Ali J

The Mesa CD is finally here!

Ever ripped open a box like crazy?  Well today the postman arrived and it feels just like christmas day!!  I'm so excited to see the Mesa CD I designed in person.  I spoke briefly about the CD a little while back here but now I can share some more images of the CD with you!!!

Now most illustrators will just illustrate the front cover of the CD, but I warn you that I've created the entire CD from scratch (front cover, back cover, lyrics etc) - so there are a lot of photographs!


Oooh look a box!  :)


Front cover of the digipack


Back cover for the digipack (I even created the barcode - how cool is that!)


Detail of the digipack spine.  My intention was to have the spine look like a book with creases - it looks so good in person!!  You don't really notice it until you fold the cd out and lie it flat.  :)  (So if you have the CD - go and do it and then go 'oooh')


This is the inside of the digipack


The CD itself.  You won't be losing sight of this anytime soon!


The front cover of the lyric booklet


The lyric booklet unfolded


Detail of some of the lyrics & illustrations


Credit page detail


Joao's photograph


The last image is of Monica's photograph along with a few 'secret' imagery from the band in the illustrations on the lyric pages.  The little white sheets you can see flying off the typewriter are actual handwritten music sheets from Joao, and there is soft writing in the background which are his notes as he wrote the music into his journal.  All in Portugese of course (the band resides in Portugal).  All the writing of the lyrics in the book are handwritten by him.  I just loved working on this design, and it was a lot of fun!

Although at the time of trying to get the artwork submitted to Sony it was already overdue, my computer broke & I was extremely ill with the flu, sinusitis and a few other symptoms - so I will admit it was quite a stressful time trying to get it sent it!  The image files alone took a good 4-5 hours to transfer over.

The CD is available to purchase through CDgo.  The Digipack edition is limited to 1200 copies, so be quick if you wish to get yourself a copy.  You can buy it right here.  :)

Sneak Peek - Mesa Para Todo O Mal CD

I'm very excited to announce the release of a CD that I have just finished designing.  The CD is a digipack design (fancy cardboard packaging) and I designed everything including the cover, backpage, the CD and even the lyric pages.  I am very proud of the work and the clients were very happy with the final design.

I'm calling this a sneak peek as I do not yet have the actual CD to take photographs of, just the image that is being used across the internet for the CD's release.  The band is named Mesa and they reside in Portugal.  Communication was a challenge due to the language barrier and the 7 hour time difference, and there were many times I woke up at 2am to send off more e-mails.  :)  Luckily it all progressed quite smoothly, and I'm very pleased to have already received some wonderful reviews about how aesthetically pleasing the CD is.  I really enjoyed working on this commission!  I'll share more photographs as soon as I receive the CD.

Title - Para Todo O Mal - (translates as The Evil Within)
Band - Mesa (translates as The Bureau)
Type - Pop/Rock
Release Date - 12th May 2008
Record Company - Sony/BMG

Track Listing (translations in italic)

1. Porta de Entrada (Introdução) Port of Entry (Introduction)
2. Estrela Carente Star Carente
3. Tribunal da Relação Court of Appeal
4. Quando as Palavras Where the Words
5. Munição Ammunition
6. Biombo Acústico Acoustic Biombo
7. Boca do Mundo (Chama) Boca World (Flame)
8. Fiordes
9. E não vai ser bom And not be good vai
10. Paladar Palate
11. Para todo o mal For every evil

Here are some great links to find out more about the band.  (All links are in Portugese - but the photographs are amazing!!!)

Main Website - http://www.mesa.pt/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/mesapt
Blog - http://biombo.blogs.sapo.pt/
Itunes (Portugal Store) - here

******************** updated 26th May 2008 ***********************

You can now purchase the CD through CDgo.  The Digipack edition is limited to 1200 copies, so be quick if you wish to get yourself a copy.  You can buy it right here.

A step by step guide

I love reading about other illustrators, painters and designers and seeing their working process.  It is interesting how every person has such a unique way of creating their work in addition to their own individual style.  The sky is the limit.  So I thought I would share the process of one of the works that I finished last week.

This work was a commissioned piece for a 21st birthday present.  Initially the client contacted me detailing the deadline for the work, the size preference and the subject matter.  It was to be 40cm x 40cm canvas and an illustration of her sister and herself together.  She noted one of my previous works as an inspiration and wanted it to follow the same theme.  All communication was via e-mail so it was very important that communication was strong so that I could complete the job to the clients satisfaction.  Initially I was sent some reference photos of both figures, then I sketched out a few ideas.

These are just a couple of the pages of sketches I did.  I used the photographs and model photos for my references into the poses and facial expressions. At first I was taking too long trying to achieve a likeness to the figures, but scrapped that idea and just tried some quicker sketches to work out the composition of the final piece.

Upon approval of the sketches I then sketched the work out onto a pre prepared canvas of collaged paper.

As you can see it is very hard to see the sketched figures, but I quite like that.  My works tend to take on a life of their own in the painting process, and I like that they won't be exactly like my initial sketches.  The next step was to paint some of the major line work in.

I adore the face to the right.  It's strange how a few simple lines can already capture the exact expression of the figure.

However simple lines tend to drive me crazy and there was something about the composition that was bothering me.  So I coloured in the space for the hair.  Then did it again, and again.

The hair was refined again, with some details added in.  I felt like there was something missing..... so I had to add some colour.   The girls were crying out for some red rosy cheek love!

Then the background was added.  The painting goes through a few stages now of adding colour, tones and fine detail.  The facial features of one of the figures goes through multiple changes.  I really struggle with mouths and getting the exact expression that I want to achieve.  Detail is added into the hair, painted over, then redone again.  I've also painted a bit of skin tone into the work to reduce the white of the canvas coming through.  Oh - and I've changed the yellow shirt to sit higher on the figure.  It's very interesting seeing how a few small details can change the figures personalities ever so slightly.  Then somehow at the very last minute, it's finished!

The work is titled "Kinship".  The client was absolutely overjoyed with the work and I was told that her family cried with joy.  Stories like that really touch my heart, I'm so glad they are happy! 

In addition to fulfilling the clients wishes I also like to integrate my own little secrets into the work.  The sisters really love one another, and their closeness in all their photographs was so inspiring.  As my way of expressing their love I've added a subtle touch into the collage.  I've integrated the name of the client onto her sisters face, so not only is she looking at her, she's also a part of her.  I was quite surprised to find the name in the book that I was using for the collage, but decided it was meant to happen.

I really enjoyed this painting.  Now I've got to clean up my mess!  Here I'll share with you one of my workspaces -

Capturing the Spirit

I've just finished up another custom work.  This is an 8" x 10" acrylic painting.  This one I've had an ongoing struggle with in trying to display the difference in ages between the figures.  I was asked to paint two sisters and their dogs, I really like the end result.  I also love that I've managed to capture the personality of all of the figures in the painting.