Crazy 4 Cult is a gallery show celebrating the unique love for cult movies. According to Wikipedia, "A cult movie is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans.". They kindly provided me with a list of movie suggestions, and as I went through the list, I felt that a lot of them didn't necessarily add up to cult status. Most of them were films that I loved, but I felt there was a sub-genre of space western missing from the list.
I remember seeing the ads for the show Firefly but I can't say that I ever watched it when it was on the air. I guess I wasn't alone in this because the show sadly didn't make it past one season. The show left on somewhat of a cliffhanger, and luckily there was a rabid enough fanbase that someone somewhere at Universal decided it would be a good idea to greenlight the movie "Serenity"
So, when I sat down to think about what movie I wanted to illustrate for the show, I decided I wanted to join the Browncoats . As with the show, I didn't see this movie in it's initial theatrical run, but instead on DVD... which i immediately purchased after blowing through season 1 of Firefly over a weekend. Anyway, one of the things that always seemed unique about the show was the opening theme song. It's a great little ballad written by show creator Joss Whedon that sets the tone perfectly for the entire series. Apparently the NASA astronauts are fans of this song as well, in February of this year they used it as a wakeup call on one of the last shuttle missions. Click HERE for a cool little article about that, including video from the shuttle!
A few years ago I got into collecting Vinyl records with artwork on the front. I've never really had a chance to design an album cover, and when I started thinking about what would be a fun illustration to do for Serenity, I thought since music was such a strong component of the show, that an album would be perfect. I was always a fan of old vinyl art of children's music so I wanted to incorporate a retro feel. It is a known fact that River Tam is a badass, but for now things have taken a lighter direction with "River Tam and the Fireflies"
And here's the back of the album
and the record itself
Since the soundtrack to Serenity wasn't actually released on vinyl, this record contains something special for whoever decides to purchase the full item from the gallery. Here's a quick shot of the finished product
Prints of the cover art will be available to purchase through the gallery as well as my etsy store HERE
So if you're in town July 9th and want to come check out some great artwork by over 100 artists, do yourself a favor and come check out the gallery opening for Crazy 4 Cult at Gallery 1988. Kevin Smith will be there as the host for the evening as well
Crazy 4 Cult: 4 "the case of the redundant number"
July 9th, 2010
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
http://gallery1988.com/
p.s. I got to meet THE creative genius Joss Whedon last year at a comic-con party... and I just wanted to share this picture because it's awesome! Beards unite!
17 comments:
Those River Tam vinyl covers are some kind of awesome. As are the duelling beards. Shiny. :)
'Three Flowers in a Vase'...isn't that from Dollhouse, not Firefly?
But only 8 of the crew are there, that's just plain wrong.
any way that we could get the album cover on a shirt?
Have any desktop-size resolutions of this?
Brilliant work, absolutely wonderful. It broke my heart when I realized those songs don't actually exist.
Also: Three Flowers In A Vase. THANK YOU.
Album cover needs to be a shirt. Front and back would be great.!
Love it, made me laugh. Could do with a teddybear patch on Kaylee's shin, perhaps, but I trust your judgement. License it to Qmx, they'd sell a ton.
wonderful artwork! but where's Book?
Love your cover! One of the best fanmade Firefly pieces I've ever seen. Incredibly well-designed and beautifully illustrated, but it feels incomplete without Book. :-(
Thanks for the wonderful comments everyone! Just to address a few things:
1.Yes, "Three Flowers in a Vase" is from Dollhouse and not Firefly... but I loved Dollhouse and thought i'd throw it in there because I can.
2. I'll work on putting up a desktop wallpaper. I've got a lot of prints to send out, so it'll come as soon as they're all in the mail
3. Since this was a Serenity-centric piece, Book wasn't around a whole lot in the film... and when he was on screen he ended up covered in blood, so... I left Book off of the image on purpose, not because I don't love his character, maybe he decided to try a solo career or something
Truly amazing! So did you only press 1 record or are there several that you can only buy at the gallery?
Grew up with vinyl, collect vinyl, own several thousand LPs. You got the details, the "look and feel" of recordings from vinyl's heyday EXACTLY right. Plus, it brings the funny. Plus, you met Joss.
I am in awe, sir.
Seconding the t-shirt suggestion, I would buy that in a heartbeat!
Have you heard of the musician Marc Gunn? He's brilliant with his music and words, not to mention a heavy Firefly nerd. He's written a couple of Firefly songs and I would highly recommend you contact him to see if he'd be willing to work with you in composing the songs for which you have created names!!
Side B Track 2 must be a short track - as soon as they get to the title, the lead singer passes out...
outstanding work! i'd also buy the t-shirt.
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