Thursday, October 7, 2010

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.