For my part of it, I’ve been writing on my new novel for 15 days straight. That’s a feat unmatched in my entire career, literally. I’ve never stuck to any one project daily for 15 days, much less 90. So I’m proud to have made it this far. You’ll get to see the results after May 1, when Marlowe Kana officially launches!
But, this art challenge also involves two other people. One, I’m not certain if he wants his work public or not. But the other, my longtime friend Joseph Rhodes AKA Joey The Mad Scientist (and my co-host on The Joe And Joe Show, which you should listen to because I am very silly and you love me), deserves massive attention. For the past 15 days, he’s made a song a day. And every single one of them is GOOD.
I volunteered to help him with his challenge by designing the covers for each of his tracks. He was hesitant at first to put that work on me, but I insisted. I saw it as an awesome opportunity to exercise my graphic designer and psychology chops. I treat each day as an association game. He sends me the track and the title, and I listen. Once the track is over, I have five minutes to create the cover. That means finding a public-domain image (or creating one of my own), adding title and dress, setting the sizes, and uploading in five minutes.
There’s no time to wonder or ponder. What comes to my head first, goes. It’s a cakewalk each and every day, honestly, because Joey’s music is so expressive and well orchestrated that I don’t have to wonder long.
Sometimes, the image I see in my head goes with the title. Sometimes, it’s a feeling I get listening to the music. Sometimes, It’s a combination of both, where I hear this story in my brain and it visualizes itself as a concept. But regardless, in five minutes time, I have to produce. So I have to go with my gut.
It would have been scary years ago, but these days, it’s SUPER liberating. I am free to just go out and make, and there’s so much that is positive about that, I can’t possibly recommend it highly enough. If you’re interested, try your own 90 day art challenge. Make your thing, every day, 90 days straight, and damn the consequences.
Anyway, the covers that have been done through day 15 (if you want to hear the music that goes with them PLEASE go to Joey The Mad Scientist’s page and support him):
ZBL (your guess is as good as mine):
Protection:
Breath:
Consecrate:
Unspoken Breath (a prayer):
Beekeeper:
Weeping Prophet:
Hokmah (Wise, in Hebrew):
Translation I:8
Hold ON:
How Long:
Imperfection, a track that he introduced an imperfection into purposely (I really enjoyed this one, scrambled porn from the 90’s… Perfect bodies made imperfect on purpose):
Worthy:
Secret (a procedurally generated track):
Survivor:
And today, he surprised me with MY VERY OWN TRACK:
It’s an inside joke that, if you go and support him with a membership and listen, I’ll explain to you personally. Just email me and I’ll tell you about it.
