THE ART OF CLAUDIO BERGAMIN

Arjen Lucassen - "Lost in the New Real" Cover Art

2012-02-24T02:02:00.006-08:00

Oh yeah, boys and girls!

I am allowed to show you now some of the process behind the creation of the cover of "Lost in The New Real", the upcoming solo album by Arjen Lucassen.

It was an interesting journey for sure... one that neither Arjen nor I anticipated. A journey filled with fierce battles, time anomalies, alien diplomacy, strange communications and weird visions! It began around June 2011; I decided to establish communications with Mr. L's outpost to express my interest in a possible collaboration. At first, Mr. L was somewhat reluctant to the idea... he didn't fully trust this new life form so he put my abilities to the test. He told me about this new concept he was developing; I found the storyline extremely cool and reminded me of an old Gene Roddenberry TV movie called "Genesis II". So between Star Trek quotations through email and countless days of non-sleeping I came up with some sketches featuring a William Shatner-like character, not knowing that the main character was Mr. L himself!

After looking at my sketches, Arjen made clear that he didn't want a cold digital-looking cover and this was deffinetelly not the right approach. Instead, he wanted an old fashioned illustration in the style of the old sci-fi movies of the 50s and 60s. "Forbidden Planet", "The Day The Earth Stood Still", "Fight To Mars" and "The Time Travelers" (to name a few) were some of the posters we analized to be used as reference for our project. Again, a very cool idea, but one no easy to create as we would find out soon enough. At first, I wanted to pay tribute "by the book" to that style and imitate the 50s illustration style to perfection but as I started showing advances to Arjen, he pointed out that some of the elements looked cheap! I said, "well of course it looks cheap! everything about those old movies was cheap and cheesy. It's part of the style!". He then went on by saying that maybe people won't understand that kind of obscure graphic tribute and will simply see a cheap-crappy-illustration. It took me a couple of days to process this but ultimatelly I agreed to this logic. This basically opened up a whole new universe of possibilities since we were paying tribute to classic sci-fi with modern tools. So the new aproach was, what if 50s illustrators of movie posters would have had Photoshop! What would they have done!?

The final product of this concept is a very eerie but interesting looking scene. One that was the result of two weird minds clashing together through space-time continuum. Mr. L and Mr. C going to where no artist has gone before!

The image itself shows a troubled Mr. L inside a holodeck (those of you who are familiar with Star Trek TNG will know of what I'm talking about - if not, shame on you!) simulating a very colourful alien landscape (somewhat inspired by the movie Forbidden Planet). In the far distance, the Dream Sequencer can be seen; tying in the whole concept with the Ayeron universe in a way that remains a mistery! (yes, I know). Outside the holodeck room and consciously overseeing everything, we can see the excentric scientist Voight-Kampff, who is also operating the holodeck's master controls. The whole scene is framed in a very cool space setting that adds just a little bit more oddity to everything.

So there you go! The cover explained!

Just wait to see the rest of the art I made for the record. At least 6 of the songs have individual illustrations, turning the booklet almost into a nice little graphic novel. And that story shall also be told!

Live long and prosper!

Arjen on the Cover Art:

Click on each image to enlarge.

THE COVER

Poster Version

Album Version

Holodeck Landscape (with Dream Sequencer)

BEHIND THE SCENES MATERIAL

Unused Landscape Illustration

(with alternative outpost)

Mock-Up sketch #1

Mock-Up sketch #2

Landscape Pencil Sketch

Original Concept Sketch

Feat. William Shatner

(idea rejected by Arjen)

Original Concept Sketch

(idea rejected by Arjen)

Mr. L showing off his Star Trek toys

Mr. C showing off his Star Trek toys

Mr. L facing danger in an unknown planet!

Arjen Lucassen + Rutger Hauer.

2012-02-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, ladies and gentlemen.

None other than Rutger Hauer, the legendary actor, will be taking the rol of scientist Voight-Kampff in the production I recently completed all artwork for: Arjen Lucassen's solo album. Here's a greeting and sneak peek of that big release!

The Album is another masterpiece by the mad-scientist-hippie-rocker Lucassen; it's an amazing collection of sci-fi stories accompanied by an equal variety of cool artwork (turning the booklet in a quasi-graphic novel!). It was one of most demanding an challenging projects I've ever taken place in... can't wait to share it with the world!

It will be released in April through Inside Out Records.

More info here:

Interview on Rovok (in spanish)

2012-01-28T23:52:00.000-08:00

Greetings humans!

Here's a new interview in which I talk about influences, recent work, processes, geeks, pop culture, music, art (and the lack of it) and of course my graphic novel!

To read the interview CLICK HERE (in spanish!!!)

Live long and prosper!!!!

The Unholy Trinity

2011-08-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

I've recently produced several images about the Illuminati mythos. In this one, we actually get to see one of them.

The unholy trinity of powers of the world: Economy and his two bitches, war and religion. I am very aware this image might upset some people but is just the way it is, the way it has always been.

You are probably wandering just who are the people depicted in the portraits on the far wall. Well, they're very relevant personalities related to this concept, you may like to check on each of them: Issac Newton, Leonardo DaVinci, Jacques de Molay, Alister Crowley and Sir William Sinclair.

Suggested reading and media to complement this picture's subject: Any book by David Icke, Zeitgeist (documentary), Inside Job (documentary), The Shock Doctrine (documentary) and of course ultimate Illuminati documentary: watch here.

I can't even tell you how much work I put into every little detail of this one... it was a graphic nightmare.

If you live in Europe you might spot the vinyl edition in your local metal music store: It was produced for a very cool progressive metal band from germany; The Outside.

http://www.the-outside.net/

cheers!

Click on each image to enlarge

Cover (poster version)

Cover Art (vinyl version)

The Bank Corporations

The Military

The Catholic Church

Concept Sketch

Concept Sketch (alternate)

Halford - Live At Saitama Super Arena

2011-06-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Making a cover for the Metal God is obviously a true privilege, whatever be the style required for the project. For this release, I originally proposed something very dramatic and elaborated in the line of the fantasy genre (something more in "Bergamin style"), but ultimatelly Mr. Halford and his management decided to go for something much more simple and straight forward... which I think is very reasonable.

The image featured behind Rob Halford is the Saitama Super Arena Building (Japan). Photo material of the arena from that angle at nightime were unavailable so I have to paint it from scratch using small res pictures as reference. This was a very important directive; they wanted the arena in the cover.

Click on image to enlarge

Enciende Tu Mente (Turn On Your Mind)

2011-06-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

The concept for this one is kind of elusive. As the band originally explained, it was about expressing yourself against a hostile society. Projecting your inner self energetically. "Enciende tu Mente" is spanish for "Turn On Your Mind" so that may deliver some clues. The TV sets are just a way to represent a hostile social environment; envy, prejudice and worse.

For me, this is X-Men meets Carrie.

Click on each image to enarge

Cover Art

Cover Art with logo and title

Concept Sketch

"True Gods", Animated Video

2011-05-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of those opportunities in which you end up doing something you never knew it would get bigger and bigger and bigger... I landed in the chair of Director before even considering directing anything!

One day my good friend Ubaldo asked me "can you make me an animated video for my song True Gods??? I foolishly replied "of course!", without even imagining what I was getting into. Very early in the process I realized I wasn't going to get the job done all by myself so I recruited a very talented young illustrator called Jonathan Larenas to help me with all the characters. Of course since I don't have a clue about animation software I relied on the talents of Altair Films, a very prolific special effects company. With this assemble, "True Gods" eventually became a reality.

The Plot:

In ancient times, the Anunnaki arrived on Earth to enslave humans and put them at work mining precious minerals. This however didn't past unnoticed by the cosmic forces... in a remote planet called Parramon, someone is watching...

The Song:

True Gods is a song from the album "Dead People", by british band Parramon.

The Crew:

Directed By Claudio Bergamin
Produced by Altair Films
Script by Ubaldo Esteban and Claudio Bergamin
Illustrations by Jonathan Larenas, Claudio Bergamin and Luis Saavedra
Animation by Jose M. Del Solar and Cristian Cristallini

THE VIDEO

CONCEPT SKETCHES

(blue sketches by Jonathan Larenas)

STILLS

PROMO IMAGES

Deliverance

2011-03-11T18:57:00.000-08:00

Very difficult concept that turned into a graphic nightmare.

For me, this image is about the search for the promised land. The hope for a better place... the immigrant's dream. Since the time of the Exodus or earlier before; the time in which the homo sapiens exited Africa to head north, humans have always move from one place to another hoping for a better life when things got difficult. This is about the search for an utopian society... moral and transparent.

Commissioned for cover art by italian progressive band Aura, this was no easy task. As they originaly explained, "Deliverance" was about a dream a man has while traveling on foot through the lands of Palestine. In this dream, he experiences the suffering and tribulations of the hebrew people all the way from the Exodus to the last days of Christ. All to the purpose of obtaining his own redemption. Quite a concept to condense in just one little painting right? We went through countless sketches and emails back and forth discussing the concept and it took them a while to finally choose sketch #1! go figure!

Getting the right look for the crystal city was a real pain in the butt... I conducted an extensive research on crystal structures... oh wait, there are no crystal structures!!!

Click on each image for full size.

Cover art

Cover art with logo and title

Detail #1

Detail #2

Detail #3

Chosen Concept Sketch

Unused Concept Sketch

Destiny Man

2010-12-24T20:56:00.000-08:00

This is my tribute to the mysterious world of remote viewing. Little is known about people with this ability or their endeavours. Remote viewers have been among us since ancient times; their ability has been used by men for such things as predicting a good hunt in pre-historic times (shamans) to locate spies during the cold war (psychic spies of the CIA).

There are many theories about how this people acquire this amazing skill: some say it's a natural gift, other have suggested it's something you can actually train and develop; that in fact any of us have the ability in our frontal lobe; it's just a matter of exercise. It has been even suggested you can awake remote viewing abilities with hallucinogens such as "Haiawaska" or "San Pedro" like Shamans have been doing for millennia.

It is a subject I find extremely interesting and I can't have enough of it... If you're interested, you can start by reading "Supernatural" by Graham Hancock.

I re-made this painting almost from scratch. I was never really satisfied with the original result.

cheers!

The Anunnaki

2010-12-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

Produced for the british band Parramon, "Dead People" is a concept album of mythic proportions. It tells the story of how The Anunnaki, a tyrannic race of reptilians from another planet, dominated the human race in a remote past. They were looked up as gods of course and pyramids were builded for them. There are many versions and theories about why they came; precious minerals, fuel, genetic experiments, even human flesh! Look for it in the History Channel series "Ancient Aliens".

This is by far one of the most difficult and detailed digital painting I've ever made. I took me about five days just to compose and paint everything. But I previously spent about a week doing research in order to get everything right in it; destroyed buildings, symbolisms, ancient writing, dead trees and toombstones.

There are many symbolisms in this work... lets see how many you are able to spot.

made in 5 days in Photoshop.

cheers!

click on each image for full size:

Cover Art

CD Cover Art

Detail

Additional Art

Concept Sketch

Another Interview (in spanish)

2010-11-26T12:20:00.000-08:00

Here's another interview by the people from "Heavy Shit", a webzine about metal music. It's in spanish though, so go nuts with the google language tool! lol.

CLICK HERE FOR INTERVIEW

Cheers everyone!

Matte Painting: "Crater"

2010-11-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

A very simple but interesting matte painting I made for a teaser by Altair Films.

I did some research for this in order to get crater right. I looked to a lot of pictures of ancient meteor impacts in the web. I think the end result is somewhat cientifically accurate. =)

what a geek I am!

click on image for full size:

matte painting

Robots and Empire

2010-11-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

Who has read Isaac Asimov??? I just love his epic and monumental stories. Foundation, The Robots of Dawn, I Robot... all of them, milestones of my adolescence.

This image is my tribute to one of the greatest sci-fi writers of the XX Century.

"...and the artificial humanoid keeps scouting the massive abandoned metropolis for any sign of human life, like he was programmed to do. He of course, won't find any... and even though he has some precarious notion of this in his positronic brain; he will, nonetheless, keep perfoming his task until a human master change his programming... if this ever happen."

Additionally, I always wanted to create retro-futuristic buildings in Art Deco style; I just love it. I was just waiting for the right project to do it. I gave to the character a rugged metal texture; like he was cast in rough iron.

This was commissioned by an american record label to be a cover art for Ekotren.
I proposed 5 sketches for this job and they choose this one. I was told I had some freedom to intepret the working title as it was very vague, but the band and record label ultimatelly decided the image fitted better the concept without the character, which I completelly understand; it creates questions about the concept that would probably depart from the original title ("the dead of night"). Besides, the Art Deco structures I created for this were cool enough to catch the eye by themselves.

Each building took about 8 hours to paint. I recycled the starry sky from a previous work.

Made in 3 days in Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom Intuos3

Click in each image for full size:


COVER ART

DETAIL

ADDITIONAL ART

EARLY CONCEPT SKETCH

UNUSED CONCEPT SKETCH

CHOSEN CONCEPT SKETCH

UNUSED CONCEPT SKETCH

Serial Killer

2010-10-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Cover art for Polish band Made of Hate. One thing I love about my work is the fact that I almost never know where my clients are going to lead me. Subjects and concepts are as different as you can get! One day I'm making this oniric landscape and a psycho killer's lair the next.

The band's working concept was: "please make a cross between Dexter and Hostel". I believe we achieved just that.

"Pathogen" take us inside the mind of a seriously disturbed man; a serial killer. He likes to suffocate and slowly torture his victims in a very elaborate ritual-like procedure. He's a loner with high IQ. He lives in a dark and isolated place of course... a place where he can work undisturbed in his "pieces"

I made it, and it still gives me the creeps! XD

click on each image for full size:

COVER ART

UNUSED CONCEPT

CHOSEN CONCEPT SKETCH

Circle II Circle - "Concecuence of Power" Concept Paintings

2010-10-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

A digital painting series entitled "Concecuence of Power". Produced for a concept album of american band Circe II Circe. A storyline by singer Zak Stevens (ex-Savatage).

The story is set in the desert terrain along the border space that separates the U.S. and Mexico... All the story action occurs across the towns, cities, and territory along the border of Mexico and three U.S. states; California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It's about a 20 year old boy who is recruited by a drug cartel to become a hitman. Eventually he and his parter/lover Jessica end up in the crossfire of a war between corrupted goverment officials and the cartels

I envisioned the whole series as a Michael Mann movie.

Click on each image for full size:

Interview

2010-10-10T23:36:00.000-07:00

A very interesting interview posted by StampMagazine. Thanks to Jason for that!

CLICK HERE FOR INTERVIEW

Cheers!

Matte Painting: "The Unreturned"

2010-07-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

Santiago City at the sea floor in a not so distant future. A matte painting for the sci-fi film "The Unreturned".

info:
"The Unreturned" (short sci-fi film) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geV868Z-9mU)
Directed by Raul Pinto
Produced by Luis Saavedra
Music by Ivo Pirovich (www.myspace.com/ivopirovich)
Altair Films (www.altairfilms.cl)

Click on each image for full size:

MATTE PAINTING

DETAIL

ORIGINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

PRESS SHEET

ESP Guitar Design

2010-07-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

Guitar Design for private collector

This is one of those cool jobs that you won't get very often... a prototype guitar design. I aproached the micro-universe of life itself with cosmic proportions.

Click on each image for full size:

CONCEPTION I

CONCEPTION II

DNA

FETUS DIGITAL PAINTING

SPERM DIGITAL PAINTING

LUCYBELL - "FENIX"

2010-06-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

I decided to officially open this blog with a very special project.

Lucybell is very popular pop-rock band in South America. According to them, this album marks a new stage in their career... and they wanted something graphically strong for the birth of this FENIX.. which is the name of the record as well as the first single.

When the band asked me to develop a concept for this record I immediatelly knew it had to be something special. I also knew that once the record was out, it would be everywhere, so the image must be an eye catcher. And what better style to accomplish that than onyric surrealism? I mean, who hasn't been seduced by the art of Dalí, Magritte and Eschen? (to name a few). The band's previous album covers presented very simple and minimal designs so this was a very bold move by them; in fact, some fans didn't get it. Fortunatelly, the vast majority of their fans were nicely pleased by it and embraced its new aproach. The birth of a new era for the band.

The concept itself depicts an autumn scene with dry leaves flying freely around. In the middle of it, there is a ruined gate levitating over a beautiful lake. Through the gate, we can see the band's symbol emerging and spreading fire winds. For me, all of this symbolizes a new stage, a new season in life... evolution and development. The natural progression from old to new.

cheers!

Click on each image for full size.

COVER ART

BAND MONTAGE FOR CD

EXTENDED SLEEVE

ORIGINAL CONCEPT SKETCH

EARLY CONCEPT SKETCH

EARLY UNUSED CONCEPT

LUCYBELL & CLAUDIO BERGAMIN