The epic progressive rock relic "In the Court of the Crimson King" by: King Crimson is undoubtedly a one of a kind in several ways. Aside from the music being incredibly groundbreaking the design proves to be quite unique as well. The cover art was designed by Barry Godber, a computer programmer. The most unbelievable aspect is that this is the only painting he ever did according to my research and very eerily he died of a heart attack shortly after the albums release. The original painting was rescued by the guitarist of King Crimson Robert Fripp because it was left sitting in direct light in the offices it was stored in. Not bad for a one shot deal. One detail that may go unnoticed is that in the inside spread if you cover the figures smile you can see the eminent sadness in his eyes which as Fripp said "What can one add? it simply reflects the music".
I was actually going to do this same illustration for my post this week, it's cool that you thought of it too. I love this painting (and the album), for album artwork I'd say this is particularly effective, it's intriguing and definitely draws attention to itself.
ReplyDeleteThis artwork looks quite scary to me. But the last picture has interesting eyes. They seem to reflect three separate lights and makes me wonder what he's looking at; especially since he's yelling. I think the nostrils and back of the teeth are exaggerated in an interesting way; making both seem more deep and cave-like then they would be in real life.
ReplyDeleteI am most attracted to the last picture, and I think it's the multiple perspectives that the piece has. The monochromatic color palette adds some eeriness already within the image just by having the jarring eyes and gaping mouth- it gives off a feeling of fear or terror. I really like this.
ReplyDeleteYou know Ive always wondered who did the art for this
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