Contra 4: Rocked N' Loaded is a CD designed to do one thing, and one thing only: Melt Faces.
This CD takes the entire Contra 4 Soundtrack, composed by Jake Kaufman (who also contributes a track to the CD) and re-imagines them all into a metal assault on the ears. So because of the music intensity, and the fact it's Contra, I went about as over the top as one can go. Months upon months of work into this one. Photoshop, hand painted illustration, and even lighting my own paper on fire and scanning it. It's intense.
Character line art done by: Snappleman
Anime girl line art done by: Audun Sorlie
Fragile Utopia is the only non-videogame band I've currently worked with. They do music you might actually hear on the radio, and it's very good (alternative) stuff, so you should check them out. The shirt is also for sale as well as the CD. but for now, contact me for it.
Bill Rahko worked with with me every step of the way to come up with the concept and design behind this one. We wanted it to feel vibrant and "Alive", since that is the title of this CD. When it was nearing competition, they asked for a shirt design and myspace revamp too, so I did those as well.
The Smash Brothers are a band who play videogame music and even some movie stuff too! The music is top quality.
The CD itself was conceptualized by their mad genius bass player: George (Norg) E. Nowik, who worked with me to create a GBA looking cart, staring the group as crazy cartoon characters.. with Bacon everywhere.
Theo contacted me to do the second CD for his ongoing series of music. The theme is this ship he has, and it's adventures. Because of this, I didn't design the ship, only brought it and the world to life. The music is progressive rock/metal, and "Acceleration" fits it very well. The goal here was to capture vibrancy and energy that would also mirror the music itself.. All created from scratch with Sai Paint tool.
If you are interested in hiring me for anything, or would like to reach me for other reasons, contact: nate@lightningarts.com
Digital Cover Only Releases
Click each image for information
Tony Dickinson is a crazy musician that plans every instrument you could name.
You should buy it though, it's also worth every penny.
And it uses up the full CD. 80 minutes.
Harmony of a Hunter is an album created to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Metroid- one of the greatest franchises of all time. This series is absolutely rich with music and artwork, so creating album art was less about "what do I do?" and more about "what DON'T I do?" It was critically important for me to create my own "25 years of Metroid" picture which I used for the insert, and also a Poster you can buy. But I wasn't going to skimp on the rest. Here i'd like to thank EVERYONE who helped me create it. Suggestions, tweaks, even drawing ontop of it. Thank you.
I am incredibly honored and so thrilled to have been a part of this album. As I said, I consider Metroid to be one of my favorite franchises of all time.. And the 2 Disc album that you can download for free, is an incredible music accomplishment.
I highly encourage everyone to grab it. And thanks so much, Darren, for hiring me on as the artist! Happy Birthday, Samus!
Vampire Variations is a 25 Years of Castlevania celebratory album! Unlike Harmony (below) it only focuses on the first game for the NES. But you should pick up because it's about 80 minutes of music! And it's FREE! People Like VikingGuitar, Stemage, Super Guitar Brothers, Bonkers, and more.
This album was a little different of a project for me because I actually hired other people to help me! Long time friend Ali Floyd, My Brother, and another internet friend: Vivi. These guys did a really good job!
Cover/Back/CD- Me
Medusa, Bridge (level 3), and help on Gates- Kurt Horsfall
Hall- Ali Floyd
Level 3 Bridge Layout- Vivianne Ducharme
We have Posters you can buy. And yes, ALL of them are able to be purchased! I( put a whole lot of extra love to make them work as 11x17 posters. They are each awesome in their own right :)
I have worked with Erik Peabody (VikingGuitar) numerous times to create artwork for him. Primarily CDs, but even shirt designs too!
Currently he has a Kickstarter running to try and fund a school for digital musicians. The shirt on the right can be recieved as a bonus for supporting the project. Please support it! Not just for myself, or him, but for helping a generation of new musicians.
It turns out that Adam Henry- brother of the legendary Stemage, ALSO is awesome at music and a man of many talents. He put together his first ever tribute album, and it is all about doom. Unlike most remixes you will find involving Doom, Adam keeps the mood as perfect for the game as you can. This is "Doom Metal" at it's finest, and never once tries to be anthing else.
On the Art front, I brought my brother, Kurt Horsfall, onto the project. He worked with me on Vampire Variations. I credit him more than myself for this album, though. I helped, for sure, but he was responsibile for the background, resdesigning the CD art to work on shirts and stickers, and overall just ran with it more than I did (I was very busy at the time). I can't link you to his site, because he has none, but hit him up at ifenixb@gmail.com if you want to give him kudos!
CD Artwork And Merchandise:
Various different CD packages done for musicians. Each style changes depending on the content and artist requests
WeaponEX is a band who makes original music, comprised of members from Armcannon- who are known for videogame covers. For this album, I only did the coloring work. Brian Platter provided the Black and White image, and did the text work for the printed sleves.
