Congratulations to The Tropics on winning the best music video, best cinematography, and best art direction at The Music Video Race 2014!! I'm so happy to have been a part of The Team in making The Video!!The original image was created during some downtime while shooting a music video. I had mixed gallons of paint for my friend Nate and his band The Tropics and I was waiting for the moment in the video when all of the paint was to be introduced on set. It's important to take time for yourself sometimes, even when you are helping others; so I pulled out my laptop and started sketching.
Immediately I was impacted by the moment: 5 people dressed in all white sitting in white chairs surrounded by white walls and white objects. There was a feeling of separation from the group; I am a complete mess, covered in paints that I had been playing in all day, and the band is sitting on a pristine set looking gorgeous. A great sense of anticipation came over me as I began to attack the digital canvas with color, waiting for the moment where I have a chance to ameliorate their lack of color.
Refining the initial sketch I did during the recording of the music video for Sons and Daughters by the Tropics. As I was anticipating the introduction of color, I was inspired to paint a flow of color spewing over a landscape onto the band.
Each time I sit down to paint this, it seems like this imaginary landscape I have created is being shaped a little more each time. Brushstrokes that I had made to fill space are now becoming cities and trees. As I begin to consider each shape and the shadow it casts on the environment, I am creating a history within the landscape. Each shape has an impact, and through time it will affect how the landscape is formed. Every water molecule that moves will carve through the surface given time. The world around us is created by every atom that vibrates.
