The Naked Silo

The "cover"...on the "back." This is the cover I designed and illustrated for Uncle Seth 's first 7-song EP in the year 2000. In 1997, the band Sixpence None the Richer released a self-titled CD which had the "cover" artwork located within the tray card which, traditionally, contains the "back" of the CD. Although technically "backwards," this allows for more space for the cover artwork. I convinced the band to go with this orientation, but this never seemed to catch on, and I think I only ever saw it employed a couple of times by other bands since. My initial concept for the artwork was to reference the first manned moon landing and Neil Armstrong's "one small step"  quote, with the other elements of the CD also reflecting an astronautical vibe (see below). The cover was drawn in ink with a pen and a brush (then reduced and photocopied), but the liner notes were laid out on computer, then printed and also...

each: 8.5" x 11", ink on paper, 2000, all in private collections These are the other poster illustrations I did for local Toronto band, Uncle Seth . The first illustration is based on the same photo of Ashley that was the reference for Corona Solis (golf) . I used white ink in the second illustration to lessen the intensity of the shadow down her face, but I'm not sure it was very successful or very attractive (and I don't think I tried that technique since). The last illustration features Alyson Hannigan who was also in the Sunflowers series in Corona Solis (tango & uniform) .

each: 8.5" x 11", ink on paper, 1999-2000, all in private collections A long time ago, when a bunch of my friends were in a band called Uncle Seth , I designed some posters for them. Trading my illustration & design fees for creative freedom, I went to town, making poster after poster, however I wanted. The idea was that these illustrations would be reduced and incorporated in posters that contained information about a given upcoming live show. The top drawing with the stagecoach was actually a request by band member, Jeff Jones, who wanted an olde tyme look and feel. I made them all in ink so that they could be inexpensively photocopied.

15" x 11", watercolour, 2002, private collection This is a great example of my love of contrast that I was talking about in my post about Coke Addiction 3 . Note that all the delicate highlights were not created by using opaque paints or inks; I'm just painting around the highlights with dark colours and allowing the paper (or very light watercolours) exposed. I don't feel those other methods are bad or "cheating," I just like to challenge myself without them first, then, if I mess up, I'll use white ink or acrylic. I really liked the challenge of recreating the delicate side lighting around her glasses (and barely-visible shoulder) from the photo ref here so much, and it turned out so well, that I went further later on with  AW-025  which gave me even more opportunity to paint that effect. I took a whole bunch of pictures of Ashley in poses similar to this during that shoot and, aside from AW-015 , she's wearing her glasses in all of th...

15" x 11", watercolour, 2002 This is another in the small series of small paintings I did which are simply variations of Ashley in this pose. Here are two more* from this mini series: AW-015 and AW-016 . This one's much looser than the other two and I like it a lot for that reason. This one's all about that nifty side lighting on the left. And the cleavage. *I did about five or six, but these three are the best.

22" x 15", watercolour, 2002 I wanted some dramatic contrast, so I changed Ashley's red outfit (best seen here  and here ) to one that was all white. I did a similar thing with CS Alpha and CS November . The twisty art nouveau motifs in the background are inspired by Alphonse Mucha 's work. My favourite part of this painting? The entirety of her left arm.

22" x 15", watercolour, 2002, private collection Here's Ashley again wearing that blue tube top that I've painted her in a few other times:  Tangle  (which also has a bit of an art nouveau theme),  AW-020  (which contains a detail of the velvety texture),  Coke Addiction 3 , and  Ashley Reading . This painting is a slightly different pose that I used in  AW-026 , but isn't the one used for the abandoned oil painting "companion" I mentioned in that post. The flowers to the left are stolen from a drawing by my favourite art nouveau artist, Alphonse Mucha , to which I've added colour for this painting, but I made up the background circle borrowing heavily from his motifs.