Album cover illustration

I started finding some research on artists and music of the albums so that I would illustrate one of the selected albums after some research and album covers, what represents their style of music and how to build up ideas of my own to concept illustrated album covers. The artist I chosen for this task is Agnus Obel, a musician who is into classical and relaxing music and I thought could work for the project and make sure it relates to the musician.

I would probably start my research on her first and listen to her music and write down the lyrics. Her style of music is more towards classical when using the piano, violin and other sorts of anxiliary instruments used for the lyrics. So far my target audience would be more towards people who find it more relaxing or prefer the classic theme then other types of music like rock and rap for example. Agnus has a soothing, intense and also angelic voice clearly shows talent and not always trying to rise the voice level high like most singers would. I actually find them relaxing myself and see she is really good.

So far from my research, Agnes is influenced by a few artists such as Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell, french composers Claude Debussy, Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel.

The lyrics I chose to listen would help give me ideas to illustrate the poster.

Aventine

Will you go ahead to the Aventine

In the holly red in the night

Dint under my show from the old at heart

Right under you, grinning in the dark

You carried my heart in the night

To bury the wave in the tide

You carried me onto the fields

There is a grave, there is a plot

Deep in the snow, breaking your heart

One step ahead, a thousand miles

A trail ablaze to the Aventine

You carried my heart in the night

To marry the wave with the tide

You carried me onto the fields

You carried my heart in the night

To bury the wave in the tide

You carried me onto the fields

Play it down, down, down...

Play it down, down, down...

What I thought of illustrating an album is make it more a view of the natural landscape, taken a look at some photos of the landscapes in Scandinavia. Wanting to have a river, few trees and mountains in the artwork, seeing as how Agnus' music is rather more soothing and relaxing, so that's what I am aiming for my project.

I strongly belief it should relate to some folklore and myths, so I was given suggestions of leaving the idea of an earthly based-colour for the landscape and do some experimentation with water colour, pencil and digital before I move on to the next step. It will be a digital portrait but I thought it be a good idea to see how some of my experiments turn out first.

Illustrations of New Genesis

So ok I have done some drawings for my project series I'm writing, slowly but not wanting to rush anything to make it a good one. So I did some rough sketches of creatures, characters and aliens for the series. Down below you would see some sketches I've made awhile ago.

 Left: So here on both pages are two alien races I came up for the later series, on the left is the tentacled alien being I named the Ta'al Vex, not wanting my aliens being naked like many classic sci fi series would unless they don't need to by their biology. I took thought of the Ta'al having a few tentacles and a humanoid torso with a triangular head, also given it two pairs of eyes.

On the right is the H'hindau (Pronounced: Ha-Hin-dau) are a large serpantine species, their faces would have a armoured face with six holes and hair growing from the heads and neck. I pictured it having six limbs also which I'm still working on for another drawing to make sure it looks right and able to move as its important to know how their bodies would move.

Above: Slit-mouth Kuchisake is one of the of my ideas for the series where she is some sort of alien assassin who can appear as a harmless and attractive woman and then turns into a deformed freak, she's clearly based on the slit mouth folklore and I thought that could work for this and give her a row of sharp teeth, lips crack further to the back the jar joints. Wanting to make her skin look stretch and almost turning into something else during her transformation.

Another race for the series would be one of the inhabitants of Earth, they are called the Djinn, clearly  a race evolved from dinosaurs who were originally moved to another planet before the comet hit the Earth 65 million years ago and one of the species evolved into what they would look in the sketch. They are more based on the common Reptilian myths living beneath the earth but in the New Genesis verse they are more advance with technology almost described as magic and have no interest in conquering humans. I pictured them having some form of culture similar to the Arabian fashion but with armour and have feathers in some parts of their bodies similar to human hair. 

I was doing some sketches and doodles, working out how one of the aliens I pictured to look advance and ancient but thought, maybe they would have organic looking bodies. I drew the side view of the creature, gave it some tentacles running down from the head and a crown-shaped crest protruding from the back of the head. Didn't want to give it a mouth but sort of a vertical mouth but they wouldn't be needed to speak since they would be telepathic most of the time. The two circles on the side were where it's arms would be located. I think it would need more work but the head looks good so far, just a bit more of a touch to work on the body.

Here is one of the type of species I am working called the Kronan Ree and wanted them to have the human/animal hybrid appearance and divided by groups from which tribes they are from; canines, arthropods, fish, bird, monkey and reptiles. They are more genetically diverse then humans and able to change between human and animal-like creatures. Not wanting them all to have a human appearance but more of a creature and have. The one above is one of these I was working on and thought how a human-insect hybrid would look like. Would still have the human 'mouth' but with some extra mandibles.