My latest project has been creating a gig poster for the Steely Dan Tribute Band called 'Technicolor Motor Home.' My goal for putting together this poster was to recreate the feel of the psychedelic rock art posters of the sixties and seventies. I actually plan on doing a few different band designs in this style, since I had so much fun playing! This colorful genre of psychedelic artwork was influenced by the artists of the San Francisco era such as Wes Wilson, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, and Bonnie MacLean. They were famous for designing many of the rock posters that advertised the Bill Graham events at the Filmore, and the Family Dog concerts at the Avalon Ballroom. These artists and others, opened the door visually to a new way of expressing the 'feel of a band or musician' through their art, and some went on to make album cover art as well. They are also credited with having a hand in giving birth to the San Francisco Haight Ashbury hippie scene through presenting musical events, happenings, and their wonderful engaging artwork. Some of these same artists are still painting today, and I recommend you check them out, and see what they are up to. If you want to purchase your own authentic rock art poster from those days gone by, go online to 'Wolfgang's Vault,' which sells posters from that era. This company owns many of the original negatives and plates of the psychedelic originals, and they also have the largest collection of vintage and retro memorabilia. You could peruse this website just to view their historic poster collection.
As a young high school girl I wanted to create album cover art when I grew up! Alas, the music world turned to teeny tiny CD art. That is just not the same glorious album space everyone looked forward to viewing, reading, and enjoying before CD's. As a designer and artist I really appreciated the beauty of the poster and album art of my past. In eighth grade I remember attempting to paint on my junior high school glass entrance panels, a tall Peter Max starry scene. Being my first attempt at public art, I had no idea how to paint on glass properly, and made a big mess of it! Geez now that I think about it, I sure wish I still had the Peter Max posters I plastered in the basement of my youth. These days Ben and I have framed many old album covers as works of art, and have them hanging around in a semi-secret area we call our "Hippie Room." Now that I've mentioned that room, I suppose I will have to do a blog post about that mysterious room too.
Some common elements I tried to evoke on my digital rock art painting are the stretched out type, happy-fun bright colors, and images not necessarily of band members. Often the poster artists used vintage images, influenced by Art Nouveau or Art Deco posters, and these were applied in their collage or paintings instead of the expected photo of the musician. The same pre-raphaelite face from a John Everett Millais painting called 'The Bridesmaid,' that I manipulated previously in the 'Babylon Sisters tribute artwork' was also placed on this new design, because I felt she recreated the woman of the 60's, 70's era perfectly. The heart and soul feeling I wanted on this poster, was the inner light of peace that prevailed during the sixties, represented by the gorgeous dove from the Graphic Fairy's archives, which is one of my favorite images from Karen. I like to call this beautiful contemplative feminine image of the woman, my 'Lady Of Peace,' for along with the dove, she holds a tiny peace sign in her hands.
I made two versions of the poster, so the band could use one to do what the rock poster is meant to do...advertise an upcoming gig. There is a space at the bottom to fill in the show and date. The show we are celebrating at the moment is in Annapolis Maryland, at 'Rams Head Onstage', which is an intimate 300 seat venue with great acoustics that is utilized by many national acts. It is exciting to see 'Technicolor Motor Home' play in such a comfortable venue with reserved seating at tables with waiter service.
'Technicolor Motor Home' has been voted the best tribute band in the Baltimore area! A superb ten-piece ensemble, including back up singers and a horn section, these musicians are dedicated to presenting the jazz influenced rock music of the legendary group Steely Dan. With ten members in this fabulous band, it is hard to schedule everyone for show dates, so get out to see them when they play, because it is a true treat! I have no doubt my exceptional hubby Ben Sherman will be wailing on lead guitar!
Ben went to the local 'Office Depot' to have color copies made of both poster designs, so I could check out the color reproduction. Each time there was a different person running the printing equipment, so the intensity of the inks are different, but I loved the pair of brilliant color results anyway. Since I own the original file, the band and myself, can get copies made locally in this manner. For anyone else that is interested in having one of these 'Technicolor Motor Home' posters, I put them in one of our Zazzle stores online. The price is cheap, and they have always done a good job of printing for us on our previous purchases. Both versions of the new poster, along with other new merch/swag, are available in the Shermanator Gear Store and in the Technicolor Motor Home Shop.
So speaking of swaaaaggggg... Here are some everyday items I had fun applying different versions of this new design on. I adjusted the poster look for the tee shirts especially, because I have never been a fan of a big square box on t-shirt fronts. If you want some unique coolness just check out these new items in our store at Shermanator Gear!
This men's yellow t-shirt shown above really says 'Summer Of Love' to me! The t-shirt design below is shown on a dark color top which makes the colors really pop!
There are other products available too, as in travel mugs, laptop skins, large flexible fridge magnets, key chains, mouse-pads, plus numerous electronic accessories.
Great weather is here! Those big shows, and festivals of summer, are coming up! Get prepared to rock, and enjoy your Summer of Love! And be sure to get out to see Technicolor Motor Home to enjoy some great live music! Peace and Love to you all! From a very bohemian Painting Queen.
UPDATE: We had some problems getting Zazzle to print some items. So any design here that had said 'Steely Dan Tribute Band' now will say 'Baltimore's Best Tribute Band Live', or not have the words 'Steely Dan' at all. Funny "Technicolor Motor Home" has been on the same bill twice with Jon Herington from Steely Dan, and he did not have a problem with TMH saying they were a 'Steely Dan Tribute Band'. Anyway I went in and changed every single product in the TMH Zazzle store. Geesh! That's shobiz.
Poster Art - Crystal Visions Art
Credit: Dove image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy
Merchandise - available at Shermanator Gear
Band - Technicolor Motor Home
