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This is an album review illustration for Prog magazine. A Marillion boxset entitled 'Clutching At Staws'. Essentially an expanded re-issue of what is regarded as their masterpiece. The songs are written from the viewpoint of a heavy drinker so my initial idea was of a pub tabletop with various pints, ashtrays and wet circles with band members appearing in the beer froth. As the character featured in the songs is a strong presence it was suggested instead that this is who I should depict, in a pub, featuring a jukebox and posters from the time (late 80s).

This is an album review illustration for Prog magazine. A 'subtly hued and autumnal' new album by Peter Hammill, once of Van der Graff Generator.

From The Trees is a finely crafted collection of songs that grapples with the varied psychological aspects of approaching old age. The title, lyrics and album review were all quite evocative; full of references to nature, Autumn, leaves and the passage of time, so there was plenty of imagery to draw inspiration from.

On receiving my initial line drawing there were some concerns that a 'mask' treatment might be straying into Peter Gabriel territory so I needed to re-assure that the eventual image would be naturalistic and not convey character acting.

The illustration was well received and once the magazine was published Peter Hammill requested that he could use the image to promote his upcoming Japanese Tour.

This is an album review illustration for Prog magazine. A new record by Public Service Broadcasting, Every Valley is a thematic piece about the collapse of the mining industry.

Prog affords the illustrator a lot of freedom but their one requirement is that the band being reviewed are featured in some way within the image. It's not always immediately obvious how best to do that but here was one of those lucky incidences where an idea just flashed into mind without having to think or sit to work out ideas. I also knew straightaway that it required a gritty, monochromatic treatment in order to have the most impact.

From then on it was really just a case of working on the image until it felt 'right'.

Prog magazine gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in illustrating their review of the new album by Mastodon, Emperor of Sand. A concept album, it features a central character who is forced to wander a desert after being handed a death sentence by the titular emperor. Although I was unaware of the band, who could resist the opportunity of depicting the Emperor of Sand?



I knew almost immediately how the character himself would appear but needed to consider how best to incorporate the band (always a requirement for the review illustrations). Once the pencil sketch was approved I worked out a tonal version to use as a guide and then applied the colours. Consciously using a relatively muted palette so as to not over-dramatise things.

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I was recently working on an editorial piece where I was asked to submit sketches to pinpoint the direction for the final illustration. Among the sketches I sent over was this one. I felt there was a nice image to be had there so took the time to work it up into a final piece. A simple graphic image! Something I always aspire to achieve wherever possible.

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