The Evolution of an Album Cover
Over the course of the 2008 New Year's run, we all had the chance to meet our cover artist Mark Blanchette in person as he journeyed north and spent the 29th & 30th with us at the Auditorium Theater. Mark and I got talking and discussed the idea of him penning a "making of" the Mantis cover to shed a little light on how the project came to fruition. The following is the result of that conversation complete with a host of images that probably wouldn't have otherwise seen the light of day outside our close circle. We are thrilled with Mark's work and excited to give you another peek into the ground room floor of our latest creation. Many thanks to him and all the folks at Plaid for the great design work throughout the evolution of Mantis.
-Kevin
The
Evolution of an Album Cover....Mantis style
Part
1
Early
September 2008 began a very busy time for me. A few days after I opened a
solo show of my work in a prominent downtown Chicago art gallery, I received an
email from Vince Iwinski, Umphrey's McGee's manager, inquiring about my
availability and willingness to work with them on their new CD coming out in
January. Apparently the two coinciding events were pure
circumstance, and they had discovered my work from my website when searching for
artists who fit the "feel" the band was looking for.
My
first few phone calls were with Vince and Kevin Browning (the sound engineer
and producer for Umphrey's McGee) who provided me with the foundation of what
the band was looking for...black and white work with a splash of nuclear
green. The title of this cd is Mantis. The scope of the music
was epic, grandiose and the cover image was to imply a vastness, but still
remain intimate. The new music included strings and lyrically
mentioned a "higher power", but in a very subtle fashion. They wanted to see some macro photographs of a Mantis insect, not necessarily for the
cover, but for the album artwork.
As
I began to immerse myself in the project, I discovered that the word Mantis is
Greek for a prophet or seer. This guided my thought process along with
the information provided to me from Vince and Kevin. I created a
single image as a form of litmus test, to see if I was going in the right
direction.
Part
2
A
conference call was set up between Vince, Kevin, the band members and I to
discuss the album artwork and provide me with more direction. The
submitted image showed promise and everyone responded extremely well to my
thought process of "Seer or Prophet" as a guiding force along with the information
already provided. In the end, this would serve as the basis for all
the submitted imagery. The conversations flowed very easy
with a fluent exchange of ideas and suggestions. Kevin sent me an
email with all the lyrics to the new cd for reference and inspiration.
Armed
with the lyrics and two pages of notes from my conference calls, I headed into
my darkroom and set to work. The first step was to get the mantis
images taken care of.
Everyone
felt the mantis images were too "Sci Fi" and didn't fit the cd. I
agreed completely, so the mantis aspect was dropped from consideration.
Inspired
by the lyrics, I continued down the "Seer" path. I created a full
series of pieces for submittal. These included several images for the
cover, disk, the back of the cd and a sprawling photomontage for inclusion
inside the packaging.
The
day after I submitted the whole series of artwork for review, I received a copy
of the CD in the mail. I immediately knew the artwork did not
fit. On their own, the lyrics are dark and brooding, full of
conflict. The images I created reflected as such. Placed in context
with the music, the lyrics are still dark, but not nearly as ominous.
Another
conference call took place with the band, staff and myself to discuss this new
submittal and the artwork direction. Everyone agreed that I nailed
the essence of the lyrics on their own, but not the album as a whole. We
were pretty much set on the theme and direction for the artwork. I
felt confident, now armed with all the pieces of the puzzle that I could obtain
the imagery the band was looking for.
Part
3
This
last conference call took place right before I was to leave on a two week photo
jaunt through New England and Canada. I loaded the new cd into my
MP3 player and headed off for the trip. While away, I spent a lot of time
with the new music, jotting down notes. Mid way through the trip, I
received an email from Kevin. He suggested a music box as a potential
element of the artwork. I was happy to inform him that before I left, I
ordered 3 music boxes for the project. Great minds think alike!
One
day of my trip was spent exploring Acadia National Park in Maine on a rented
scooter with a friend of mine, taking loads of photographs.
Throughout that day, one specific line of lyric from the song Cemetery Walk
kept echoing through my head. Initially, I knew that line had
imagery potential and as the day wore on my thought process congealed into a
solid form. I had no idea the impact that one line would have in the album
artwork. More on that later.
Upon
my return, it was back to the grindstone. I photographed the music
boxes, but leaned heavily towards this little hand crank music box.
As a nod to the use of strings on the new cd, I specifically chose this music
box as it plays Beethoven's Fur Elise. I felt the basic, manual music box
suited the aura of the new cd. Everyone agreed. Check one off
the list.
The
next batch of images that were submitted for consideration contained a full
assortment of artwork for the cover, exterior, interior, marketing and single
release. I've included some of the cover images submitted.
The last one was my personal favorite.
Along
with all of this artwork, I submitted my idea from the song "Cemetery Walk" as
a marketing or t-shirt piece. The lyric from the song is "It's not
a cage if you're feeling like a resident". That one line of
lyric spoke volumes to me. I vividly remember wrapping my mind
around that one statement in so many ways while exploring Acadia National Park,
dissecting and reassembling the possibilities.
In
its simplest form, my image is a metaphor for "Protect what is important to you
in your world", but it applies to the line of lyric on a myriad of
levels. I won't bore you with the verbal gymnastics.
This
last round of artwork was submitted as Umphrey's McGee began their New York
City run in mid October. Due to a hectic schedule, it took a few days to
receive a response. The feedback I received was not what I expected, but
pleasant none the less.
There
was such a connection to the Cemetery Walk image that the band decided to use
it for the cover, and move existing cover work to the interior. All of
the other artwork was approved and we began working with the design team at
Plaid.
The
rest is (or will be) Mantis history. Granted, this is the abbreviated
version of three months work, but this has been by far, the most enjoyable
project I have worked on. It was truly a collaborative
effort.
Mark
Blanchette

All of
Mark Blanchette's work is done in a traditional darkroom. Each
image is made by exposing the photographic paper multiple times with different
negatives utilizing several techniques (dodging, burning, and
masking). All of the photomontages are created in only one size in
an edition of 10 prints. Of the 10 prints, images 1 through 9 are
available for purchase. Number 10 of the edition is kept by the artist
for museum and gallery exhibitions. Once the 9 prints are sold, that
image is retired. By creating the image by hand, each montage
in the edition will contain subtle to drastic differences in tone and image
blending. In essence, each photomontage is an original work of
art.
The
photographic artwork of Mark Blanchette has been collected and exhibited in
museums and galleries throughout North America and abroad. His work has
received numerous awards, and he has participated in many prestigious art
festivals, including repeated exhibitions in Disney's Festival of the
Masters. Mark works exclusively with black and white film and
utilizes a conventional wet darkroom to create his surreal images. The
images are designed to allow the viewer to find their own interpretations of
the meaning or message depicted in the content. The conclusion is
oftentimes a reflection upon the individual viewer's own personality.
Mark
Blanchette is a resident of DeLand, Florida and can be found online at www.GRYMWISH.com