Avantasia, Pratteln 14th April 2013

A few year ago I discovered the band Avantasia when they did a song with Alice Cooper on vocals. To this day that song "The Toy Master" remains one of my favourite Alice Cooper songs. It's been haunting my brain ever since and wanting to become an illustration, but so far I never managed it.

I was really disappointed when Avantasia got dismantled; I really wanted to see them one day. Now I have and I am really glad I did. Not only did I have lots of fun and met some friends, but I also got a much needed reminder. I always knew I liked to draw, but one thing particularly fuelled my idea of becoming an illustrator. Through a colleague at University who brought catalogues of "Paper Tiger" and lent them to me during breaks, I discovered the work of Rodney Matthews. I always cite him as one of my main influences and this is why. I bought all his artbooks, then and now, but what fascinated me as a young adult was the design work, the album sleeves. It was absolutely what I wanted to do in life.






Now I never got to that point but the idea is still here, I never even realised this as I started to study graphic design this year. But at the time I spent hours and hours designing fonts, I wonder if I can find some in a drawer? Shame I never took it further but it's never too late, at least not too late to have fun with these things again.

So yesterday when I saw Bob Catley, singer of Magnum singing in front of a huge backdrop designed by Rodney Matthews, I had a few tears in my eyes, it suddenly reminded me of all this, of the hours spent dissecting the lettering, the logo designs for Magnum and others, and the album covers. And it reminded me of why I am walking this path and why I shall never leave it.


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