1977: Cosmic Showgirls (& boys) on Parade

by Alden Cole on August 28, 2014 · 0 comments

LIfeWheels2WPLife Wheels #2 • luma dyes and colored pencil on paper, 24″ X 18″ • collection of Stephen Hutcheson. The artwork at left was created as a companion piece to the artwork immediately below, and was intended to be used as a cover for a book about astrological healing techniques. Like the piece below, it was artwork that was never published, although in this case not even a selected detail was used for some other purpose. The rejection of its use was a downer professionally, but on the upside I sold the original art to a perceptive friend who had been the first patron of my new direction in art, and for whom this artwork was his second acquisition. Thanks Steve for your confidence in my work that helped to foster my own belief in this new chapter of creating more personalized art…

LifeWheelsWPLife Wheels #1 • luma dyes and colored pencil on paper, 24″ X 18″ • collection of Tony Cole. This art was created for a wrap-around book cover – Davison’s Synastry – featured below. It was artwork that never got published as you see it here. Instead only the roundel of the family unit on the left was used, in that position against a solid purple background, combined with another piece of art on the front. This is the perfect example of how commercial artwork is always subject to last minute change. My client originally loved and approved of this whole illustration for the Davison project; nevertheless, time and circumstances radically altered the original vision, as you’ll see if you compare the work above with the small but colorful piece below.

ASI&SynastryWPOriginal artwork was created as b&w pen & ink drawing for single-color reproduction, specifically the cover for ASI Publishers 1977/78 catalog “Specializing in guides to balancing inner space” – (see line art at left). I later colored the art to my satisfaction; after which my client used the central detail in the design for a wrap-around book cover (see above), as well as using the uncropped full-color version (see below) as a frontispiece in the same book.

AstroLWPAstro-Lotus Mandala • luma dyes on photostat paper, ca. 16″ x 12″ • provenance of both original artworks, b&w and color, is unknown

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: