More Barrier stuff!

ink on paper

Aaaaaaalright!

So I just finished the rest of the Barrier cd art.  My friend e-mailed me this week asking me for a few more things.  I'm glad I squeezed it into my schedule (i.e. crawled out from under a pile of books) to get it done because he seemed to be saying they'll be printing it all pretty soon!  Exciting!

I can't wait to see the final product and I'll make sure to post some pictures!

So if you don't remember, a few posts down is the cover art.   The tree stump is meant to be printed in the spot where the cd will be.  I love it when I lift a cd and discover a whole new piece of art under it.  I think it will look great with the tree stump.  Note that I had already mentioned (in the previous Barrier art post) how obsessed I had become with the idea of the passing of time.  The lines of a cut tree-trunk is a great symbol of this since each line represents a year gone by.

When I had finished drawing the (tedious) lines of the stump I remembered that sometimes tree stumps have these sorts of gashes in them.  I decided to add some and (in the spirit of the passing of time) give it a sort of clock-effect, with the gashes as the hands.  It's not meant to be particularly obvious, but if anything it should tap into the types of associations we make sub-consciously.  Unlike typical hands of a clock, they are crooked and multiple, which is in an effort to demonstrate the reality of time: not a singular calculated line but a much more complex and on-going interaction between past and future (which we understand as the present). 

It also seemed to me like these gashes were reminiscent of cuts- irreparable wounds caused by humans against nature... As if the single huge transversal cut wasn't enough of a reminder of the  human imprint on nature.  So basically, keeping with the theme I had discussed previously.  

The second image is for the back of the cd.  I was asked to draw a birdhouse in the corner and have the song titles laid out in the middle in the same font as the cover.  I don't know if I can call my hand-writing a font, but it was weird thinking about writing- only when I think about it does it look completely different than normally!  So let's just say it took a few tries.  I thought the idea of a birdhouse was fittingly ironic- a miniature version of human shelter- the irony kicking in when one starts to wonder why a bird would need to live in something that looks like a house when it is capable of creating its own shelter.  YET that was my initial reaction, other thoughts came to me, like the idea that maybe the birdhouse symbolizes humans seeking to live harmoniously with animals?  I'll have to ponder that one some more...  Definitely an interesting idea. 

Ok I should really get back to my European Continental Literature essay...  But first, a tomato sandwich!

Until next TIME! xo

-P.

P.S. A reminder that the art I've posted here was sloppily arranged to give the impression of cardboard- but I promise it will look much nicer when it's all done properly!  Ooooh that reminds me!  Thanks to a friend in montreal I will be getting some real 21st century art-making/fixing programs!  VERY excited!