Pistola - Cross-hatching and Line quality

 

This is artwork by Bob Hartzell for the Texas band MegaZilla. There is a lot of cross-hatching in this picture.

This is a NYC bands album cover. You can see the variety of line quality in the painting.  Some a bold and hard, others are soft and vanish to a point. It helps to imply distance and shading.

Progressive rhythm and alternating rhythym

This is a flyer I found on Deathbed's Myspace. It is a good example of Progressive rhythm.  The words "Beckstabbers, INC.," change shape in a consistent manner and a regular pattern.



 Bits and Watts is a site meant for exposing bands that have upcoming gigs in Philadelphia. It's a good site for someone looking to see a show in Philly, but who doesn't know what bands are playing and where. Their logo is a good example of alternating rhythym.  The shapes repeat in a consistent and anticipated way and they reappear in a regular order.

Balance and mandala

The balance in this show flyer is accomplished with vertical lines similar in legth and width.  The bottom lines are pointing in a different direction, but the balance is achieved.  It's an interesting upsidedown sort of image, but it maintains a good balance.

This is artwork from the band Bells Bells Bells. It's a mandala of faces. You can check out the band at http://www.myspace.com/bellsbellsbells

Proportion and Surrealism

This is a flyer advertising a show from last year. The baby is enlarged next to the bridge. We know a baby isn't that huge, but scaled larger and placed infront of a crowd and a bridge, we can see the illusion of a giant baby thanks to proportion.

This is a Suicide Project album cover called "Between a Bridge and a Bullet Train." It's a bit surreal, not many people wear suits and sit in arm chairs in open fields. Also, the clouds seem to be morphing in the background.

Pats!e and Pistol Monk

This is a picture of Pistol Monk performing at the Lunt Basement in Haverford College.  The microphone is the focal point of the picture.  Everything else seems to fade into the background, out of focus.  The mic is well lit and defined by the cameras flash and I am right behind it, accented, but not the main focus of the picture.  This photograph was taken my Dustin Erek Mull.

Pats!e is an AMAZING local band, based out of the Trenton area.  Don't just take my word for it, check them out at http://www.myspace.com/patse.  This is a picture by Justin Jed and Belinda S. Wentworth that Pats!e used for an album cover.  The artists here made use of a radial design.  Everythig points towards the protagonist of the picture.  The lines in the background and the gazes/gestures of the devils lead the eye right to the guy who's just trying to eat his cereal.

Ominous Black

This is a work of art created by an artist named Alyssa called "Repressed Memories of the Collective Subconscious". The local band Ominous Black has used it on posters to advertise their band and promote their album.  The use of negative space in this picture is excellent.  It's a simple black and white, the unused black portions of the picture accentuate the white figure and the smoke surrounding her. This is a very well composed drawing.

I love this picture.  The band uses this as their default on their Myspace.  It is a photograph of their custom made cabinet. It's a chore to lug to shows, but it is powerful and it contributes a lot to their powerful sound. The visual unity between the cab and the two head units makes for a great picture. They are all rectangular in shape and the colors are not conflicting.

Check out Ominous Black at http://www.myspace.com/ominousblack

A flyer and logo I've created

This is a flyer I made in April for a show my band was playing at Freddies Tavern and Grille. It's a collage, a mixture of hand drawn art and magazine clippings, all pasted onto one piece of 8" x 10" paper. I made a ton of copies of the original piece and hung them up all over the Lower Bucks and Philadelphia area.

This is a logo I created in Photoshop for my old band, Scythe of Azrael. It is a symbol for our band. Though it looks like four scythes intersecting, it also represents the band and it's music. Anyone who recognizes this symbol will most likely associate it with my old band. We created stickers with this logo on them and pasted them all over the country.