Nikos Markogiannakis: Sadness with the sense of death all over it Nikos Markogiannakis grew up in Crete (Greece). At the age of 18 moved to Athens to study graphic arts. Designing artwork for heavy metal bands begun in 2003 when releasing a metal zine and starting working doing logos and covers for bands who were…
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Jose Luis Lopez Galván: Interview with Mexican Surrealist Artist Young Mexican painter, Jose Luis Lopez Galván is set to become one of the greatest artists of his generation. His body of work (focused on surreal depictions of human/animal hybrids and other unusual scenarios) keep growing day by day and impressing worldwide audiences – especially through…
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Jan Yrlund: I’m completely not into technical snobbery or virtuosity without meaning Been drawing since I was a kid basically. I was fascinated about comic books, and started drawing comics myself too. In the mid eighties I started an underground comic magazine called Tsürps together with some friends. The style was somewhat horror/black humor/science-fiction I…
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Lauren Gornik: Rooted in pop-surrealism & narrative illustration For the past five years I’ve been working as a professional illustrator, working with a variety of metal acts. Originally, my interest in working with heavy metal bands began around the time I formed my first band, Panzer. However, I was also driven to make a career…
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April Johnson: The will to Grow I have never taken any classes based around on how to create art or any formal education, but if it counts for anything I was in AP art and earned a college credit in my junior year of high school. I was a little hesitant to join at first,…
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Darkness is beautiful Normal Gergely comes from Hungary and create graphic designs under the name of ‘Normal Illustrations’. Besides being a graphic designer he is also an abstract artist. Graduated as an art and visual communication teacher. Started to create heavy metal related work through the inspiration of music I love music especially the heavier…
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Death to me means stagnation, the death of imagination Born in Athens, Greece and also known as the lead guitarist of the dark metal band W.E.B. Even though my childhood had nothing to do with the visual arts, I think that everything started at that point in time. I was not the kid who drew…
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Blake Armstrong: Space Boy Charm I grew up in very a small town in Southern Illinois called Metropolis. I always loved to draw and paint in school – I wasn’t any good at sports so this was the only way to really get people’s attention. In High school I had my first real art teacher…
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Ryan Begley: Creativity made of soil, sun and water Born 1979 in Tisbury Massachusetts. The son of a Carpenter and a Nurse, owner and art director for two companies; Shirts & Destroy Inc. which produces limited edition T-shirts and merchandise for tattoo artists, Hardcore / Metal bands and Illustrators and his most recent endeavor ‘TrueBlack’…
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Felipe Machado Franco: Fire & Fantasy Felipe Machado Franco has been the singer of Colombian bands like Thunderblast and Vorpal Nomad. However, the world of Metal music mainly knows him as the man behind striking cover artworks for Blind Guardian, Rage, Iced Earth, among many others. Through his digital brush he has created unique fantasy-based scenarios that have…
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The World of Mike Dragon The art of German visual provocateur, Mike Dragon, could be described as a cross between horror, fantasy, folklore with touches of dark humor and explicit irreverence. For years, he’s been creating visions that are both unsettling and alluring at the same time. On top of that, ventures like producing fine…
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Northern Oak Discuss ‘Of Roots And Flesh’ Art In just over one month English progressive folk metallers Northern Oak will release ‘Of Roots And Flesh’ and without a doubt one of the definitive highlights of the album is the cover artwork. The band comments: “When discussing the concept for the album artwork, we wanted to…
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A Russian Visionary: Interview with Denis Forkas Most Metal fans, know Russian painter, Denis Forkas, as the creator of mind blowing visions for the album covers of bands like Locrian, Horseback, and more recently, the mighty Behemoth. His works are full of cryptic imagery, traditional art overtones and symbolical significance. They challenge viewers to look…
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Extreme Shots Presents: A conversation with Chad Lee If you go to Hard Rock/Metal shows regularly, it’s very probable that you’ve seen veteran photographer Chad Lee capturing stills of some of your favorite artists. Some of these include SLAYER, METALLICA, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, MACHINE HEAD and many others. Although live photography has been Lee’s forte…
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Artist Dan Seagrave talks about his new short film, The Projection. If you think Dan Seagrave is just an album cover illustrator, think again. This Toronto-based visionary is much more than that. Surely, he has produced some of the most iconic artworks in the history of extreme music (Morbid Angel’s “Altars Of Madness”, Suffocation’s “Effigy…
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Interview with Lenore Ani I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.- Vincent Van Gogh. The outstanding works of Lenore Ani evoke beauty, incredible harmony and poetically executed. She has taken the time from her busy work load to share some of her thoughts with Heavy Music Artwork. HMAW: When did you start your career as…
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Rebuilding The Past: An interview with painter, Martina Hoffmann Floridian Prog metallers, Cynic, have always adorned their album covers with paintings by the late, great American artist, Robert Venosa. His visions possess a translucent, ethereal and spiritual quality that has captured the attention of audiences for decades. That same could be say about the body…
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Exhibiting Jean Delville ‘Maître de l’idéal’ interview with Miriam Delville Many Metal fans have been introduced to the world of Jean Delville via the cover artwork of Morbid Angel’s “Blessed Are The Sick”, which features the 1895 painting “Satan’s Treasures”. However, the late Belgian artist produced a vast body of work that also included many…
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Interview with legendary Greek designer Ioannis Legendary Greek designer, Ioannis, probably holds some kind of world record related to having worked with more iconic bands than anyone else. He’s done artworks for Deep Purple, Fates Warning, King Crimson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Uriah Heep, Allman Brothers, Dream Theater, Quiet Riot, Styx and the list goes on… His…
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In conversation with film and cover artist Colin Marks Colin Marks is a London based artist working primarily within the heavy music/film industry. He has run the personal design studio Rain Song Design for several years, and has worked with bands such as Strapping Young Lad, Exodus, Nevermore, Suicide Silence and countless others. Alongside this…
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