pw!

11-6-11

2011-11-16T09:47:00.001-05:00

happily ever after

Gone Weddin'

2011-11-02T10:44:00.002-04:00

see y'all soon!

love,
pw! (& SW!)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T14:10:00.001-04:00

To celebrate, here's a sneak peak of Perfect Teeth #0, out soon on Viper Comics and Paper+Plastick, by Vinnie Fiorello, Matt Anderson, Matt Jordan, and myself!

It's a satirical (or is it) mock/doc/rock/monster-mentary

boo!
-pw!

Strawberry Shortcake - The Legend of Saltwater Pete

2011-10-29T22:51:00.000-04:00

Alas, the following will not be published, as my interiors aren't yet up to snuff, but in the spirit of the season, I thought I would share my version of The Legend Of Saltwater Pete with everybody.

I have a lot to learn and far to go still. Thank goodness life is a long work in progress.

- - - - - - - - - -
now HERE's some amazing news!
As if I wasn't proud enough to get to work with the amazing people of Ape Entertainment...
Strawberry Shortcake beats Wolverine!!!
read all about it HERE

Strawberry Shortcake

2011-10-25T10:57:00.000-04:00

Well it looks like issue #2 hit the stands this week, and 3 is on its way as well!

here was the process for the cover to issue #3 (click for a larger view):

and here's the cover for issue #4:

out now thanks to the fine folks at the amazing APE ENTERTAINMENT

Turn the Record and Flip the Channels!

2011-09-15T09:10:00.001-04:00

The Less Than Jake TV EP 7" record is already on its 3rd pressing!

the whole fun project came out great! change the channels on your album sleeve while you surf the channels on your turntable! watch it HERE!

you can read all about the artwork and packaging HERE

You can order this and other incredible records by one of the nicest, rockinest, hardest working bands at: lessthanjake.limitedpressing.com

one such record, is the awesome new EP "Greetings from Less Than Jake", featuring the amazing artwork of my good pal JP Flexner (check out his awesome work!). however I highly recommend you check out this terrific interview with Vinnie Fiorello at the Huffington Post about it, where he discusses direct to fan marketing, and thinking outside the box in today's world of creating and consuming music. amazing insight from an amazing guy.

read the interview HERE

-pw!

Viva la Vinyl!

2011-09-14T08:54:00.004-04:00

the long wait is over, the HAVE NOTS second LP "PROUD" is out on vinyl NOW, and they came out GORGEOUS!

you can see more about this special release and the packaging i designed HERE

head on over to PAPER+PLASTICK where you can order this and more great records!
they have tons of free music to download as well, go treat yourself!

--------------------

i want to be clear, below are some records that i did NOT do the phenomenal design, but i was asked to take the all the pieces and assemble everything for production of vinyl, and i suppose i feel a little proud they came out so nice and wanted to showcase these great bands on this great label

first up is the newest rager from Landmines, "Commerce & Marx":

why, it was even proudly featured on Pirate Press's "Record of the Week" blog!

---------

here's a real beauty: a loaded 7" where punks The Dopamines and Dear Landlord share a side each.
It's only $2.50 right now at paperandplastick.com !!! you can not beat these mid-90s prices for something this awesome today. i mean, look at that tri-color 7"!

so head on over to
PAPER+PLASTICK !
(and tell 'em pw! sent ya)

Have Nots : live & proud!

2011-09-13T09:43:00.000-04:00

good friends, constant collaborators, and fun guys, Boston's own Have Nots asked me to work up a quick shirt for them for their new tour!

be sure to check them out live, and go to:
havenotsboston.com
regularly for updates!

while you're at it, be sure to head on over to
Paper+Plastick.com
to download a FREE MUSIC SAMPLER for their current tour with Big D and The Kids Table
(and order some Have Nots records while you're there!)

Improbables / Brimstones 7"

2011-09-12T11:17:00.001-04:00

a nightmarish slab of rock n' roll hellfire and vinyl coming at you at 45 RPMs soon!

I have a very special connection to both of these bands. I saw The Brimstones thanks to the insistence of an old friend and psychobilly in 98 or 99 in Philly, and enjoyed their brand of mayhem ever since (think the Trashmen's "Surfin Bird", who the Brimstones cover, but possessed by demons). even better came the day old, near & dear friend from Basking Ridge NJ (home of the Red Devils!) Jeff "Montana" Brimstone became their lead axe-man. a match made in Hades

The Improbables I feel even closer to, though i'm only getting to know them personally better by working with them. I've known front/wild-man Dave for some time now. He is a modest do-gooder for the homeless youth of Philly, and treasure trove of rock and roll appreciation and knowledge, a brilliant mind (and ear), ravenous fellow Pizza Wolf, road traveler, introducer of Sour Ales, and all around nice guy i'd do pretty much anything for (and i am eternally indebted to his and his wife's kindnesses). and yet, nothing, NOTHING could have prepared me for seeing him perform with the rest of the incredible guys of the Improbables. within the first few raucous riffs i had texted his wife:
"Re: your husband. i had no idea. Total Wild Man"

this is the first of many future singles from The Improbables and i invite you to check out the links below, and URGE you to see them live at any opportunity. treat Dave to a tiki drink (or a slice of pizza from Patsy's) and tell him peter said hello! then step back a few paces and prepare yourself for an incredible rock show that has equal parts resurrection and possession

here's the back of the 7"

7" labels, i'm thrilled will have the "large holes" for your 45 adapters!

an older version i rather dig and thought i'd share:

LOOK AND LISTEN BELOW!

The IMPROBABLES
The BRIMSTONES

2011-09-11T12:57:00.001-04:00

Astpai / Flatliners 7"

2011-09-10T11:40:00.004-04:00

well it's always nice to be recognized internationally!

Austria's Astpai asked if I would design a release in a pinch for their current tour across Europe with Canada's own (and Fat Wreck Chords) The Flatliners! Both bands were international pals and would be playing the other band's songs, so i wanted to play around with a real simple take on the concepts of covering each other. hopefully it's another record i get to trouble people with by making them constantly rotate it all!

(feel free to click for larger views)

i'll post photos soon of the actual vinyl, out on good friend Toni Magpie's own Laserlife Records. be sure to keep an eye on both bands as they make their way across Europe and also in the future the States!
-pw!

-------

UPDATE 10/25

The 7" came out GREAT!!!

Grammies & Merch!

2011-09-09T09:22:00.003-04:00

mmmm Hmmm...

...yup!

i must really be forcing my way in the big leagues ... the folks in charge of merchandizing one of the top grammy winning country acts right now asked for a few pitches based on the recent work i've been doing with photography and watercolors

actually, the timing is pretty exciting to be asked to do this proposed shirt. at the time, i had just discovered that there was a grammy for "best record packaging" (the Black Keys incredible album "Brothers" won it for it's simple typography and branding, as well as its innovative use of thermal heat-revealing ink). it got me thinking, mixed emotions as i feel regarding certain awards and accolades...it'd be cool to win a grammy for this thing that i have dedicated much of my life to.

from hardwood floors to red carpet? who knows what time could bring or where it even goes...

upward and onward!
-pw!

Drip

2011-09-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

ok, ok, two more below.

be sure to check out andrewmontlack.com for more!

DRIP

2011-09-01T09:04:00.006-04:00

Can we really start spreading the news?!?

Filmmaker, writer, director, actor, Renaissance man, idea man, funnyman, and all around generous nice guy Andy Montlack asked me to help with production illustration on an upcoming "Buddy Dramedy" called DRIP.

Andy has written a truly unique script that is both wry and hilarious as well as wrenching in the heart and gut departments. you can find out more about it, and see some artwork, at:

www.andrewmontlack.com

be sure to check it out regularly to find out all the awesome updates from Andy and Rent Controlled Films

below is just a fraction of the work that went into what you will see at andrewmontlack.com, with more to be posted soon!

Ramiel Sneak Peek!

2011-08-22T10:15:00.003-04:00

Thought i'd just keep spreading the excitement about all these fun comic book projects! Earlier this summer i shared that i was working on an exciting new limited series called RAMIEL with writer/creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach and penciler extraordinaire Steven Gendron. well today i thought i'd share a few peaks from issue #1!

i love Javi's story and i really love Steve's pencils, so i was pretty intimidated that i wouldn't bring much to the table, but they've been such incredible collaborators and we've all been having a blast

here you can see Steve's pencils and my paints:

and here's a few "sneak peak" pages (click for larger view)

I don't want to give any story away but just wait until you see the lettering by the awesome Deron Bennett! You can read more about Ramiel on Newsarama HERE. The book will be out soon by APE Entertainment !

see you in the funny papers!

-pw!

Extra! Extra!

2011-08-03T16:16:00.005-04:00

Strawberry Shortcake #1 hit the newsstands today, and I did the cover!

My Mom was so proud today, and reminded me of a lot that i've been through; today i couldn't be happier to be able to put a quality, diverse, innocent, fun product into the hands of a child

today i went to the two best places in NYC you can go to for comics on this exciting Wednesday: Jim Hanley's Universe and Midtown Comics. looks like Strawberry is in good company next to Superman and Spiderman

the sheer joy i felt seeing my art on a published comic was humbling, surreal, and exhilarating. comic books have been an inspiration, solace, and dream of mine to work on almost my whole life.

Special thanks to all the great folks at Ape Entertainment, as well as all my amazing family and friends who share in my excitement and help me follow, achieve, and celebrate my dreams

love always,

peter

SDCC

2011-07-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

"a study in contrast"...

(Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Tim Beedle)

While I couldn't make this year's San Diego Comic Con (2012 or bust!), I DID get to make my triple-comic-book-debut there! I feel very fortunate to get to live so many of my dreams, and this 1-2-3 punch in July was a real celebration. below are some photos of the big event...

here's some of the amazing team at APE Entertainment

Hey it's Javier Grillo-Marxuach with his newest epic RAMIEL!

what's this? Strawberry Shortcake #1 AND our strawberry scented cover? coming to stores near you soon!

and I hope you said hello to the incredible folks at Viper Comics and got yourself somePERFECT TEETH!

more news on the way as always, and maybe i'll post a sneak preview of some interior pages soon....

thanks for reading!

all the best,

pw!

i'm on the Short List!

2011-07-18T08:50:00.003-04:00

me and many fellow Autumn Society members have been featured on-line by the British men's magazine "Short List"

check out our ghostbuster alternatives HERE !

We're on the cover of Newsarama!!!

2011-07-16T18:21:00.008-04:00

Ramiel debuts!

I've been dying to tell people about an amazing project i've been working on with incredible people for a while now, but i'll just let this front page interview on Newsarama with Javier Grillo-Marxuach (writer/producer on Lost, Charlie's Angels, creator of Middleman) do the talkin' !

i'm the colorist on a new comic for Ape Entertainent that will debut as an EXCLUSIVE #1 at San Diego Comic Con this month!

very exciting stuff, and so proud to be a part of this. Javi has been a dream collaborator and incredibly supportive and nurturing creatively, and wait until the world has the pencils of Steven Gendron unleashed upon them! it's been a blast trying to nervously do his artwork justice with my coloring. Finally, every single person who makes Ape Entertainment one of the greatest comic publishers has made for one of the happiest introductions into the world of comics imaginable.

i'll post more about Ramiel in the future, but for now, we're just excited to announce our exclusive debut at this year's mega-event SDCCmic Con

HERE'S THE INTERVIEW!

ANNOUNCING: PERFECT TEETH !!!

2011-07-15T09:57:00.004-04:00

Vinnie Fiorello of Less Than Jake joins forces with Viper Comics!

TAKE A BITE OUT OF VIPER COMICS LATEST BOOK, PERFECT TEETH!

Fly, shuffle, walk or lurk on over to the Viper Comics booth (#1903) at San Diego Comic Con and learn more about the music industry’s latest, greatest hits, PERFECT TEETH.

Viper has teamed up with VINNIE FIORELLO, of the awesome ska punk band LESS THAN JAKE, writer Matt Anderson (WHITE PICKET FENCES and PAPER+PLASTICK’S 50 STATES and THE EXIT INTERVIEW) and artist Peter Wonsowski to bring you a book that will lift the coffin lid off the music biz.

In a matter of weeks, Nathan Almost goes from an unknown suburbanite to the biggest musician who ever existed! Fans adore him, buying his t-shirts and posters. Critics chase him, wielding their torches and pitchforks!
How did it come to be that in boardrooms, laboratories, and graveyards – celebrities became manufacturable? Commodities sold to a public always hungry for the next big thing?
In the music industry, fame makes people monsters. In PERFECT TEETH, monsters are made famous!

While you’re at the booth, pick up a FREE set of Vampire Teeth (limit one per visitor – only 30 sets available per day). You’d be a sucker to miss this… just not a blood sucker.

(click for a larger view!)

Don't forget to visit

vipercomics.com

paperandplastick.com

and Booth 1903 at this San Diego Comic Con!

-pw!

coming soon....

2011-07-06T15:21:00.002-04:00

triple debut news for San Diego Comic Con...?

(stay tuned!)

-pw!

Automatic Loveletter

2011-06-28T01:58:00.006-04:00

Recently i had the pleasure of working with Juliet Simms & co for the new Automatic Loveeltter album. Not only was she an incredibly enthusiastic joy to work with, but the style and art direction i got to explore was an absolute blast for me

Sunny Sultana took a great photo of the songwriting siren in full war paint, and i began to explore weathered colors and watercolor possibilities (you know me, just a few...)

(i personally love the following, and we still hadn't gotten to the realistic feminine skeleton on top of Juliet everyone wanted)

add some hand done lettering and the final result:

an exciting, passionate acoustic record out TODAY on Paper+Plastick Records!

(feel free to click for a larger view!)

and check this out: Ernie Ball made a special guitar pick from my hand lettering!

check Automatic Loveletter at Van's Warped Tour right now this summer!

Kind Ghosts

2011-06-22T12:15:00.004-04:00

June 26th 2011, renaissance man, immense talent, and super nice guy Derek Nicoletto will be unleashing his solo debut album "Kind Ghosts" to the world!

It is always a treat working with Derek and i was proud and excited he asked me to do the layout for his CD. Walt Cessna took amazing photos (of Scooter LaForge's painted Derek!) and I reveled at the chance to do something clean, crisp, and minimal that still paid tribute to Derek's music, energy, and vision. I also enjoyed subtly playing up the electrical light element on the type as well as faint ghostly glows

a fraction of the explorations:

the 6 panel layout (click for larger view!)

while we wanted to keep things white with gray, i gave everything a faint "ghostly" pink to maintain the mood and aesthetic

the CD itself

and keep your eyes peeled around town for this Kind Ghost sticker, with a mysterious QR barcode that will take you right to a music video!

hear some music (and get ready to dance), and keep up with Derek's busy schedule at:

www.dereknicoletto.com

get a word in.....

2011-06-20T08:03:00.004-04:00

reviews, opinions, and all things awesome...coming to a website near you!

on a somewhat related note.... don't forget to check up on all the amazing things going on with my good friend Rusty at PnutJewelry.com !

pw! ("scan it and see")

2011-06-08T19:56:00.001-04:00

Protagonist 7"

2011-06-06T14:30:00.006-04:00

coming soon to a turntable near you!

the folks at P+P (and iloveimprint.com) did an extraordinary job here. great paper stock even, and check out the spot varnish!!!

order at: Paper+Plastick

listen at: Protagonist

Armadillo + pw!

2011-06-01T12:22:00.003-04:00

since i first got into punk rock and ska as a high-schooler in houston tx many moons ago, some of my all time favorite records & record covers had artwork by Jason "Armadillo". In addition to working closely with No Idea Records, a label that inspired and influenced my love for music and packaging, seeing anything adorned with his art always assured excitement and left an indelible impression on me. You could see it a mile away and know it was all his: phenomenal perfectly painted cartoons with a tremendous amount of bite.

now imagine my excitement when he got in touch with me to do a collaborative painting for Scott White's "Collaborations Show" in FL! It was a pretty big deal for me, working with someone who has been a staple of my record collection, and the process was even more fun than i could imagine

after being attacked by mosquitos and gnats one muggy afternoon in Florida, on the day New York decided to jump from 52 degrees to a most unwelcome 80, Jason came up with a funny solution for our tag-team large scale painting in true Armadillo fashion:

click any of the images for a larger view!

his sketch and process for his painting

(i don't know how he gets his lines painted so frustratingly perfect):

i spent one of my favorite days in recent memory throwing paint while it rained outside. i nervously added the bugs around 3AM and prayed i wasn't ruining Jason's awesome figure

bright and early the next day i shipped it back to Jason who put the finishing touches it desperately needed and pulled the whole thing together by making it pop. i'm crazy about the hand lettered can of bug spray he did, again, abnormally perfect

you can see some of his art at inkandpaindept.blogspot.com

the best part is we had so much fun...we're doing it again! keep yer eyes peeled way back for future collaborations in the future, hopefully at galleries near you!

save the date

2011-05-12T10:29:00.000-04:00

(our play on the monogram)

Have Nots T-Shirts

2011-05-10T17:09:00.003-04:00

As Boston punks Have Nots unleash their 2nd LP "Proud" to the masses, they are preparing to hit the road with some new shirts and merch for sale!

Jon and co. had specific ideas here based on their lyrics, and it has been a blast helping them with so many projects during this exciting time for them

rough sketch w/ proposed "cubicle type":

a bit too dead man :

keep your eyes peeled for a second shirt done for them, and some posters too, in the future

be sure to go support them on tour when they come to your town!

humming an unfinished melody

2011-04-29T12:02:00.002-04:00

i keep a special sketchbook given to me long ago containing work from a very unfinished series. i hope to finish it someday, and perhaps even share it.

i recently flipped open to this one though, and in lieu of the inordinate amounts of "horror" drawings i've been working on, i felt this would be fun to share.

Strawberry Shortcake

2011-04-27T00:21:00.006-04:00

It's with great excitement that I think I can finally announce my comic book debut! Coming to a shelf near you, premiering on a wednesday, I was asked to be the cover artist for Ape Entertainment's Strawberry Shortcake limited series!

(click for a larger view!)

This is the first time li'l Ms. Shortcake has graced a comic book in 25 years!

The best part? It's going to be a "Strawberry Scented" Issue #1 !!!

the process and people have been absolutely incredible to work with, and things have been smooth and enthusiastic. below is a quick sketch/comp and a preview of blueberry-centric #2 !

(click for a larger view!)

I can hardly believe it myself. Very proud to be involved in both comic books as well as once again having an opportunity to make art for children to hopefully enjoy. There are a lot of extremely exciting things in the works, both Strawberry AND non-strawberry, but I still can't share them all just yet. Rest assured I am busier than ever, grateful as always, and looking forward to it all

** UPDATE: we're a "Staff Pick" in Previews Magazine !!! Read all about it HERE!

thanks, and take care

pw!

PS: I saved this "sweeter" post for today so I could wish my Mom a very Happy, and monumental, Birthday. I'm so thankful for her; she's the best!

LTJ!

2011-04-26T15:58:00.005-04:00

just found this picture on-line and wanted to share. i saw it in person after Christmas last year and it was really exciting.

you can also see the art up-close HERE ... but up-closest LIVE!

Protagonist : States EP

2011-04-14T18:36:00.005-04:00

recently i was asked to help Florida's PROTAGONIST to bring ideas for their new "States" EP to life. Modeled after their home state of Florida's flag, the band wanted reflect their own experiences, both wonderful and horrible, traveling across the country on tour, as well as broader interpersonal reflections on the past through stories both personal and historical.

(please click for a larger view!)

the inside of the 7"

the sleeve that will house the 7" continuing the motif of the flag's "X"

be sure to see the band on tour throughout the year, hear some songs, and find out more HERE or as always, at PaperAndPlastick.com

Pnut Jewelry!

2011-03-08T13:46:00.005-05:00

i can't believe i haven't posted this sooner, but a short while back, my friends at the amazing Pnut Jewelry asked me to come up with a shirt design. head over HERE to see the generous write-up on it, and please order a few for you and your sweetheart! Sarah and i have our own, and i am telling you, no bull or bias, they came out Fantastic, and on the Nicest shirt material too. the attention to quality at Pnut reaches beyond the exceptional jewelry and into every aspect of everything they do.

frankly, i don't know when the last time you may have checked up on what Rusty has been working on, but be sure to check out all the incredible new things he has made; absolutely amazing. and you'll want to bookmark PnutJewelry.com. there's always exciting new things on the horizon there.....

the above was a four foot banner at an exciting and exclusive jewelry show in CA. always fun (and a little intimidating) to work that kind of scale, and Debbie and Rusty are the absolute greatest to work with. I had some extra fun re-drawing the chord in my convoluted roller-coaster-ride-for-the-eyes kind of way

Have Nots : Proud

2011-03-01T15:51:00.007-05:00

I was lucky enough to have reworked the art for the 12" vinyl release of "serf city" from Boston's Have Nots, and we had so much fun working together they honored me with the task of bringing the vision of their upcoming full length to life! believe it or not, this has been in the works since last July!

band member Jon Cauztik sent me the above photograph last summer. It's of his father who passed away, and the music and lyrics wrestle with this a great deal. the name of the LP would be "Proud", in the hopes that his "old man" is listening with pride, and for good measure, the Have Nots have really turned up the volume for this record. they wanted an LP that reflected everything they were going through and singing about; be it life, death, politics, love, abuse, traveling, and everything in between. my number one goal was doing not only the music justice, but also a very powerful urge to honor the father; both as the man who had passed away, as well as the boy in the photo long ago listening on his headphones.

one thing i couldn't wait to do was finally get an opportunity to play with some textures i had been stockpiling! both of us avid fans of old records, my good friend, designer Jiri Seger, has taken me to some pretty great places in NYC to hunt down dusty treasures. one day i collected armfuls of only the rattiest, filthiest, most stained and aged record sleeves available, and the shop was all too happy to be rid of them. i scanned each gorgeous archeological find in 4 pieces each, and then reassembled them in the computer, biding my time for the opportunity to use them in a meaningful way.

the above version was one of the more refined starts. here, i was thinking of the way sepias and colors (water & pencil) were once applied to old photos, and i imagined that the old colorings were somehow merging with age. Weathering with time to symbolically color the photo itself; each color represented something else in the picture. It was also important to me to imagine that despite the record not being available until 2 months from now, one could imagine unearthing this vinyl treasure more like an artifact of a previous generation or two.

(please feel free to click on the following images for a larger view)

with direction and input from everyone, we tweaked and toned everything and continued the whole "gatefold" design. I really wanted it to look like an old sleeve with the photos on top, and somehow typed on, and then left over generations. (if you look hard, you may even find a strand of my fiancé's red hair between the layers). Everyone between the label and the band was so amazing and enthusiastic every step of the way

the inside of the gatefold is the band's tribute to their home, Boston, and evokes all the themes of traveling, both leaving and arriving, witnessing of and missing out on, contained within the music itself

for an insert sleeve to contain the record itself , we thought we would continue the idea of old photo albums with each song imagined as an important news-clipping from yesteryear.

again, feel free to click these for better views, but here you can get a more detailed look-see. i had painstakingly combined layers of regularly evolving liner notes & lyrics with old aged papers i had also assembled over time. each clipping contains pieces of at least 3 different papers. once the text was placed and destroyed accordingly, i remembered to faintly show the transparent markings of the writings on the other side, not to mention occasionally distort the text wherever the wrinkles and creases deemed appropriate.

the downright magical icing on the cake? an incredible e-mail from Jon:

"Just realized that the randomly picked release date of this record, with the title track about my dad, and featuring a picture of him on the cover, falls on the 15th anniversary of his passing...how f....ng cool is that?"

this experience does not stop being incredibly meaningful and special, and one that makes me immensely proud to have been given the chance to work on "Pride". thanks guys!

you can find out more at Paper+Plastick Records as well as HaveNotsBoston.com !

----------------------

finally, Happy Birthday to both my good friend and amazing illustrator Chris Whetzel who turned 30 today, and my own father, whom i am incredibly proud of, tomorrow.

Comic Book Pin Up : The Destiny Gauntlets

2011-02-24T11:33:00.005-05:00

(please click for larger view)

this is actually an oldie (but goody) for my good friend, artist & publisher extraordinaire, Mike Collins at Tiki Machine. It is a pin up for his comic book epic "The Destiny Gauntlets", for which i was lucky enough to have gotten to do the logo for as well last summer. I chose his character Ghavin, Giant Warrior and Child of the Flame!

This was one of those labors of love i did in the middle of the night, and i felt like i must've done ok judging by my fiancé's reaction when she discovered it on the drafting table in the morning. she's pretty honest with me, so when she tells me something looks good with mild incredulity i take it to heart with excitement. although this piece is actually half a year old, it's pretty indicative of the kind of work i am venturing into: comics! [ note: silence on the blog doesn't mean sparks haven't been flying in the studio; i'm hoping to share all sorts of fun news in the future] I'm so grateful to Mike for the chance to be in his book, and with such great ideas of his to draw inspiration from!

you can see more of what Tike Machine does HERE!

-----------------------------------------

...while you are checking out Tiki Machine, you should really check out their incredible new book, MONSTER MYTHOS: A Folklore Beastiary. Truly amazing collection of monster art from a wide collection of some of the best artists across the nation. you can see a little of that HERE

The "Young Guns" Tour

2011-02-02T11:31:00.005-05:00

(please click for a much larger view!)

Coming to a city near you! "Ska Is Dead" Presents: The "Young Guns" Tour, featuring We Are The Union and The Forthrights! Find more info HERE! and don't forget to buy some cool new shirt designs HERE (or on tour)....

Reed, Jimmy, & Dave were amazing to work with, and i'm so glad to continue an awesome friendship with We Are The Union. Every second i worked on this poster was a blast for me, and i hope to get to do a whole lot more like it

-pw!

Make Do And Mend

2011-01-21T00:04:00.008-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! I know things have seemed quiet on the eastern front here, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. But until i'm prepared to announce some big things, i got some exciting news & kind words today... the new Make Do and Mend LP came out, and everyone is excited about it!

i didn't take the gorgeous jacket photos or do the superb design here (that would be the amazing Rob Dobi), but the ambitious & generous folks at Paper + Plastick records, as well as the band MDAM (incredibly nice, and whose awesome music you can listen to HERE), needed my help in a pinch a few months back. It seems they had some packaging ideas for their rocking new full length LP, but they hadn't really been done before. So i created a custom one-of-a-kind die-line for the guys, and they let me know today that they received the final product (see above!) and couldn't be happier.

It makes me feel good to know that people feel they can count on me, not only to solve problems, innovate a little, & help manufacture their vision, but also that i can be counted on period, even if it means another all-nighter, or taking a few phone calls while taking my Dad to see "True Grit" on a Festivus afternoon in Virginia! i'm just super proud to have been any part of this release, and to know so many awesome people who all had their hands in this

--------------------------------------------------------------------

here are some notes i took talking to James about the vinyl packaging:

the die-line i concocted for manufacturing:

a "mock-up" of the front cover when folded:

(there were printing limits on width, but the asymmetrical solution worked out nice)

the art in my die-line, ready to go to the presses:

(thanks to the excellent hard-working folks at IMPRINT)

(the tree is a die-cut window, and the existing logo of the band, here used as a pocket)

a rough tiny 2" mock i did out of sheer nervousness the next morning.

whenever i engineer a new die-line, i always make these pint size records. fun!

i want to make absolutely certain that everything works correctly.

and here it is in 12" glory! find out more about the band and how you can order this HERE!

thanks for reading! Even though i didn't really do the stunning artwork here, i just wanted to share a different side to something i am passionate about: elaborately packaged records!

-pw!

Saint November

2010-12-20T12:24:00.004-05:00

Recently Liam Toms asked if i would help him create the mascot for his new label for music, art, and more on the Restless Coast in the south of the UK. always happy to collaborate with like minded individuals, and eager to help a fan & friend from across the pond, i jumped at the chance.

it didn't take much to understand each other, and Liam was one of the nicest guys I've had the pleasure of working with (though i seem to be incredibly blessed with knowing and working with such nice people)

sketches (on the plane from Florida)

black & white studies, because any logo needs to look great in stark B&W

color studies to see where he wanted to go

a variation on the final, with some watercolor on top of the digital inking

(feel free to click on any of these for a larger view)

keep an eye out for all the amazing things Liam and St. November are doing HERE!

Happy Holidays!

-pw!

Vegan Treats Tote Bags!

2010-12-14T17:35:00.005-05:00

(feel free to click on any of these images for larger views!)

below is an earlier version that wasn't quite working. whatever the roadblocks were, i'm glad it helped pave the road for the above final design. Danielle is always a treat to work with and there's all sorts of bright excitement in the future...

be sure to go HERE to order some great Vegan Treats products this holiday season, and as always, you can find out more at VeganTreats.com !

Homebase Skateshop : Joy Division

2010-12-08T10:04:00.005-05:00

who knew Lehigh Valley loved Joy Division so much? there's a lot of new designs coming up for Bethlehem Skateboarding Mecca HOMEBASE SKATESHOP but this was an old idea Andy and I had kicked around since we started working together a year ago.

we would take Joy Division's classic "unknown pleasures" LP and merge it with Bethlehem's great landmark steel factory.

i did the line work, which too a lot more thoughtful planning out than i had originally thought. once i set up some rules and language to the method, it was a blast. i simply "inversed" my pencils in photoshop.

the final collab between me and Andy. the response has been so great that we're making stickers, t-shirts, and skateboard decks with this!

don't forget, 'tis still the season where you can enter Homebase's $610 shopping spree (by purchasing a handsome counterfeit Franklin "raffle ticket" i designed). winner will be drawn Jan. 14th and they've already raised over $1000 to help build the Bethlehem Skateplaza. Every little bit helps build a place that EVERYONE can FREELY enjoy.

thank you!

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Playtime!

2010-12-02T13:44:00.006-05:00

(click for larger image)

This friday in Philadelphia, December 3rd, altruistic designer Mat Kerfren & the Autumn Society brings holiday cheer with "Playtime", a fantastic charity show dedicated to raising money for Toys For Tots. Olde City gallery and comics & toys hobbyist dream store Brave New Worlds is hosting the event, and in addition to setting up a donations box where toys can bring less fortunate children a lot of happiness, they and most of the artists have agreed to donate their full cuts, not just proceeds, to the charity.

when Mat called me months ago to tell me about his idea for the show, i was excited. i've long wanted to use art as a vessel to do some god in the world, but Mat was the one actually getting off his duff and doing it. What was even more the honor was that he thought of me to collaborate on the flyer with. Mat said he wanted a drawing that captured the joy of a child getting a toy on Christmas day, and that he immediately thought of me. not only is that one of the hugest compliments i could possibly hear, but this may be one of the absolute most fun drawings i got to work on all year. it was a joy illustrating joy.

i then inked it digitally, and cyclically collaborating with Mat Kerfren's design, layout, and art direction, we soon had a flyer for the big event! i love the price tag Mat put on the corner.

some more details about the show, which you can also read HERE:

we've even gotten some great press from the Philly Weekly, Geekadelphia, and Phillyist!

the final painting (at the top) took the art i created digitally for the flyer and had it printed on watercolor paper. i then added flourishes of watercolor, pencil, and even glow-in-the-dark paint once again for the robot and his sparks.

thanks for reading and happy holidays!

-pw!

Coffee Project Logo

2010-11-30T09:38:00.004-05:00

My good friends Jake & Buddy from Coffee Project asked me to design them a logo they could use on shirts, koozies, and all sorts of merch! i can't wait to see this in use, and them, soon

-hear songs from them HERE!

-make nice and be friends with them HERE!

-buy their records HERE!

-see some art i got to do for their new LP HERE!

phew!

-pw!

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UPDATE!

photo of koozie in use by the incredible Edie Snyder!

the store went up! check out all the cool merch to buy HERE !

We Are The Union

2010-11-29T17:35:00.004-05:00

fast dudes" who make "fast tunes" supergroup We Are The Union asked me in october if i could step on the gas and make some shirts in time for FL's The Fest 9 as well as their European tour w/ Less Than Jake (you may or may not have seen the following ad-mat, like this one sighted in Glasgow Scotland by Jeff "bleeding edges" DeSantis... )

they were looking for something a little more iconic, and i tried to look and listen to a lot of what they were saying in their songs and who they were as a band and all they've gone through, and of course have a lot of fun.

so i gave them a couple of sketches...

(click for larger view if you like)

and they chose what they liked the most:

she said yes!

2010-11-11T00:28:00.003-05:00

Covenant House PA

2010-11-10T10:12:00.002-05:00

(click for larger view)

i'm so lucky

for a lot of reasons. lucky because i have a home. lucky because i grew up in a loving home, with a loving family. lucky because there are a lot of young people today who do not have the same fortune of stability and shelter like most of us do and take for granted.

luckier still because there are places like The Covenant House, and friends of mine like Dave Reis who work hard to help the homeless youth in our country. The Covenant House of PA has been helping the homeless youth of Philadelphia with shelter and other services since 2000. Dave has been working there full time for years, and his incredible rock-and-roll real-deal super group The Improbables are putting on a benefit concert THIS SATURDAY at 7pm to help raise money for CHPA. it's going to be an amazing event for a very important cause.

i was proud to contribute the above design for hand silk screened posters as well as t-shirts printed by our friends at Awesome Dudes Printing

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please come and help! it will be a great time!

Saturday November 13th - 7pm!

at Tritone (1508 South st) Philadelphia PA

more info HERE

Sailor Jerry Presents!

2010-11-09T11:03:00.003-05:00

this friday! at the Sailor Jerry shop in Olde City Philadelphia, a great art show curated by Jeff "bleeding edges" DeSantis, paying tribute to the godfather of tattoos, Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins.

my piece was a take on one of my favorite traditionals, "Man's Ruin":

the man himself:

why don't you come by! there's going to be free rum, and great work by great folks at a fun location

coming soon to a stadium near you!

2010-11-04T12:36:00.005-04:00

(click for details if you like!)

above: 15 foot backdrop

this will actually be 4 scrims divided and duplicated flanking the band

as the group begins a new renaissance while continuing to conduct the rock n' roll choo-choo, i am continually excited and honored to be a part of the people's [visual] history of my good friends, Less Than Jake. the thought here was something classic & clean, and broad & malleable (in concept and theme, as well as color). so we went black and white to allow the colored lights of stage and set work all the wonders. i can't wait to see this in person

while the art references both the band's icon of the "evolution kid" (did i really draw that 15 years ago?) as well as their beloved "Gainesville Rock City" (which LTJ certainly built), i had a little phrase running through my head the whole time: "Propaganda of Fun". seemed like the fun of that paradox helped pull the oxymoron into subtle territory, with hopes that in the end, it would just look awesome

cheers,

pw!

"Dead of Night" Radio !

2010-11-02T09:53:00.003-04:00

The Autumn Society brings you 6 new & chilling artwork covers for Dick Grunert's DEAD OF NIGHT RADIO series.
STAY TUNED as we release a new cover each night @ Midnight, starting OCTOBER 29TH to NOVEMBER 2ND.

Available on iTUNES under "Dead of Night Radio"

ABOUT "NIGHT DELIVERY"
Meet Eric Ryder. He's about to receive a special... Night Delivery!

ABOUT DEAD OF NIGHT RADIO
From the horrific mind of writer/director Dick Grunert, Dead Of Night Radio is an homage to the old time radio horror shows like Inner Sanctum and Lights Out... with a modern twist!

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Peter Wonsowski loves cartooning and designing record packages, so getting to illustrate the romantic and terrifying image for an imaginative radio performance this halloween -- in the beloved square format -- was a real Halloween treat! Peter has worked with bands like Less than Jake, Adam Arcuragi, Coffee Project, and more!

ABOUT THE AUTUMN SOCIETY
The Autumn Society is a collective of Illustrators from around the world. From art galleries, art books, to fundraisers, the Autumn Society will rise to any creative need or challenge.

Music by Lance Madzey and Sound Design by Krandal Krews

Dead of Night Radio is recorded at Sunshine Studios in Studio City, CA.

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above is actually the version that almost went out (i wasn't even done) when a horrible (happy) accident occurred with the red. i decided it was without a doubt the way to go and gave it a much more subtle and scary mood for the old-timey audio-terror.

(click for a larger view!):

thanks to Joe Game for sprucing up the bio i submitted, and especially including me on such a horrific & terrific (and terrorrific?) project. be sure to check out all the other artists and stories at Dead of Night Radio!

Sullivan's Sluggers - Casey's Wallop

2010-11-01T09:15:00.002-04:00

(click for a larger view!)

well, we don't know the results yet, but The Autumn Society was invited to submit a pin-up for Image Comics' new fun athletic horror comic "Sullivan's Sluggers", and Image Comics would be picking their favorite 2 to publish, and the rest to help advertise. above was mine, and though certainly inspired by the book's team's coach, i was thinking of dear Rollie Fingers the whole time

--------------

meanwhile, my good buddy Justin Gray submitted this staggering monster of a piece that keeps unfolding more horrors and treasures the more i stare at it. i just had to post it here for people to click on. you should absolutely check out his blog HERE as well.

by Justin Gray:

happy halloween!

The FEST 9 !!!

2010-10-22T09:58:00.008-04:00

THE FEST, now in its 9th year, is the 3 day punk rock festival in Gainesville Florida, and every year it just gets better and better

well, this is the 2nd year that the Fest will be curating a special Art Show to coincide with all the rock and roll mayhem, and i was honored to be asked to be one of the featured artists, among such an incredible group of amazing pioneering punks, photographers, designers, and illustrators such as John Dyer Baizley, my good buddy Richard "Horsebites", social storyteller Cristy Road, and so many more amazing artists.

read all about the art show (and peruse my awkward bio) HERE !

read all about the FEST 9 event HERE

if you live in or near Florida, the fun starts Friday October 29th!

i am showing a dozen pieces, including the interior art for the Riot Before's LP, as well as 3 little cartoons made exclusively for The Fest....

special thanks to Edie, Ted, and Buddy for thinking of me to be a part of something this special

here's a great article about the Art show as well!

Less Than Jake presents: The TV/EP !

2010-10-12T22:35:00.005-04:00

(feel free to click for larger views if you like)

Today is the official release day for Less Than Jake's TV EP ! it is still a blast getting to be a part of the visual history for a band that very much influenced where i am today and where a lot of my creative and professional passions lie.

When the band went to record 16 cover songs (in 11 minutes!) from various television theme songs and commercials, they wanted to give the impression that pop-punk has taken over the air waves and you are randomly flipping the channels.

that being said, we've engineered a very special collector's edition 7" vinyl record (to go along with the CD and the digital, available now) where, depending on how you fold the panels of your record, you will actually be able to "change the channels" and determine your own cover through a die-cut television screen!

channel 2....

channel 3...

and the "inside" of your tv (with some fun filaments)...

it's a strangely proud moment for me personally, when there are plenty of people who make me doubt my versatility as an unmarketable product, that there can't be a whole lot of folks who would've excitedly tackled all the visual parodies and styles the band asked for here. it's another reason it makes our long friendship and these kinds of projects so especially meaningful.

check out the whole EP (with a great video Buddy made) at LESSTHANJAKE.COM !

pw!

The Swing (An Old Fashioned Necromance)

2010-09-18T16:27:00.006-04:00

(click any image for a better view)

This Hallowed Halloween, The Autumn Society and Philadelphia Cartoonist Society, curated by the amazing Sam Heimer, bring to you an incredible artist exhibition "...exploring all the elements that make Halloween creepy, imaginative, and fun." (check out the full Press Release HERE!)

pencils

and yes, i couldn't resist the urges to add some glow-in-the-dark flourishes on the tentacle suckers for extra fun spookiness...

here's the info! we hope you'll join us for an amazing Hallowed Halloween!

Coming This Fall To A Stereo Near You...

2010-09-17T10:02:00.006-04:00

what's the amazing secret project i've been working on coming out in

Less Than a month?

well you can get a hint HERE, but you can read more about it HERE

you won't believe what we've done with the packaging! thorough blog post to follow around the release date....

-pw!

design money to raise money

2010-09-16T13:29:00.003-04:00

(click for larger view)

above is a raffle ticket designed for the amazing Homebase Skateshop in Bethlehem PA. with each purchase, money is raised to complete the next construction phase of the Bethlehem Skateplaza, and you can win a $610 shopping spree!

it was a lot of fun being a counterfeiter for a little while!

Mixtopia Logo

2010-09-15T09:53:00.002-04:00

new logo for radio B104's MIXTOPIA show, brought to you by "your hater's favorite DJ", Cap Cee, every friday night from 9-12 on your favorite dance floor.

some preliminaries:

the final:

Vegan Treats Gift Cards

2010-09-14T13:49:00.004-04:00

the perfect gift for the sweet-tooths & dessert-lovers in your life, Vegan or carnivore, so one size really does fit all

VEGANTREATS.COM

Exquisite Corpse

2010-09-13T11:42:00.003-04:00

this was a blast!

if you're not familiar, the game of The Exquisite Corpse was started by the Surrealists art movement, wherein someone would draw one part of a body, cover their third (and extend the lines connecting segments) and pass it on to the next person to blindly continue, cover, and pass on. no one knew what the creation would look like until the very end

our good friend, obscene talent, and crazed renaissance man in California, Ryan Gannon has been doing loads of these with friends, but it was a thrill to do one with both Ry and the legendary Justin Gray. it really harkened back 8-10 years ago making mischief and artwork in our UARTs studio together, and was a small, fun, reaffirming testament to that kind of creative collaboration that ignores geographical separation.

below are links to their sites that come with the absolute highest recommendations to click and explore.

legs - RYAN GANNON

torso - JUSTIN GRAY

who you gonna call?

2010-09-07T10:18:00.004-04:00

it doesn't get much better than this

what else is there to say? Ernie Hudson next to my painting of Ernie Hudson!

Call Winston!

2010-08-17T02:30:00.003-04:00

Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) for the 3G Show at Gallery 1988 in LA (7020 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles CA 90038).

(click for larger view)

There was never any doubt at any time, I was always going to pay tribute to the great Ernie Hudson. I have been a huge fan of his since his portrayal of the under appreciated Winston, not to mention his heroism in "Hand That Rocks The Cradle", and especially his role of Warden Leo Glynn in OZ. But Winston Zeddemore is a special guy to me. When applying for the job that everyone thinks is such a coveted thing, they ask him if he believes in a long list of paranormal oddities and supernatural wonders. Winston simply replies, "If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say"

I can relate to him on a lot of levels there... so this one's for Winston, and more so, for Ernie

say, did you notice any strange slime on the painting above? that's because it's glow-in-the-dark paint. hard to take a photo, but i detailed the ghost as well as all the ghostbustin' equipment

Z for Zeddemore

(special thanks to Joe Game and the rest of the Autumn Society for letting me be a part of such a great show with such talented individuals, and to Gallery 1988 for allowing us to show)

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UPDATE:

well it's only been on line for a day and the bloggosphere is exploding! it seems some folks are really excited about the show too and it couldn't make me happier! here are some amazing links to checkout:

slashfilm (gave me a nice quote too!)

blast-o-rama (said: "What’s my personal favorite of the show? That “Mogwai” LP is amazing, hands down."

some great blogs:

Rampaged Reality (called it an "Ectoplasmic Masterpiece" !)

Hello Zombie (says it's "kick @$$" !)

The Kessel Run (included a hilarious Zeddemore quote)

Zuppa di Vetro (is in Italy!)

the Grotto

私の記憶を保護する

good enough for goonies

2010-08-11T10:51:00.003-04:00

for the 3G show at Gallery 1988 in LA !

this was my piece for the Goonies. not a film i cared about in youth, but watching it on the Balcony at the Trocadero in my 20s, when Mouth delivers this - one of the best movie speeches -i wanted to stand up and cheer

the Gift of the Mogwai

2010-08-10T09:58:00.002-04:00

howdy!

this spetember i will be a part of the incredible 3G show at Gallery 1988 in California! it's a great space that houses big names in the art world specializing often in retro homages. it's a great opportunity for me and bg deal to be asked to participate. i've been so excited about being a part of this incredible show, but, long story short, it has come during a time of great artistic (and professional?) turmoil as i muddle through the cliches of "what am i doing" and "should i just throw in the towel" etc etc booh-hoo. point being, my pieces for the 3G show aren't typical for me, at great risk (comes great failure), but i used each film as a jumping point to try something drastically different (from each contribution as well), and despite my hesitance to submit them, at best, they really have pulled me out of a hole and helped me get my groove back, and for that i am eternally grateful.

when i think of Gremlins, my first thought is of Mogwai, the name of inarguably the most influential modern instrumental post rock band from Scotland. since my first love, pipe dream, and bulk of current freelance work is elaborately packaged vinyl records, i thought, "wouldn't it be awesome to make a fake record for Mogwai?"

i actually went on ebay hoping to score a 7" from the Glasgow mega-snakes, and in turn actually found TWO story book records from childhood of the film in question! even better! my goal was to pay tribute to the incredible and adorable keyboard scene, as well as pay homage to the gestural illustrated blue-note jazz LPs of the 50s and 60s, using only colors found on a Gremlin

here is the "final" inside its plastic sleeve:

the back:

and the inside, which contains a bonus abstract Gremlin made of felt to safely house the precious vinyl tales of the Gremlins, as well as add some tactile feedback to the whole experience:

the labels, as they are, with far better illustrations than i could do:

the entire package will be spread out and in display in a frame specifically made to eventually house a 12" LP. the idea being that if someone purchases it, they can, and should, remove it, play it, and house it in their own record collection, AND have a frame they can use for other vinyl treasures. that the art comes from removing it all, constructing it, enjoying it, experiencing it, and doing more than just tacking it on the wall

the Riot Before LP !

2010-08-05T09:05:00.006-04:00

an amazing day for mail (thanks Vinnie, and thanks Dave at No Idea)! The Riot Before LP came out absolutely smashing. sometimes you wait for months nervously, wondering if everything is going to come out manufactured ok. late nights staring at a ceiling thinking "will the double window die-line line up to reveal correctly?" or "will the CMYK vinly labels on the lighter paper be too desaturated"? i'm going to be a wreck if i ever have kids. but it came out marvelous. Paper+Plastick continues to reach for the stars and then some, and Walt and the fine folks at iloveimprint.com know how to get it done beautifully.

wouldja believe they sold out already? not even out three months! they're getting repressed though, so worry not, you'll be able to get them in all their color variations soon. be sure to check out The Riot Before in a town near you!

(closed)

look! a movie of it opening! thanks Whetzel!

and if'n you missed it, i had a lengthy post with more of the artwork to look at HERE

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UPDATE:

how nice is this!?!? Brett and The Riot Before have been giving all sorts of interviews since there's been amazing reviews and well deserved acclaim since the record dropped on April 27th. they were incredibly kind enough to even mention me in their interviews in Punknews as well as Beyond Race !

here are some excerpts:

So this is your first record for Paper and Plastick, did you guys go all out on the vinyl? Can we expect some surprises?

"...The artwork itself is amazing-because someone else did it. Specifically, Peter Wonsowski. He was incredible to work with and was like Gandhi…patient with me when I'd give him really really vague direction and then change my mind. The artwork rules. Get the record, if anything, to look at it."

(and)

How do those themes fit into the rebellion cover art Peter Wonsowski created?

"I wanted the punk rock per se to be the cover art. I was reading through Dostoevsky The Brothers Karamazov. There was this chapter called “The Grand Inquisitor” I was rereading last March and the chapter before that is called “Rebellion.” ...And when I did I stumbled across this quote that said, ‘One can hardly live in rebellion and I want to live.’ And that just struck me super hard because I’m 27. I feel like there is a certain part of your life where rebellion is really necessary, you have to throw away everything you once knew and you’re rechecking stuff. It’s a really an important part of growing up. But at a certain point you just can’t keep rejecting stuff and you have to figure out what you’re for and I think I am definitely at that point."

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How awesome! first time my name has been part of a Question! very exciting, thanks everyone

The Silent Ballet

2010-07-26T13:33:00.006-04:00

(please click for larger view)

this was a pretty big deal for me.

For years now, The Silent Ballet has been devoted to writing, reviewing, exposing, and celebrating the best in instrumental music in all its many splendored variations (classical, ambient, post rock, experimental, electronic, etc). part of this includes curating some of the best, often underrated or unsigned, instrumental artists to be a part of their free downloadable compilation series

well, i was contacted by them to submit a song, a very humbling and left field honor, to which my response was "could i also please do the artwork?!" Jordan was gracious enough to encourage me to stitch together an exclusive mix of 3 songs (since they are short, as i like to improvise "ambient soundtracks for short attention spans), as well as let me create the original art around my feelings towards ambient and drone (the loose theme of this 16th volume in the series):

if percussion and punctuation is a dot, then at first i wanted to explore the resonance and space between the points, to "represent the others implied" (hence, the ambassador etc. moniker). later i wanted to extend that dot to create a line, blurring points of origin or reference. now i wonder if it is possible to make points radiate outward, like a dandelion made of layers and walls, waiting to be wished upon and blown, and lost to the dense fog of 'gorgeous noise'. i am very proud of the final result, a comment you will almost never hear me say, perhaps because my motto of letting the 'Idea Dictate the Medium' pulled me in such a strange direction

you can download the record for free HERE.

you can read more about ambassador etc. HERE, or listen to a few more tracks HERE

special thanks to one of my greatest and oldest friends Jiri Seger, who encouraged me and bettered my sensibilities with "If you're going to do it, do it all the way." you can see more of his incredible design, and get to know him, at jiriseger.com

thank you for looking and listening!

The Destiny Gauntlets!

2010-07-23T14:19:00.004-04:00

(click for a larger view)

the amazing (and patient) indie publisher Tiki Machine, LLC had gotten in touch with me (courtesy of one ambitious and generous Joseph Game) to see if i would be interested in doing a logo for his epic fantasy comic book series "The Destiny Gauntlets". At the time i was finishing up a logo for an electronic dance group and a boutique that makes hair accessories for little girls, and this was just too wild to pass up. i mean, a trio of simultaneous logos don't get more different than that (i just had to be careful not to confuse these worlds by giving a butterfly a battle-ax or a viking a keyboard).

Mike gave me some special sneak previews of art, story, and characters, and we went back and forth looking at countless typefaces, book covers, comics, and logos to come up with just the right look for the book and exactly what he wanted. below are some roughs to see if shape was worth exploring, followed by some rough, classic-but-modern, illustrative letters

we knew we wanted "destiny" to look magical, and "gauntlets" to be battle damaged, and soon we were getting closer. i actually kind of like the smashed "gauntlets" on the top version (below). below that you can see one of many attempts incorporating pictorial elements in the logo, and though it bums me out when i can't succeed in the challenge of making something work, i'm still glad we tried it.

and below is the final sketch! i'm fond of this one; it was a real joy for me to draw letter forms so thoroughly. you can't imagine how much penciling, erasing (SO much erasing), measuring, flipping, following through, and exploring that goes into this, and thank heavens i am all too excited to go on that journey.

(feel free to click on for larger view)

and a spruced up black, white, & gray version. i always go out of my way to ensure that all logos have shapes and forms that would work as solid black on white, even though we knew that by the end, Mike's logo would have plenty of eye catching effects and renderings (see final up top).

Mike has been generous enough to give me a nice credit on the inside cover of every issue (i feel like Kevin Nowlan on Hellboy!) and there's even a chance at a pinup in the book itself! rest assured i'll let everyone know how to get copies when it's published

thanks for reading!

SONY!

2010-07-19T12:03:00.005-04:00

it is with great excitement working with SONY Music Japan and some of the amazing artists on their roster! They are hard at work bringing some of their talent to the states for the first time, and spreading the word on those who have already seen our shores. Here's hoping for more fun work like this in the future!

the first was one of several t-shirt designs for pop-star and super nice rock-n-roller BECCA!

and the following was a postcard design to be given out on tours, at festivals, and for promotion of these amazing musicians

it was a blast stretching my design muscles and being given such freedom to create and help SONY and their artists

thank you!

-pw!

Coatesville PA: terrible things

2010-07-14T10:25:00.003-04:00

for a year, Coatesville PA was terrorized by a string of arsons, culminating in the arrest of 6 people, some of them firefighters, responsible for $3 million in damage, scores of homeless people, and the murder of an elderly woman.

you can read some basics HERE, but i also found it fascinating searching for psychology profiles on arsonists, including the taboo subject of how many are firefighters (though to be fair, there aren't exactly studies of how many arsonists are plumbers, etc), but worst of all, how some theorize the economically depressed Coatesville was victim of a type of gentrification through terrorism

Ποσειδῶν

2010-07-06T12:16:00.006-04:00

"In July 2010, in America's birthplace of Philadelphia, 30 emerging young artist of diverse skill sets have enlisted their services in riding the waves of discovery in effort to provide new additions of pictures to provide visual dialogs of mankind's fascination with the sea."
--Matt Cavanaugh

ALL HANDS ON DECK
Opening reception
Friday July 9th 2010 7:00 PM - 10:PM
Chapterhouse Cafe and Art Gallery
620 South 9th Street (between south and Bainbridge)
Phialdelphia, PA
917.737.5055
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Anthony Pedro of The Autumn Society of Philadelphia was kind enough to ask if i would be a part of the nautical themed show he was curating. Being quite a huge fan of Anthony's paintings, as well as my own affinity of the sea with its rich history and inspiring mystery, this has thusly been one of the most exciting group shows i have had the honor of being a part of. if you can sail on by the show this friday July 9th, or to Chapterhouse anytime at all this month, i can assure you a fantastic time marveling at the walls with these other talented individuals.
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i was really trying to blog once a day for as long as i could, but our wonderful 4th of July celebration put a pause in my posts. i certainly have had enough work to keep it up for a while. however in celebration of the group show and in honor of Anthony's hard work, i'm going to make this it for the week. i thought i would also bore everyone to tears with some slight process description, as well as some trademark self deprecation throughout
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when i heard "Nautical Theme", i just about lit up. i could do a nautical themed painting a day. i just about already have. a prized possession is a giant gorgeous oil painting of a massive old ship in pursuit that was given to my parents as a wedding gift. it hangs and encompasses the wall of the living room as a centerpiece. but what was i going to do here?

since i was a child i have always had a love and fascination for all mythology and folk lore, but as a young lad no book checked out from the library enthralled me like the big book of Greek Mythology. suddenly i knew i had to pay tribute to the mighty Poseidon, earthshaking lord of the sea and storms. Alexander the Great once sent 4 horse drawn chariots into the sea as tribute to Neptune and payment for safe passage of his armies across the sea. i would honor him by painting his terrifying visage with....watercolor

i tell lots of folks, especially anytime someone humbles me, or a finished painting, with a compliment, that "you should've seen the hundred awful drawings preceding that." you can take this as literal word when it comes to portraits or likenesses. below is some proof.

i wasn't sure how i wanted to portray the mighty god of old. mine is a love for the sea, but the old stories are full of horrors, sacrifice, and curious atrocities more in the name of explaining phenomenons, aiding anomalies, or encouraging forced piety, more than say, an Aesop's fable teaches a moral of some sort. for starters, i wanted to avoid common trappings that would visually precede me but pay some small nods as well (tritons, etc). so the start would be elder, powerful, and underwater. some awful fast explorations below:

i liked the idea of the tentacles enveloping and enwrapping him through the Grecian underwater beard (perhaps mimicking tentacles as well, though the hair would become more underwater flowing trident). more than anything, this would prove a fun visual challenge for me to intertwine elements. i mean, honestly, not to play it safe or phone anything in, but tentacles? check. beard and hair? check. old scarred face? check. pencils and watercolor? check. this was going to be right up my alley

so all i had to decide was 2 compositions i saw in my head. also, i wanted to challenge myself with some typography. Greek lettering is as bold as the columns of the Parthenon, and at the risk of no one knowing what the heck it said, i decided to attempt including it

i liked the symmetry for some reason, although it loses it's "massive" quality, but i felt i could make the tentacles a little more interesting and frankly intentional, instead of a mass of slithering tangles. the impossible symmetry there implied the kind of control over the sea and its inhabitants only the mighty Poseidon could possess

working it all out is always a blast for me; i can truly get lost in an exploratory daze. i also like to joke that i think i somehow manage to erase far more than i draw

on to the lettering. i loved the old Greek letterforms, but i began wondering about the secondary challenge of both spellings. like everything else in life, when ever i am face with a choice, i simply ask myself, "can i do it all?"

answer: kind of

finally, the finished pencil drawing! i have to tell you, this is the part of the process i am most proud of. if you have made it this far, and i thank you, if i could make one more request, it's that you feel free to click on the image below for a larger view. after this you can feel free to surf on elsewhere

(please click for larger view!)

i wasn't 100% sure where i wanted to take the painting itself. i suppose you can call this the laziest color study for a nautical piece ever:

i wish i took more scans of the painting in progress. i can tell you that over the course of days, tiny increments at a time, i softly rendered hair, coil, tentacle, wrinkle, scale, shadow and light, over and over again

then i slathered it in pigment, each time hoping to further Submerge it all below the watery medum
honestly, i just wasn't happy at all with it. i was no longer sure what i wanted, only that i didn't like it. i decided i wanted to add even more submerged depth to it all, and frankly, we all get that the water is blue or green, but could i give the tentacles more meaning? could i reference the sacrifice he demands? so i flipped the panting upside down and let the kraken bleed its ink upwards to the surface
of course i lost days of detail but at least i felt a bit more fearless. still, after framing, packing, and shipping the piece to Anthony for the hanging, i wanted to see if there wasn't something more i could do in the computer:
apparently, not a whole lot.

i priced the final painting at $56.27, a price no doubt i'll catch some flack for, because Poseidon fathered, on record at least, 56 children with 27 women, some of whom were not happy about that, though some of legend's greatest heroes and heroines were a result.

thanks for bearing with any or all of this; it's greatly appreciated. i hope you'll try to see the show if you can, or at least click on some of the above links, to see the incredible work 30 other artists created for this show

fair winds and a following sea,

peter

Martian Chronicles

2010-07-03T14:28:00.008-04:00

The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated dedicated to encouraging human missions to Mars and the exploration of the Red planet.

The Autumn Society is a collective of artists [and friends] that started in Philadelphia and is now branching out worldwide.

together we made a coloring book to get kids excited about exploring Mars!

here's my little page, flashing me back to the years when i was doing just this almost exclusively (and where i met Autumn Society founder and current Cartoon Network employee Joseph "Chogrin" Game!)

feel free to click on it and print it out for your young ones. i'll be sure to let you know how you can get your hands on the whole book, with richer and more exciting illustrations by a slew of other earth shattering artists

off to watch both versions of Solaris now!

wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend

-peter

Horror Film - character studies

2010-07-02T15:20:00.005-04:00

coming soon to a theatre near you...

(click to enlarge if you dare!)

...from the awesome minds of Kphat Productions!

"Call no man happy till he is dead" -Aeschylus

2010-07-01T08:21:00.005-04:00

KPhat Productions contacted me to do some illustrations for their independent comedy, Living Will, to be used in their marketing. The film stars MTV & CKY's Ryan Dunn, and the trailer for this film, along with my art, can be found at livingwillmovie.com !

"House of Ideas"...call me!

2010-06-30T01:20:00.004-04:00

(click for larger view if you like)

this was a a ton of fun doing per my nephew's request (and birthday), as if i was pretty much waiting for an excuse to draw an all time favorite character: the Silver Surfer (although, Mr Fantastic was a blast to work with too)

Layout

2010-06-29T01:00:00.006-04:00

so in addition to getting to do a lot of illustration, it's also a lot of fun to work with other people's artwork and ideas. Paper+Plastick is always releasing great records by great bands, and sometimes they already have great art that just needs some layout work. it's excellent exercise for me to stretch my design muscles and reconfigure pieces of a puzzle into a cool looking record that is unique to each band, and especially because design is a rather weak area of mine that i would really like to have a better understanding of

here's the fantastic full length from Boston's Have Nots, who are super awesome to work with. i'm actually very fond of this, even though another great designer pretty much did all of this already for their CD, i got to bring a tiny percent of myself to the table :

this is an EP for Let Me Run, featuring stellar artwork by Dave Quiggle!

and in the following, The Swellers had their new album's layout (on Fueled By Ramen) all ready to go, but for the vinyl release, P+P wanted to give them that extra bit of awesome, and i was kindly asked to do some hand written type! always a labor of love, and always, in my opinion, worth the extra work and attention

it starts of course with the band sending me the lyrics in a live text document:
i take their words as they've written them, and lay it out in the LP's insert template to make sure it all fits nicely. once i know where the pieces are approximately going, i start writing it out. it ends up like this (feel free to click for a larger view if you like):

phew! the goal was for the writing to look like someone carved it into the wood with a knife. i kept a mean hand and a tough wrist and a day later i inversed the colors and voila!

MVD Man!

2010-06-28T08:48:00.003-04:00

My good pal Clint and MVD Entertainment Group needed a simple mascot, and this was a fun quick job in a fun clean style

the sketch:

some primary colors:

back in the Toy biz...

2010-06-27T13:15:00.005-04:00

my good friend Clint at Aggronautix has been paying tribute and causing mayhem with his Throbblehead collectibles, and recently i got to work on the Andrew WK Throbblehead, on sale now on his tour and through Aggronautix! check out an article about it HERE on Limewire (with my illustration)! Andrew is a super sweet dude, was stoked with the work everyone did, and even signs his e-mails "love Andrew".

i even get my sketch on the packaging, with an artist credit, Thanks Clint & Andrew!

keep your eyes peeled for other fun projects in the works!

Clowntastrophe!

2010-06-13T12:52:00.007-04:00

well i never thought i would do, or get to do, a Circus Punk, but here it is!

recently the indomitable Paul Palcko asked me and a whole lot of other talented artists to be part of his annual Clowntastrophe art show at the absolutely dynamite Delicious Corsets Boutique in Philadelphia! it's going to be a carnival blast, complete with sideshow, performances, great artwork by Paul + 30 other local and national artists, and even discounts on all Delicious products. Read all about it in the paper HERE!

although Paul's paintings themselves often have layers of commentary or references to them, i like his quote that "I see life as a circus, and all of us performers"

My "Circus Punk", traditionally a hand painted doll used by in carnival "knock down games", definitely shows the fun frivolity of life. the flame in his mouth is laughter, as no subject is beyond its overwhelming power of perspective. he is making a squeaky balloon skull, because i think about death not out of morbidity, but with the same affection i have for life, not merely as the other side of the coin, but the weight in the scales that makes life's lofty balance an exhilarating thing. i think that life, laughter, and death, have very close correlations, and in no way undermines the seriousness of the subjects.

if you can't make the show this Saturday June 26th to see them in person, check out the group blog HERE. below are some details, please feel free to click on them for some major close-ups

The Unkissable Pile Of Intestines

2010-06-12T16:22:00.004-04:00

hello! several moons ago i was an animation minor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Animation was always my first love and i long to get back into it someday, and wouldn't dare rule it out for future outlets of ideas.

Well the kick in the pants to that dream was my friend and old neighbor Kristoffe Brodeur rediscovered an old film of mine, dusted the file off, and uploaded it to the internet! Kristoffe is a renaissance man himself in dance, electronics, film, multimedia and beyond, and you can see more of that HERE. he literally had an open door policy where we lived, and though i had actually made 2 "unkissable pile of intestines" shorts prior, he offered to go over the new one with me and completely upgrade it into something special. editing, sound, special effects, and more were given his thorough, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and profoundly generous time and touch. Thank you Kristoffe!

"The Unkissable Pile Of Intestines" first showed up on a wall me and some fellow tenants and Spiderbiters once marred, and he became my everyman mascot of the unrequited. his previous appearances, though a decade old, and future adventures, will see more light here in the future. until then, enjoy:

Homebase Skateshop

2010-06-01T15:52:00.005-04:00

wow, where to begin? Homebase Skateshop in Bethlehem PA contacted me a few months ago to help them come up with a few graphics that would help raise money to build the Bethlehem Skateplaza. Having spent a some wonderful times (sneaking in the middle of the night) at Philly's FDR skate park long ago, i know first hand what a great thing this could be for a community. Andy Po who runs Homebase is doing a lot of incredible things at his shop and for his town, and all for the right reasons.

first up (besides the above logo/patch), is the commemorative skate deck sponsored by 5boro, red bull, and Dan Pensyl (who has a "real talk" tattoo, which makes him double awesome in my book), and the board was used to raise money to continue and complete the skate plaza. the bottom of the board was meant to reference Dan's first famous skate deck for 5Boro (with existing Bethlehem landmarks, and soon-to-be-monument Skate Plaza, in place of the original Manhattan graphic). the bottom of the board, though eventually covered in grip tape for shredding the park, would tell a little about the collaboration between everyone and the good cause in purchasing the board (click to enlarge if you like!)

if that wasn't monumental enough of an occasion, Homebase just celebrated their 8th anniversary! they were kind enough to ask me to do up a few t-shirt designs to keep helping raise money (feel free to click to enlarge)
though the following design didn't get used exactly, i was kind of proud of the clever playing around i did with the 8 and their logo (although only Andy knows that originally, i got the roman numeral completely wrong to the point of fictitious)

here are some photos from this weekends epic extravaganza:

check out them shirts!

Andy works the crowd during the skate deck's unveiling:

Andy Po and Dan Pensyl

Congrats Homebase!

also, special thanks to Bethlehemite and friend Marty Desilets for pointing me to these photos. Marty is one of the kindest, most generous people you will ever meet (and congrats to him and Dee on their recent engagement!), but if you never meet him, then you should know he is also one of the best photographers i have ever seen. you should check out his work HERE

folks like Marty, Homebase, and Vegan Treats are arguably greater monuments to Bethlehem than the steel factory or the Bethlehem Star.

there must be something in the water there

and happy June 1st everybody! hope you're all off to a great summer

Pigtails & Pixies LOGO

2010-05-28T18:34:00.003-04:00

recently i was asked to help design a logo for "Pigtails & Pixies Bowtique", custom made accessories for head to toe, specializing in hair bows (and tutus) for little girls.

you can see Erin's amazing work on her BLOG, and you can always buy lots of great products for the little ones in your life at ETSY or ARTFIRE

some fun first tries:

(you can always click for larger view if you like)

the final "banner" i made looks a bit like a clothing tag.

i had fun playing with the dotted line in stitches and cartoon flutters:

add glitter...

Derek and the Darling LOGOS

2010-05-27T10:30:00.005-04:00

i don't know how i'm always lucking out working with the nicest people ever, but NYC's rock n' roll dance outfit "Derek and the Darling" presented me with the fun challenge of helping them with a new logo as they embark on tours and record releases all this year.

I wanted to find them something clean, sleek, and smooth to both match their style (as well as avoid anything looking too dated in a year), and something that would be fun and modern (but referenced their music too), not to mention match the enthusiasm of their personalities.

i believe in options, something i've been told is a bit of a designer no-no. sometimes i think it may be my lack of confidence in my design skills or sensibility, but other times i know that i'm the kind of person who can tell you what i don't like before i can tell you what i do like, and most times i have to see it first anyway. i think a lot of folks are like this, and the bottom line is, if i'm going to honor the compliment of being asked to work on something For You, i'm going to make sure it's done For You. i know it's supposed to be "up to you as a designer" to fine tune and craft a vision, but it's not entirely my decision is it; i'm just an interpreter and vessel.

i like options, i love exploration, and i'm all about collaboration with the client to give them something they will be a million % excited about. i've worked at companies that didn't care enough about the customer, client, or product, and the end results were never great, and never ever long lasting. so here i tend to bombard folks with a ton of (appropriate) typefaces first, thinking of them (and rocking out to their music) the entire time, and we narrow it down quickly and collectively. we start wide and chop 90%, and then dive into the details, where i tend to thrive. we actually staid pretty true to the various typefaces and pictorial ideas, with only minor tweaks to match the same precision their music has. here are just a few:

in the end we took a crucial roundabout journey to come back to a place where we started, wiser and more fine tuned than before! you can see how they used their new logo on FACEBOOK as well asMYSPACE, and of course on tour and on record now!

Death Gospel

2010-05-24T16:33:00.005-04:00

yes indeed you may have heard pieces of Adam Arcuragi's rousting hootenanny "Bottom Of The River" on TV recently (that's me playing harmonica!)

congrats to Adam and the entire Lupine Chorale Society!

now get out there and see Adam LIVE (because he is amazing live), or head over to High Two Records, or wherever fine music is sold, and grab a copy of Adam's live-take, feel-great, long-player: "I Am Become Joy". we all enjoyed making it, we know you'll enjoy listening to it

oh boy! new records!

2010-05-21T11:02:00.007-04:00

and they came out great!

for the record:
1) Paper+Plastick Records is one of the best things to happen to music. period.

2) Coffee Project are two of the coolest dudes ever, and i'm SO proud to get to be a part of what they are doing. their show last night in NYC at The Silent Barn knocked my socks off, and their excellent new songs are full of so much heart-tugging & humor. you really need to see them on tour, as intimate a setting as possible, and be simultaneously spellbound and pumped by the cleverness of every aspect of the songwriting. Their first full-length LP "Moved On" is OUT NOW!

3) The Blacklist Royals bowled us all over. spirited, rebellious, & passionate anthems as heavy and driving as the motor on a '59 Buick Electra (you can hear some HERE). such rad generous guys too; really appreciated getting to spend time with them, and now triple-proud to have gotten to work with such a great band

4) Greenland Is Melting. phew, i was not ready. the most passionate bluegrass music you have ever heard. like the sweetest honey drizzled over your first heartbreak. i didn't get to do any art for them --- because the amazing Shaun Pereira did (and you have to buy this LP and unfold it's vertical Andrew-Wyeth-meets-Steadman+Burton glory)! head over to P+P HERE to download the record FOR FREE if you don't believe me. you'll be giving them your hard earned whiskey money like i did. have i mentioned Karl, Will & Shaun (whose name i misspelled on my card, sorry) are the nicest guys ever?

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Zounds! check out this great tour video from Jake & Buddy, and the super nice shout out they gave me towards the end! this gives a great snapshot of one of the best shows/nights ever! (why, that's even my noodle on the bottom right of the preview!)

the Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton!

2010-04-02T15:30:00.015-04:00

i just got to work with renaissance man Stephen Egerton, known especially for his influential guitar work in The Descendents and ALL ! In addition to being one of the nicest guys on the planet, he recently wrote and recorded a record at his own Armstrong Recording studios, and he has a real 'whos-who' of punk rock all stars doing guest vocals (we're talking The Descendents, ALL, Alkaline Trio, MXPX, Less Than Jake, Big Drill Car, Rise Against, Ultimate Fakebook, Lagwagon, Shades Apart, Drag The River, and way more! phew!)

The album will be out proudly on Paper+Plastick Records May 11th, with what i can only imagine will be one of the coolest record release shows ever (with vocalists confirmed) May 14th & 15th. The LP will feature Stephen's logo, designed by the awesome Eli Atkins, as a die-cut window !)

i don't think i have to tell you how excited i was to be working with Stephen here.

legendary!

(all type done by hand)

Coffee Project

2010-03-22T10:45:00.007-04:00

so Paper+Plastick's COFFEE PROJECT (featuring members of Less Than Jake & Rehasher) asked if i would do the art and layout for their second record, and what a compliment to be asked a second time!

they said they wanted "Peter Wonsowski meets Dr Seuss"; how great is that to hear?!? and of course i love that my job includes a morning reading 7 of my favorite Dr Seuss story books for, you know, "reference" (not to mention my trip to the book store a Tax Write Off !)

the following were rough thumbnail sketches, to determine what kind of perspective we wanted

followed by some quick fleshing out before i dove into the exploration of the final

and since many drawings would be of actual band members, guest musicians, friends, and such, i drew pages of quick caricatures to get decent stylized likenesses. Here's Jake:

and the first [el Greco] version of Keeth, their friend (and parade's pied piper)

the Final Art (type and layout still in progress)

PLEASE CLICK FOR LARGER VIEWS !

DETAILS:

i can't tell you how excited i was to do a complicated crowd scene. i wanted to make sure that there was always something fun look at, and i refused to oversimplify any bodies in the background. thankfully the divine format of a gatefold vinyl allows for 24"x12" to enjoy

(so feel free to click for larger views!)

i'll let you know when it's available for purchase, especially on Coffee Project's tour this spring/summer !

thanks!

-peter

upward & onward !

2010-03-05T12:16:00.002-05:00

2 mixes for cash

2010-02-28T17:10:00.003-05:00

johnny that is

(thanks Curt!)

what time is it?

2010-02-20T04:59:00.002-05:00

Marceline, for a tribute book (and possibly poster) for Cartoon Network's "adventure time"

The Riot Before

2010-02-01T12:15:00.012-05:00

it has been a busy month or two for me in the studio, but i am just about wrapped up on one of the most ambitious records i've ever gotten the pleasure of working on for The Riot Before's new LP "Rebellion", soon to be out on the amazing Paper+Plastick Records!

before Christmas, the band got in touch with me with a challenging concept and layout that really spoke to me personally. Dostoyevsky wrote once that "One can hardly live in Rebellion, and I want to live." In punk rock, rebellion and discontent are valid vessels and outlets, but it too often doubles as a limiting cause and effect. As we grow up, and begin to learn how the world works, and a desire to contribute to the world as well as shape it, it becomes more and more apparent that it is a restricting lifestyle with no growth or change, inwards or outwards. The band wanted a record that, utilizing die-cut windows, would appear almost as a punk rock cliche, but would open up to a more mature wider concept; one that would be a primer for the listener to understand the searching and crucial qualities to the music and lyrics. this would be a challenge conceptually, as well as in design, not to mention that it deals very much with things i think about regularly as i try and evolve and impact myself.

if you need or like, please feel free to click on these images for a better view

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So first, i thought about ways to show variations on all these themes:

as i struggled to get a concept down first (knowing the layout and 'revealing' aspect of the record would come about after), i asked for lyrics to draw from (literally and figuratively) :

One thing the band liked was perhaps having the cover look like cliched iconography, like a rising fist, or a flag, only to open up to a larger more startling scene. so we took the idea of 'the flag of rebellion" and the potential aftermath being more destructive, while a lone figure attempts to build something greater from the rubble

so now we had what we wanted to say, but what about the cover? how could we lure the listener into thinking one thing, only to realize upon opening that it is about so much more?

we felt there was so much about rubble and building that perhaps we could have our typical flag, with a die-cut window that appeared crisp and pristine, among a weathered and cracking, but still upright, wall:

feeling we were headed in the right direction, the cover pencils and etched logo were created:

Thankfully, everyone in the band and label realized that this was not going to make for an interesting cover, and no matter how nice we made the inside jacket, we had to make the cover something people would want to pick up and open. so we pushed ourselves to find a better concept that might allude to the "before" to the inside's "after" :
so if the inside was hard actuality, perhaps the outside could be the optimistic passion:
and we roughed some logos for the band that might look good outside of the context of the record (which didn't quite come together yet):

finally, combining ideas together, i executed the final front & back covers.

(please click to see the larger art!)

then the inside! this record was SUCH a fun challenge; i loved every second of the process. i really had to push myself to think about and design every aspect of 4 panels all at the same time, to make sure it all lined up, or else our concept and window reveals wouldn't work. here, the flag would be tattered, and the album name "rebellion" would change drastically in new context:

and the final watercolor painting

(please click to see the larger art!)

this is a mock up of what the final 12" LP cover will look like in your hands :

and 12" records have to have cool labels. the vinyl junkie in me couldn't resist asking Paper+Plastick what they had in mind for the actual vinyl itself, and i think everybody's going to be blown away when they see the multiple variations (including blue and white swirled vinyl, as well as orange with red splatter!)

now for the insert! the record itself would be housed in a nice sleeve, and the band thought it would be cool to see a blueprint, continuing the idea that our central figure would still plan to build out of hope from the ashes. placing a lot of words in finite space is always tricky, but once i figured out how to get everything into 2 square feet, i began the laborious but incredibly important touch of doing all the type by hand. i am embarrassed to tell you that this may have taken me as long as the paintings to do, and while there were a great many long days and late nights--all gratifying--working on this album, my hand had to take a lot of breaks and i even iced down my wrist one night:
but what an outcome! i regret nothing! i took a lot of attention creating folds and crinkles from scans and playing in photoshop to divide each song and section as if it were folds on the blueprint, and hiding actual architectural drawings (like stairs) behind

i can't WAIT to see the final product. rest assured i will post photos when i get it. i am so grateful to have gotten to work on such a creative and ambitious record, not to mention the joy of doing exactly what i love doing the most -- every aspect of elaborately designed LPs! just as important is how thankful i am to work with such amazing, nice, and like minded friends in both the band and the record label. and did i mention...The Riot Before rock?!? this record is going to be incredible, all bias aside.

thank you for bearing with my lengthy process blog, but i was really proud to work on this one

take care

-peter

monster

2010-01-29T10:15:00.002-05:00

do feel free to click to see more detail

an old monster sketch, from the best week of work ever

greetings and salutations!

2010-01-27T12:21:00.001-05:00

thanks to Andy Po at Homebase Skateshop in Bethlehem PA !

"there were bells... all around, but i never... heard them ringing...."

2010-01-17T17:31:00.001-05:00