RockScratch

WORK EXPLANATION: "No Hiding Jack"

I haven't posted anything on here for a while because I've been busy as hell lately.  So I decided just to pick a scratchboard work of mine and talk about it for a minute.

The scratch I'm going with is "No Hiding Jack."  It is an illustration I did a couple years ago just to explain (or illustrate!) how I was feeling about one of my favorite contemporary musicians.  Jack White of the White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather, and several other projects is by far one of the most intriguing figures in rock today.  Although no single term can fully describe White's musical genius, versatile and "balls out" are the two aptest I can think of.

This illustration is meant as a statement of what White does to each project he touches.  Any band he joins/starts, any project he produces becomes a "Jack White" work; whether he wants it to or not.  In several articles I read when the Raconteurs were first formed, White tried to hide behind the band and state that it wasn't "Jack White and the Raconteurs" but rather "The Raconteurs." 

He didn't get his wish as with everything that he does.  It is always "Jack White's other band (this)" or "Jack White's new band (that)."  White is too talented and too much of a superstar to simply blend in with whatever group of talents he joins forces with.  As I tried to illustrate, his colors (red, black, and white) always find a way of shining through whatever front he puts on.

I do not think he intentionally upstages his band mates, but he does.  The audience pays more attention to him than to anyone on stage...except for maybe Dead Weather, because Alison Mosshart is so freaking SEXY! 

With whatever project John Gillis (White's birth name) chooses next, he cannot hide...it will forever be referred to as "Jack White's (yadda yadda yadda)..."

 

Kings of Leon PIGEONGATE Tees!

Just finished printing these Pigeon Gate t-shirts for the return of the Kings of Leon to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis, MO on September 25th.

The shirts have been added to my store and I AM  NOW ACCEPTING ORDERS!

I printed less than 50 of these things and they will go very fast...order now and you will be one of the first to sport it!

ENTER COUPON CODE: "pigeonpoop" AT CHECKOUT TO GET 25% OFF!

NEW Rock & Roll Illustration Series!

When it comes to the music I love (rock & roll) I have always been intrigued by the heart of the band...which, for some reason, many times turns out to be two key figures.  It just seems that as you look through the history of rock that the great bands seem to have these power duos...Lennon & McCartney, Plant & Page, or even Will.I.Am & Fergie (that is simply an example of a modern pop music group and I am in NO WAY putting them on the same level as the Beatles or Zeppelin).  So in a study of these power duos of the past & present, I am starting a new series of RockScratch illustrations called the "Rock Duos Collection".

The first two installments of this series are Jack & Meg White of the White Stripes and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.  Future additions will include duos from bands previously mentioned (except for the Black Eyed Peas...which I will not be illustrating) as well as the Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Black Crowes, The Band, and many many more.

Each work will be scratched on 5"x7" inked clayboard.  I feel that keeping them small makes them more intimate as well as more likely to be something you would want to hang on your wall.  Each will also be framed with a unique "roughed up" frame.  Prints of this collection will also be available.

Check back soon for more!

Check out the ROCKSCRATCH STORE NOW!

First Batch of Screen Printed Posters...

I just finished with my first screen printing run...and for a first attempt, I think they turned out alright.  An experienced screen printer will see the obvious mistakes that I made, but the posters will look okay to an average viewer.

For my first run, I chose to do posters for the Black Keys concert I'll be going to on June 10th at the St. Louis Pageant.  The printed posters are seen at left...I did 15 black and 5 blue (and I completely botched 10 others).  I wanted to do something with a lot of detail and a couple different colors just so I could see how well it came out.

Rather than laying out instructions on the screen printing process (which you can find like I did by Googling "how to screen print") I'd like to offer some general ideas that I worked through. 

New RockScratch Illustration:"The Black Keys & Danger Mouse"

Ahh...what a beautiful day (at least in the midwest) for the release of the new Black Keys album Brothers.

In anticipation of the new album, I did this illustration which depicts producer Danger Mouse lighting the spark on a Black Keys rocket/firework.  The track "Tighten Up" off Brothers being DM's second collaboration with the Keys (the first being the entire album Attack & Release), I wanted to show the effect he is having on the band.  "Tighten Up" has the potential to appeal to a much broader/mainstream audience than the band has ever before...thanks in part to DM's production influence.  Sure the band has sold rights to multiple television shows and movies to use their songs...but for the most part, much of mainstream music listeners still do not know who the Black Keys are.  With the release of Brothers and the promotion of the single "Tighten Up," I personally feel that that is about to change drastically.

With that stated, this illustration is supposed to be reminiscent of my first Black Keys illustration from several years ago.  It is the same backyard scene, only the duo is no longer breaking out by themselves...they have already broken out...Danger Mouse is rocketing them to greater heights.

Prints should be available later this afternoon!

BUT FIRST, I'm gonna go buy the album!

Art St. Louis "Seeing Red" Exhibit Now Open

RockScratch Work Who's Your Audience? is the Third Work From the Right

The 54 original artworks featured in this multi-media juried exhibit focus on the color red and/or address the theme of "Seeing Red," i.e. annoyance, frustration, and related issues of heated emotions, controlling anger, etc.

Join me at the Opening Reception this Saturday (May 16th) from 6-8pm!

555 Washington Avenue, #150 • St. Louis, MO 63101-1239 • 314.241.4810

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT ART ST. LOUIS

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE

"Who's Your Audience?" Selected for Art St. Louis's "Seeing Red" Exhibit

My gouache & scratchboard work "Whose Your Audience?" (shown at left) was selected to be exhibited at Art St. Louis's "Seeing Red" show.

Works featured in this multi-media* juried exhibit focus on the color red and/or address the theme of "Seeing Red," i.e. annoyance, frustration, and related issues of heated emotions, controlling anger, etc. After the ASL Gallery presentation, portions of this exhibit will travel to Third Degree Glass Factory and St. Louis County Library, Sachs Branch (July-August 2010).

Juried by St. Louis artists Philip Hitchcock, owner, phd Gallery, St. Louis, and Janice Nesser, Assistant Professor, St. Louis Community College Florissant Valley, and President, National Women's Caucus for Art.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EXHIBIT INVITATION

Art St. Louis • 555 Washington Avenue, #150 • St. Louis, MO 63101-1239 • 314.241.4810

www.ArtStLouis.org

Explanation of my Recent Absence

I wanted to take a second to explain why RockScratch.com has been virtually stagnant in recent weeks.  The reason is that I have been putting the majority of my efforts into building (rather starting) a career in illustration.  I am illustrating a children's picture book that I wrote called, Fishing for THAT ONE BIG ONE (My own way)...which you can read all about on www.wmarchant.com.  When I am finished with it, I will then devote most of my efforts towards getting it published.

So, for now, I can't really go to concerts and I don't really have much spare time to work on any new RockScratches.  I am by no means calling it "quit"s with all this, but it is essentially being put on the back burner for the time being.

I appreciate the emails of interest, praise, and encouragement...but, for now you can just follow me on www.wmarchant.com (if you are so inclined to do so).

Rock & roll my friends,

William Marchant

Black Crowes Pageant Concert and LOGOS at Halo Bar

Last night's Black Crowes' show was awesome as always.  Even though I've probably been to the Pageant 50 or so times...this was my first time having tickets for the upstairs balcony.  It was cool to be able to see a show differently than the usual "waiting 30 minutes for a drink and standing elbow-to-elbow in between two smokers".  Upstairs, it was much easier to get a drink and there was room to sit (during the slow songs)...plus the show was no-smoking, which was great for the lungs. 

The show was a good mix of Before the Frost...Until the Freeze and old stuff like Amorica and Southern Harmony & Musical Companion.  This seemed to be the shortest concert I've seen them play...but that might also be because I've been in Phish mode lately, expecting long sets.  It wasn't the best Crowes show I've been to...but its hard to go too wrong with the Robinson bros.

A real treat after the show was a indie-imaged three man band called Logos that played in the Pageant-connected Halo Bar.  They played some cover songs like you would expect at a bar, but their strength was their original stuff from their debut album Beautiful Disguise...very 70s rock influenced, Wolfmothery goodness.  I would have loved to see these guys on stage before the Black Crowes in place of the unexhilarating Truth & Savage Co.  I look forward to watching Logos on their rise out of the Midwest.

Click Here for the Black Crowes setlist from 11.11.2009 at the Pageant, St. Louis

Click Here for LOGOS

Click Here for Truth & Savage Company