BACKGROUND

 

The Hair Farmers is one of my favorite jam bands. They hail from San Marcos, Texas and are a fusion of funky, psychedelic, blues jam.

 

Over the past few years of painting on stage with the band, I have seen them evolve into an amazing group. Johnny and Tucker, two of the founding members, came to me after a show one night and told me they wanted to commission me to create the cover artwork for thier live EP. 

 

They said, “We don’t care what you do; just make sure it’s funky!”

 

 

STRATEGY

 

I wanted to create a piece that fully encompassed the feeling of being at a Hair Farmers show while reflecting the personality of each band member. This meant that I needed to make something raw and organic that smelled a little funky. It also needed to feel free and inspirational to mirror the bands long improvisational jam sessions.

 

I decide to use my pen and ink skills to create a very intricate doodle with infinite visions held within. I illustrated the entire design without using a pencil; whatever felt good, I did. During the process, I consciously left negative space for later insertion of typography. The original piece is on a 20” x 30” drawling board.

 

After finishing the ink work, I photographed the art and imported it into Illustrator. From there I stretched the image to fit a CD's square dimensions, further perpetuating the abstract nature of the work.

 

I then developed a custom typeface for the front cover of the album that embodied the same energy as the illustration.