IVAN SEAL

I first saw Ivan Seal's art on the cover of The Caretaker album An Empty Bliss Beyond This World. The cover art featured a still life of what seemed to be a larger-than-a-human-head ball of grey clay and a single match stick poked shallowly into its side. Because of this design, the form and shadow-play were simple yet highly visually intriguing. At the time, I figured the art to be a one-off made perhaps by the musician himself.
After almost a year later the same musician had released a couple more albums, each featuring artwork in the same style as the previous cover. My interest had peaked and a quick Google search revealed Ivan Seal to be the culprit behind these mysterious still life paintings.
Ivan's work is quickly becoming an inspiration to me as well as a challenge to explore color in my own art. His eye for the minimal combined with a knack for precisely executing a piece leave the viewer with a crude looking beast that draws you right into its world. I'm thinking I should never look Mr. Seal directly in the eyes if I were to meet him, or my own soul will be stolen and captured away into his next painting.

the image below is Ivan Seal artwork for the album Bleaklow by The Stranger. Incredible depiction of nearly no light source here.