Jan 30, 9:00 am
It’s certainly not news that geek culture is blowing up right now. The dorky things we do, wear and worship have become socially acceptable, even cool, when they’d once get us teased in the locker room. People often think of geeks as unproductive blobs, but really we are a group that can be credited with being highly creative, and albeit at times even productive! ;P Alternate dimensions, fictional worlds, endless fantasy influences to draw from… all of this begets limitless perimeters for the imagination.
The nerdy things I love have permeated my art since I was young. I’ve been doodling manga & comic book characters on my notebooks, drawing Ninja Turtles on my friends arm, and trying to get Mario looking good on paper since I can remember. I want to share an artwork of mine that was influenced by an anime and manga series that I love.
This is a cutesy composition I drew of one of my favorite characters, Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell.
Now I want to introduce you to my good friend Marcus, also known as ERRRskate151. He recently completed a project inspired by Star Wars. His project both awed and inspired me, and I feel obliged to let more of the world see it! So, without further ado….
Sounds of the Galaxy
Everyone is familiar with Star Wars, even if it’s only a vague familiarity. People from all walks of life dig it with varying degrees of interest. It has such a grasp on pop culture that every so often you’ll see a joke on T.V. about Greedo shooting first or talking about how it’s as cold as Hoth. It’s popular enough that Adidas can make yearly styles inspired by Star Wars and sell them all around the country. There are a number of ways I can get into the subject, but the bottom line is that the series is a game changer on a massive scale. Say what you will on the quality of the films, but their influence is undeniable.
Artist statements, as a rule of thumb, aren’t normally my thing. Over time, I’ve learned that I’m amazingly witty and that if you don’t want to hear what I have to say you’re extremely dimwitted and probably have no class (Don‘t worry, I‘m kidding. Sort of...) I’ve been a Star Wars fan since for as long as I can remember and I have since kept the love. A few odd months ago, I had finished watching Family Guy: Blue Harvest. Cleveland made a joke about listening to Tatooine, Wind and Fire. Everyone knows Family Guy drops 200 pop culture bombs a minute, but after a few days, the joke kept running through my head like a marathon.
At the time, our friend & fellow forumer, Andrew, had been tinkering with an idea he called “Disco Troopers.”
The piece features afro-bearing versions of Tag & Bink, two Storm Troopers who have been described as the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Star Wars Universe. When he posted the picture I got a good laugh out of it, so some time later I took what he did in a different direction and “That’s the Way of the Galaxy” was born. With varying degrees of success, I tackled some other projects and anything Star Wars related was out of sight and out of mind.
One of the main factors that got me on the project was looking at the soundtrack for Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. That cover is a spot on embodiment of what the soundtrack is all about. The hunched figure caught in the moment mimics Joe Strummer’s pose on the London Calling cover. It captures the intensity and raw power that punk rock exudes. It’s an amalgam of classic punk songs meeting new bands to create something fun and interesting.
Inspiration soon struck me like a bolt of lightning and I was making another album cover. This soon turned into cover after cover, touching on different styles I wanted to emulate or pay tribute to. A good number of the albums I chose don’t necessarily reflect my own music preferences. Some of them I picked for purely aesthetic reasons. The image on the cover of an album has the capacity to be just as important to the package as the music. It’s the first thing you see, creates a mood, and can even set a tone for the music on the album.
My first priority for this project was to have fun and have something I can call my own at the end. I rifled through my own collection of albums along with some of the most popular album art of all time. I found my rhythm and produced work, which I’m not only proud of, but also eager to share with anyone who will have it.
With that said, I present to you: Sounds of the Galaxy!
This is just the beginning! We’ve decided to share only a few here. Throughout the week I will be posting more albums up on my Star Wars themed tumblr blog. You can find it on tumblr at http://starwarsanyone.tumblr.com or follow on twitter @starwarsanyone.
- Marcus / ERRRskate151
That’s all, folks ~ Glitch out!
