I got really bored and made a piece of cover art

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

So I got bored out of my mind and made some cover art for the hell of it:

Just thought to share it with you for some creative feedback

 

[JeroenV]

I like it, just think the Hand coming out of the Soil is bit too clean.

 

[Morgan C]

^Agreed. The whole bottom half looks a little fake - the mountains look like they were done with a 3d program and then the hand is just pasted on. The sky looks killer too, and what font did you use for the "MAMMOTH"? I love it.

 

[Metal Overload]

It looks really cool, you could work more on the hand.

 

[iamandy]

i think changing the lightening would probably sort the "clean-ness" of it all.. just an idea.

try the effect this guy explains in this tutorial: http://neijman.deviantart.com/art/Army-Squirrel-Tutorial-91075105

 

[aberration]

Fuckin' A, that squirrel tutorial is amazing. I quit.

 

[jrt12]

Fuckin' A, that squirrel tutorial is amazing. I quit.

+1

while i dont consider myself on par with a fulltime graphic designer, i do alot of graphic work myself on the side and must say, i felt like a novice after skimming that tutorial. thats some damn fine work!

 

[GarethSE]

+1

while i dont consider myself on par with a fulltime graphic designer, i do alot of graphic work myself on the side and must say, i felt like a novice after skimming that tutorial. thats some damn fine work!

another +1
i used to dabble in photoshop quite a bit, and reading that was a bit of a blow to the ego haha.
i did manage to just about keep up with it though

 

[Jevil]

Well, not bad for an amateur, it is still a bit empty. But that kind of easy-doing software are a bit artificial and lifeless. I miss the good old "hand made" covers.

This is a cover done by Derek Riggs 9 years ago for my band VALHALLA.
It's artificial, nothing compared to those paintbrushed covers from the 80's. Look at the hand on the left, it's made with the same software you used. Every texture, water, ice... is done by a computer and lacks of personality.

 

[smy1]

I like it, the main things that I would change are the positioning and the width of the mammoth-logo. Raise it up so that it resides in the upper 1/3rd of the cover and make it less wide (so that it is as wide as "the distant me" is now).

I totally disagree with the comment about the grass and mountains looking fake. They look fine to me (have that surreal/dreamy quality) and overall I think it's a lot better than what most dudes do who actually charge for it (for example the Derek Riggs turd posted above) ...

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Hey guys, thganks a lot for the feedback! Much appreciated!

Yeah, I agree about the hand looking too clean, I'll have to fiddle with it some more. And yeah, it's a bit too empty, but I'm a sucker for minimalistic things The positioning is a good idea, I'll have to try that!

The font used for the Mammoth logo (and the album title) is called Trajan Pro, rendered and tweaked quite a bit. I think I used it on bold, but can't say for sure.

About using the same "easy-doing software", that's actually my hand, photographed with a crappy cell phone The mountains (and the basis of the scene), as Morgoe noticed, is indeed done with a 3D modeling program, but the rest is pretty much layers and layers of real photographs I had lying around. The sky, for example, is one layer of a free stock photo and two layers of pictures I took from a lake near my parents' home.

Again, thanks a lot for the tips and suggestions, and don't hesitate to post more if you got any!

 

[dan weapon]

Looks pretty cool man - love the font which has been outlined by others, and also agree with the hand looking diconnected from the rest of the picture.

I did these on photoshop a while back (don't ask 'why' about the subject matter - it's to do with english football teams and stuff...)

I've never seen that army squirrel tutorial until just now though! Strange.

 

[Metaltastic]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahaha, what the fuck Dan? You gotta explain the story behind those (if there even is one)

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Here's an updated version:

Thanks a lot for your input, looks much better now

 

[SocialNumb]

Dirtier hand/arm. Grim it. It's wet isn't it?

 

[Felix Neumann]

Good ones here, Weapon and Jhawk!!

This is earlier draft was made by good girlfriend of mine, called Laura Serra.

 

[dan weapon]

It's looking good man, I'd say you just need to bring it to life a little bit more. Perhaps with either lighting or shadows - kinda like this (although I did this in 2 mins just to give an example!)

 

[cobhc]

I think you need some blood and shit on the hand like others have said.

 

[dan weapon]

I think you need some blood and shit on the hand.

I can understand the blood, but why would you want shit on the hand? Has it been fisting someone with a particularly tight anus?

 

[cobhc]

I can understand the blood, but why would you want shit on the hand? Has it been fisting someone with a particularly tight anus?

Bastard Picking me up on what was meant to be a figure of speach.