Etta James
Intentions
To avoid cliches; no couples or 60s black and white imagery
Still evoke sense of love and contentment
Initial Sketches
Given that I wanted to avoid the cliché of romantic// intimidate couples I found starting imagery for this piece quite difficult compared to others. The only way I could think about tackling this brief was to just listen to the song and draw what came to mind. The ideas became quite abstract and fragmented from the original lyrics and at times i found this a little worrying. I was concerened that the work would feel too seperate from the song but this ultimately worked in my favour.
I felt like doing some shape based painting, and while mark making in warming up and later on painting a figure, I found the elements to work well together on the page. There was something about the layout and relationship between each shape//subject that appealed to me. I decided to scan them in and push the components further to see if I could make a composition that worked and reflected the track in a fresh, more contemporary way.
The green lines reminded me of a kind of landscape and with this in mind I tried arranging them in a way that fit well. I liked having the slightly off white background too as it felt like like subtle nod to the olden era of the song's release. After trying out multiple compositions I devices the piece needed something else. The addition of hand rendered text I felt would help make the piece feel a little more intimate, I chose a line from the lyrics and wrote it out digitally and added it to the piece.
Final Image & Mock Up
Though I'm happy with the final image, I'm a little concerned that people will feel a disconnect between the artwork and the song. I made this piece based more on an emotional response than a researched concept; does this make it an image of less value or likeability? Would someone who hadn't seen my research for these briefs feel as though this was a weaker submission or would it stand out just as strong or stronger than the others? Something to think about!
Max Ritcher
Intentions
To convey a sense of how this track makes me feel; a sense of something whimsical and dreamlike
Something that feels intimate and HUMAN; something with FEELING
Initial Sketches
With no lyrics to work with I decided to follow the technique I employed in Etta James' track and just work with FEELING.
As I listened to the track and became more familiar with it, thoughts began emerging in my head in both a visual and written sense. I tried doing more abstract work in the way of mark making and blind drawing as I listened to the track. I focused on textures and movement, which later lead me onto flowing lines and starry night skies. The image of mountains and starry nights kept popping into my head, I think this was because the song made me think of something very natural, the music felt so well composed and emotionally authentic. It reminded me of getting away and that's how I wanted my artwork to feel.
To make all these components come together however I had to play around a lot with composition and colour. The addition of a thick boarder made the landscape feel as though it existed in a fixed place, but I added in the few white dots to make it look like parts of the landscape where coming out of the piece. This gave it a slightly dream like edge which fit with hoe I wanted the piece to feel.
Final & Mock Up
Much like the Etta James piece my issue with this cover is that people won't see the connection between the piece and the music, however I do feel more confident with this sleeve as I feel it has less predetermined visual cues. The addition of text also makes it feel more personal in my opinion, which could again work as both a positive or a negative depending on how it is received.
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