gor
Ancient Mariner
My email:
Hello, I am George Matsagouras from Athens. Greece. I really admire your work and I happen to be an Iron Maiden fan. I am collecting some info on a book on maiden and I'd be very grateful if you could answer me some of questions...
1. Derek riggs has said that it was his idea behind the Feor Of The Darkcover and you just executed it... is that true? Does that Eddie represent a dryid? What was the concept behind the sleeve?
2. What was the concept behind the Virtual XI sleeve? any trivia on that one?
3. I saw a painting called the wicker man on your site... was that
commisssioned for maiden? if so, are there any other ones you've done that haven't been used by maiden?
4. What's it like to work with them as people?
Thank you very much and I wish you a cheerful day!
His answer:
Hi George,
Thank you for visiting my site and the complement on my work. I'll answer you questions as best I can. I did some of this art a long time ago.
1) Derek Riggs had nothing at all to do with my painting of 'Fear of the Dark'. It was certainly not his idea. Maiden called me in to come up with an image for the LP cover. I produced, I think, about seven or eight different concepts, including the one used. Maiden then asked me to try adding bat type wings to Eddy's shoulders, which I did. But it didn't look as good, so they finally settled on my original concept. I also tried to improve the design of Eddy, but Maiden insisted that I did not stray too far from the
previous examples.
The 'Fear of the Dark' Eddy does not represent a Dryad as such, although it could be. The concept was based around the thought of something that you defiantly do not want to meet on a moonlit night while walking around in a wood. The image is really two-fold, While Eddy's shoulders, head and arms are the same, the body is both sitting in the tree and coming down the trunk. The dark branch at the top edge of the moon is a kind of tail and the
legs would carry on up the main trunk. Or maybe his lower body is more snake like. So Eddy is not actually sitting in the tree, but hanging down its length. I think it could be something else sitting in the tree. Possible the future of the viewer.
2) Maiden asked for an Idea to do with Virtual Reality. The concept behind Virtual X1 (which I originally called Virtual Insanity) was of a boy sitting in a very tranquil setting seeing Eddy and chaos through the VR set. So which world is the boy actually in? They then asked me to include the football game. I was told one of the members, or possibly all, is keen on football... which is how the title became Virtual X1.
3) The Wicker Man painting on my site was not for maiden, it was for a book cover. I was approached by Maiden for the Wicker Man, but I was too busy with other work at the time and they needed it very quickly. The only paintings I have done for Maiden are 'Fear of the Dark' and 'Virtual X1'.
4) I've never actually met the band, all my dealings have been through their manager Rod Smallwood at Sanctuary Music and he's a good guy. Working with them is A-okay.
I hope I've answered your question. If there is anything else you wish to know, don't hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
Mel.
Hello, I am George Matsagouras from Athens. Greece. I really admire your work and I happen to be an Iron Maiden fan. I am collecting some info on a book on maiden and I'd be very grateful if you could answer me some of questions...
1. Derek riggs has said that it was his idea behind the Feor Of The Darkcover and you just executed it... is that true? Does that Eddie represent a dryid? What was the concept behind the sleeve?
2. What was the concept behind the Virtual XI sleeve? any trivia on that one?
3. I saw a painting called the wicker man on your site... was that
commisssioned for maiden? if so, are there any other ones you've done that haven't been used by maiden?
4. What's it like to work with them as people?
Thank you very much and I wish you a cheerful day!
His answer:
Hi George,
Thank you for visiting my site and the complement on my work. I'll answer you questions as best I can. I did some of this art a long time ago.
1) Derek Riggs had nothing at all to do with my painting of 'Fear of the Dark'. It was certainly not his idea. Maiden called me in to come up with an image for the LP cover. I produced, I think, about seven or eight different concepts, including the one used. Maiden then asked me to try adding bat type wings to Eddy's shoulders, which I did. But it didn't look as good, so they finally settled on my original concept. I also tried to improve the design of Eddy, but Maiden insisted that I did not stray too far from the
previous examples.
The 'Fear of the Dark' Eddy does not represent a Dryad as such, although it could be. The concept was based around the thought of something that you defiantly do not want to meet on a moonlit night while walking around in a wood. The image is really two-fold, While Eddy's shoulders, head and arms are the same, the body is both sitting in the tree and coming down the trunk. The dark branch at the top edge of the moon is a kind of tail and the
legs would carry on up the main trunk. Or maybe his lower body is more snake like. So Eddy is not actually sitting in the tree, but hanging down its length. I think it could be something else sitting in the tree. Possible the future of the viewer.
2) Maiden asked for an Idea to do with Virtual Reality. The concept behind Virtual X1 (which I originally called Virtual Insanity) was of a boy sitting in a very tranquil setting seeing Eddy and chaos through the VR set. So which world is the boy actually in? They then asked me to include the football game. I was told one of the members, or possibly all, is keen on football... which is how the title became Virtual X1.
3) The Wicker Man painting on my site was not for maiden, it was for a book cover. I was approached by Maiden for the Wicker Man, but I was too busy with other work at the time and they needed it very quickly. The only paintings I have done for Maiden are 'Fear of the Dark' and 'Virtual X1'.
4) I've never actually met the band, all my dealings have been through their manager Rod Smallwood at Sanctuary Music and he's a good guy. Working with them is A-okay.
I hope I've answered your question. If there is anything else you wish to know, don't hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
Mel.
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--] 
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--] . Personally, although I prefer Riggs, Melvyn Grant can certainly hold his own on the art front-I always had a soft spot for FotD's pure evilness, and although Virtual XI wouldn't be one of my favourite covers, Death on the Road has certainly increased my respect for Grant's artwork.