It might seem a tad hubristic to try and tackle an author whose covers and related visuals have been so much discussed and analysed when I'm still figuring out my own working methods, but I've been intending to produce some Ballard-inspired images for several years now. Ballard's writing is so visual in a specific, deadpan kind of way that I thought it unwise to stray too far from the literal content of the stories, and the Max Ernst references seemed like a way around this (Ernst was one of Ballard's favourite artists and is mentioned in both novels). I'd be interested in hearing what people make of these, especially from anyone who's familiar with the books, so feel free to leave a comment (I've also added my email address on the right).
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Hubris paid off in my opinion. I'm a huge fan of both Ballard and Ernst, and I think you've done them both justice here. A few notes:
ReplyDelete(1) The subtle use of colour in the Drowned World cover is great
(2) I like the fact that the composition the two covers is related while the actual illustrative style is very distinct is a nice touch (sort of established an overall theme, but with each one having a distinct identity)
(3) The twisted figure on the left hand side of the Atrocity Exhibition cover puts me very much in mind of Yves Tanguy.
Nicely done.
Nas Hedron
nas@nassauhedron.com
Thanks Nas, much appreciated. The colours on The Drowned World are actually more muted than I'd originally intended; as you can probably tell I had Ernst's decalcomania paintings in mind, many of which use very strong colours, but I also didn't want to overdo it. As for the twisted figure, if you mean the one at the bottom left, that's a trilobite; the one above it is a zygomatic arch and the one at the top is another bit of human anatomy...
DeleteHey James,
DeleteI thought the colour worked out well, whether it was exactly what you intended or not.
As for the "twisted figure" I meant the zygomatic arch. Tanguy uses a lot of imaginary objects with that general kind of appearance -- a little bit sculptural, a little biological, which makes it no surprise I guess that it was a bone structure.
These are wonderful. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Out of all the images I've done so far these are the ones I'm most pleased with, so it's good to know there are folks out there who appreciate them.
DeleteThat reminds me, I really need to spend some time trawling through Form Is Void... that paper animation you posted the other day is incredible.
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