Illustration: Minimal Complex.
Creating a new profile look for producer Minimal Complex.
Back at it again with my long-time friend Adolph Lopez, this time through his latest musical incarnation Minimal Complex. This music is a bit more ambient and spacey from his older hip hop/house influenced tracks and is an entirely different journey yet is still rooted in his beat-driven style. Adolph contacted me to created some imagery for his latest EP and then asked for a Spotify graphic. Prior to this I had not been drawing quite like I used to in over two years. It was a bit of a rough start just getting back into the headspace, however after the first couple of drawings for the EP I felt much better.
When approaching this project, I asked Adolph for some images of his setup including hardware and software/plug-ins he is currently using as well as some selfies/portraits of himself. I used these as inspiration to lay this piece out in an abstract manner. I had free reigns to do whatever with this one which made it all the more fun to try new things. I wanted to create an abstract feel of the entire piece while retaining elements of familiarity, seesawing between reality and imagination.
During the initial drawing phase, I took bits and pieces of the various instruments and plug-ins he uses, laying them out as individual floating elements. I enlarged smaller pieces and reduced the keys to play with scale in the vein of pushing the abstract approach. Even with his face, I kept the features minimal and used features that define him best and leaving out excessive details. After laying my inks down I brought the image into Photoshop, connecting the bits and pieces through color and sharp shape. For texture I created my own halftones from the line art as well as in shading the colors. I kept the colors flat with no gradients save for the middle ground to create a bit of layering between the main imagery, gradient midground, and enlarged elements for the background. This reduction of color helped me simplify what would otherwise be a much more drawn out project. I also felt it would also aid in the abstract I was pushing for a bit better, playing with dimension by overlaying planes that do not have definitive measure. Happy to say this was one of the more fun times I've had illustrating in a long time.
When approaching this project, I asked Adolph for some images of his setup including hardware and software/plug-ins he is currently using as well as some selfies/portraits of himself. I used these as inspiration to lay this piece out in an abstract manner. I had free reigns to do whatever with this one which made it all the more fun to try new things. I wanted to create an abstract feel of the entire piece while retaining elements of familiarity, seesawing between reality and imagination.
During the initial drawing phase, I took bits and pieces of the various instruments and plug-ins he uses, laying them out as individual floating elements. I enlarged smaller pieces and reduced the keys to play with scale in the vein of pushing the abstract approach. Even with his face, I kept the features minimal and used features that define him best and leaving out excessive details. After laying my inks down I brought the image into Photoshop, connecting the bits and pieces through color and sharp shape. For texture I created my own halftones from the line art as well as in shading the colors. I kept the colors flat with no gradients save for the middle ground to create a bit of layering between the main imagery, gradient midground, and enlarged elements for the background. This reduction of color helped me simplify what would otherwise be a much more drawn out project. I also felt it would also aid in the abstract I was pushing for a bit better, playing with dimension by overlaying planes that do not have definitive measure. Happy to say this was one of the more fun times I've had illustrating in a long time.
Adolph Lopez is a music producer and film maker, check out Minimal Complex on his Spotify page.
For all of your illustration and creative needs, please contact me directly at:
blue73100@gmail.com
