Art Inspiration

matt — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:12:53 +0000

A while back @chasemacri said to me that he had the perfect title for my upcoming album: Cosmonautical. He was right of course, except for the fact he later pointed out that The Transmissionary Six had already used that name. Oops. So we got talking about album titles and @katiegiesbrecht and @katenetzler suggested some good ones, some of which I threw out. I threw them out partially on the basis that they didn’t line up with the aesthetic i was going for. This is completely subjective of course and I was actually comparing the titles to the music in my head, which I was comparing to a collection of images I had begun to assemble for album art.
So I’m no graphic artist, I’m no visual artist. None of that. It’s not my bag, I don’t know how to *make* something like that. That’s not to say I’m not affected by it quite a bit though. I really get inspired by great images. And I have to translate that feeling into music then. So I thought I’d share some of the images so you can see what I’m shooting for.
Mmmkay, first up: your standard Sci-Fi rag fare.

And a dose of retrofuture, courtesy of the legendary Syd Mead.

Throw in some strange, bizarre elements and you have something resembling magical realism.

Some ACTUAL realism:

(that picture is a thousand times better for the inclusion of the car in the shot)
Add the requisite gratuitous pulpy women & damsels:

(probably the sexiest thing about synesthesia I’ve ever seen)

And get back to your roots.

(Actually, this one could’ve fallen into the last category, too. Allison Hayes is, um, well-iillustrated, methinks)

There you have it. That’s what I’ve been all about visually lately. Hopefully that gives you an idea of the particular kind of beauty I’m after. If that didn’t work, just listen to Aimee Mann’s Lost In Space and try to remember your childhood.
I don’t own the rights to these image, I think that since i’m using them as a reference for further derivative works and this blog is noncommercial, this should be protected under fair use. If you own the rights to an image here and want me to remove it, I’ll be happy to oblige.

Matthew C Good » Retrofuture

Art Inspiration