Monday, January 14, 2008

TORCHE drawings pt. 2

hello all,
i haven't been posting regularly for obvious reasons. first and foremost i'd like to say thanks to all the folks that left comments about my grandmother and her passing. such kindness from strangers is truly unexpected and appreciated. so, thanks again... the last thing i'd like to say on the subject is that though i grieve for anne, and have every day since her death, i've also been trying to look at her death as right of passage and a reason to celebrate the person that she was. i feel there is too much emphasis placed on the sadness/finality of death in our culture, and not enough placed on the importance of death as an inherently necessary and beautifully mysterious part of being alive. by saying this i don't mean to belittle the pain most of us have felt as the result of the death of a loved one, or discount the needless deaths of thousands in the war torn zones around the world, i only wish to impart that death is not always the horrid beast that we seem to regard it as. hardly revelatory statements i know, but i felt i had to put it down - for myself as much as for anybody else.

anyway, below are 3 drawings of my own, as well as a collage of all the characters drawn by juan montoya, all of which will be used in the layout for the new TORCHE album "Meanderthal". these drawings really won't give you any indication of what the final package will look like, but are presented here as raw stand alone images for your viewing displeasure. juan's drawings have inspired me greatly, and i only hope i can do them justice by creating the proper landscapes for these creatures to inhabit. i'll post some more images from this project as they become finalized.

in the meantime here are some of the aural, visual, and literary companions that have kept me distracted, inspired, and informed as of late: dave eggers "what is the what", eugene robinson "fight", clouds "we are above you", "arkham asylum" grant morrison and dave mckean, xasthur "a gate through bloodstained mirrors", death "sound of perseverance", profundi "the omega rising", phonophani "oak or rock", "bioshock" for xbox 360.....

more soon.
ABT

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are some nice drawings dude. I often see artwork by other post-rock/-metal bands that reminds me a lot of your style. How do you feel about other people borrowing your style?

Also, I was sorry to hear about your grandmother. My own great-grandmother has been having a lot of health problems lately, and it seems that every day we're wondering how long we have left with her. I agree with your opinion on death as discussed in the blog above. Sometimes that best ways to deal with what we fear is through acceptance and wonder (as hard as those two things can be).

Love and peace

Josh

Anonymous said...

Aaron! I was wondering if you had a hi-res or semi-hi-res photo of your painting that was used on the inside of Converge's original Petitioning the Empty Sky album book page...thing? The reason I ask is because I have been making plans, for the last 4 years, to get it put permanently on my body...a tattoo. I don't have any. And my decision on this one hasn't changed in 4 years, and now I've got the funds, I've found the perfect artist, and I'm really ready to get it done. And it would really help if you had, or knew where a person could snatch up a decent quality...and decent sized picture of it. Just wondering! Keep up the fucking fantastic work! Thanks! -Reed

MeTSam said...

Hey Aaron, glad to see you re back!
I think you re absolutely right about the emphasis we give on the sadness of death in our culture. And it is so unfair to do that considering how ungrateful we feel most of the time about our lives, rather than cherishing every single moment we live, plus the fact that we don t appreciate someone or something while we have it but only when we lose him/her/it...
That's all from me for now...
Can t wait for the upcoming ISIS boxset, hope I ll grab one!
See ya soon

Fun said...

I love the first part of this post.
You're right.

tina said...

Hey Aaron,

My name is Tina Gordzica and I'm a senior in graphic design. My teacher, Tyler Galloway, at the Kansas City Art institute offered me your blog contact. I didn't see an email contact for you on your blog, so I just figured I might as well send my question to you here! He told me that he met her out at NCSU and thought you might be a good advisor for me, like answering questions, for my senior degree project. My Thesis has to do with the use of motion graphics to package music through various outlets, like itunes, or winamp.

please contact me at this address ( cgordzica@gmail.com ) or by phone at 785-550-4174

i appreciate any help you can offer!

thanks alot, keep on keepin on

Tina Gordzica

tina said...

whoops! double post! ignore the first!

Hey Aaron,

My name is Tina Gordzica and I'm a senior in graphic design. My teacher, Tyler Galloway, at the Kansas City Art institute offered me your blog contact. I didn't see an email contact for you on your blog, so I just figured I might as well send my question to you here! My Thesis has to do with the use of motion graphics to package music through various outlets, like itunes, or winamp.

please contact me at this address ( cgordzica@gmail.com ) or by phone at 785-550-4174

i appreciate any help you can offer!

thanks alot, keep on keepin on

Tina Gordzica

Unknown said...

First, my condolences about your grandmother.
I have to say, though, I agree with your thoughts on death - to quote The Age of Spiritual Machines, "Take Death for example. A great deal of our effort goes into avoiding it. We make extraordinary efforts to delay it and often consider its intrusion a tragic event, yet we would find it hard to live without it. Death gives meaning to our lives. It gives importance and value to time. Time would become meaningless if there were too much of it." Grief is definitely part of death, but it shouldn't be all of it.

And finally, from a new Isis convert, love the music, love the art and love the blog.

Anonymous said...

I'm angry that you're keeping busy with these fantastic drawings, anything that distracts you from informing the general populace about Old Man Gloom tourdates is bad in my book.

Chris said...

This may sound silly, but they remind me a bit of Dr. Seuss. Definitely in a good way.

Brad Leigh said...

i also lost my grandmother on the first of January this year. i took it pretty hard due to how close we were. the way i view it is similar; death is a celebration of a life. she had told everyone how happy of a life she lived. she lives inside everyone that knew her, and i do my best to remember how she changed me.

i am sorry for your loss, and i hope you have fond memories of your lost grandmother.

and thank you for the awesome art and music!

Anonymous said...

Hey Aaron, I recently discovered your blog.I have lost a lot of people in my family including all grandparents, so I know by far where you are right now.I'm also a visual artist and a big admirer of the band.
Through music you have been a great help for me.
Thanx!