Thought Process

For this project I have come up with a style that has immerged out from the previous brief. Heavily stylized use of line, along side a few selected colours, composed in a surreal manner seems to be the road that I am currently heading down. Although my compositions and the aspects within them may seem very random. They have all been well thought out, and each image within the compositions have a significant purpose. My job within the group was to focus on Bob Marleys music. But instead of reading the lyrics and illustrating the meanings of his songs, I chose to take a different rout. I thought of what inspired Bob, and how this could inspire my own work. From reading Blogs, Fan sites and books I found out a few significant facts. As a youth Bob Marley was fascinated by the music that he could pick up from American Radio stations. He would listen to such artists as Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Curtis Mayfield, Brook Benton and the Drifters. Not only did I think about who he was listening to but I also though of his surroundings and heritage. With his father being a fifty-year-old British marine from Essex, and his mother only being eighteen at the time of his birth; Bob was bullied throughout his life for his mixed culture, and not being fully Jamaican. Growing up in one of the worst slums in the country “Trench Town” would also heavily influence the choices he made musically. I also found out that his first ever time spent recording in a studio was with a local producer called Leslie Kong…They recorded a song called ‘judge Not’.

Within my response to this, I have focused on smaller subjects and iconic representations to produce my compositions. For example, I have the “blinding” glasses of Ray Charles alongside Essex builders/cleaners, wiping off the dirt from the lens. This is supposed to represent the clarity and understand that Bob would of gained from his music. On another image I have placed a judges wig on to Leslie Kongs face. I have also used an image of a brain within my images. This is supposed to represent Bob Marleys thought process amongst his inspirations, in order to put them together to create his music.