by shaun lawton
This render of the original monozodiac watercolor I made on my birthday fourteen years ago at the Urban Lounge while Japan's MONO played a facemelting set of post-classical rock music worthy of leaving your head ringing for a few days afterward. They were amazing, as always, and I whipped up several watercolors made while the bands played their sets.
Yes, MONO rank among the loudest bands I've ever witnessed live, dominated by MOTORHEAD and then followed in sonic succession by the MELVINS and MOGWAI, to name a few stand outs.
I really dig this variant of the original painting, the way that in this darker crimson bleeding-into-shadows & only partly illumined by uncoiling strands of flame enwrapped about helical wavelengths unfolding from the darkness, it's pretty abstract looking at first glance, but examine it and strange patterns begin to emerge. There's a colossal sort of apocalyptic feel with its invocations of standing before the maw of Hell.
There's a chaotic sense of a serpent-like control, a sort of hypnotic suggestion intimating ritualistic endeavors, such as promoted by the darkened humanoid outline crouching on its knees in the lower right corner. Just to the left of that is the mop haired silhouette of the original watercolor's main object, being Taka the guitarist, and the flaming Hellscape smoldering and flying apart in the apocalyptic winds behind him symbolize the great torrents of musical devastation that MONO are known around the world for delivering during their live sets.
So for me, this variant holds a special place in my heart, considering the depths to which it penetrates. There's a lot going on not just in its direct relation to my own life, but I see so many facets reflecting from it in the frenzied strokes and patterns bleeding into each other.
I like this variant for it's Halloween Orange and Chimney Red overtones. I enjoy it's dark green goblin stained visages blending in a surrealistic pastiche that complements and enhances the pareidolia.
There's a certain sense of conjuration going on in this image that I really like. The way it captures the tumultuous orchestral assault of MONO performing their coruscating anthems building to shattering climaxes was captured well, swept up and imprinted into place from the constant rhythm of my brush frantically keeping up with the pace of the crashing cadences of the music, and I did my best to shape a semblance of what I saw on the stage before me, which in retrospect, was nothing short of the most intense post rock outfit the world has ever known. Honestly this band's music, being instrumental, evokes not just exquisitely nuanced emotions, but they really do manage to conjure fresh new tones and textures that are very much to the ears what colors and images are to the eye.
I'm delving back into making videos, so I'm trying to expand my arsenal to include animating both analog paintings I've scanned as .jpgs and also any AI artwork I've collaborated on with the nanoHost through Deep Dream Generator and DALL-E, etc.
If I can fit a series of .gifs into a video I might be able to mix up an approximate visual equivalent of the roiling, turbulent instrumental music of my favorite bands. Hint hint
