HE KNOWS, YOU KNOW
This is the second record sleeve of the series - in the first the jester was seen hiding behind a mask; in this one he tears it off. It was my idea to show the face pushing through the mask; I thought it would make a more interesting image. For reference I used a Halloween mask, but because it wouldn't stretch I had to imagine how it might look. The other photos are actually of my wife, but since the features were supposed to be masculine I decided to make the lips blue, which I thought would look less feminine. I started by sketching the subject, the first sketch was actually very different from the one shown here; I originally placed the figure in the centre of the sleeve.On reflection we decided to change it's position, because the jester had been in the middle the time before.We also decided to change the angle of the head because, seen full on, the cockade looked like a small tuft coming out of his cap; the three quarter view is easier for the viewer to assimilate.
Masking played an important role in creating the mouth. Here I'm preparing to work on the inside of the mouth, the tongue, the lips, and finally the teeth. This meant cutting a series of intricate masks, making me feel more like a watchmaker than a painter. I used a knife with a swivel blade which is particularly useful for complicated areas. At this point I'm using a scalpel to lift the masking from the board. I've cut a window in a piece of tracing paper and dropped that over the mouth area to protect the rest of the artwork.
I think you can see the masked areas more clearly in this picture.I always start with the darkest areas and work towards the lightest. I don't use black to achieve darker tones; in fact the only time I use it is when the local area is black. I rarely mix my colours, preferring to build up tones by overlaying one colour with another. Notice the soft edge of the tongue - I used a curved, loose paper mask there. I like Frisk concentrated dyes, which were developed for photographic retouchers and are therefore very thin.They are available in a range of about 20 colours. Because they are very transparent, I build up my colours gradually.It is a terribly laborious process. Tom Stimpson is trying to wean me off it! But I have developed this technique over the years and am finding it difficult to work in any other way.
I sometimes use Pelican inks which are very different from the dyes. They are brighter and because they contain more shellac they are permanent - as soon as the ink dries it is waterproof. I often combine the two. Here for example, I started with a water soluble dye, then I spattered on water. This caused the colour to dissolve and separate, creating the speckly texture on the tongue. To enhance the colour, I applied some Pelican ink, which is more vivid than the dye. I would never have been able to build up the vivid blue of the lips by just using a dye, so I added ink there as well. Here I'm using a soft eraser to create the highlights on the lips.
I used more colours than you’d think on the teeth — yellow, pink, orange — I can’t even remember them all. I wanted the teeth to be the warm tone of old ivory. The very darkest tones are browns and warm greys, but each colour is overlaid and modified by another; there are no areas of pure colour. Many people think airbrush will give them a magic short cut to success. It’s true that it can be very effective for laying down areas of that colour quickly, but I think it really comes into its own when a subject demands subtle treatment of colour; that’s why it is so good for highly realistic and surrealistic work.
Generally, I use an eraser to create highlights, but in this instance I wanted crisp highlights around the edges of the teeth. A scalpel allowed me to scratch very fine highlights.
The lashes were drawn in with a fine sable brush and watercolour— a brush allows for thick and thin strokes, giving the effect I needed. Cutting masks for the pupils was a complicated task, which required the small swivel knife. For the dark areas in the pupil and under the lids I applied yellow, brown, red and blue. This gradual build-up of pure colour created the milky, ethereal appearance I was after.
For the streaks of eye make-up I used a sable brush and watercolour, softening the colour by spreading it with the airbrush. Here, I’m scratching a bright highlight in the pupil.
I cleaned up the white of the eye with an eraser, lifting off the debris with a piece of masking tape. I like to clean up as I work. The veins in the eyes were painted in afterwards with ink and a brush.
Many airbrushed figures and faces tend to look very plastic because the artists use hard masks. I like to work freehand because it allows me to create a softer, more realistic effect. As you can see, the flesh tones are built up from a variety of transparent colours — yellow, red and brown giving the skin a glowing translucency. Airbrush can be used to create very fine lines. For example, the line around the nose and even the tine hairs at the eyebrows have been put in with an airbrush.
To put in the shadow cast by the mask, I traced the line where the mask overlaps the face and then cut a loose tracing paper mask. The mask is so close to the face that the shadow duplicates the edge. By using a loose mask I was able to create a more diffused band of colour.
This picture shows the whole image with the face completed and the dark shadows of the mask laid in.
For the golden mask I used ochres, brown, and blue, applied freehand. I wanted to suggest a plastic material so I added white, which softened and blurred all the colours, creating a milky look. Here, I am defining the hands with fine lines at colour.
The image is complete, but for the background and the cockade I think this picture is a good illustration of just how much freehand work I do. We have already looked at the face but here you can see a great deal of soft linework in the mask as well.
Here is the final artwork, shown with the printed record cover. It was to prove one of the most popular with the Marillion fans. The band get a lot of mail about the sleeves. For the latest album, Clutching at straws we tried a combination of photography and illustration. We used a photograph of a bar room scene and I did illustrations of famous characters sitting in the bar — John Lennon, Truman Capote, Lenny Bruce — and mounted them together as a collage.
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