blindpig
Prowler
Nice! Didn't know he had social media. Thanx!Is Hervé watching this thread?! He just posted on his Facebook in high resolution
Official Iron Maiden artwork and fan drawn Eddies (no AI images please)
- Thread starter Kalata
- Start date
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Interview with Mark Wilkinson from this year (source).
For TBOS & SJ covers, he talks about the backgrounds:
So Steve wanted the black background with no details for TBOS because that's something different for the band - and ofc to have the ''real'' cover with details for the gatefold. As some of us here speculated before. Which to me is odd for a band with Maiden's tradition, even these days.
Same thing happened with SJ by Steve, even though Wilkinson wanted to do something different. The SJ gatefold art took him the longest. Him not wanting to work with the band/Steve again probably had something to do with it?
Are Wilkinson's planned details for TBOS cover the same as the 2 gatefold arts? I think not. Maybe The Great Unknown art for the tour. Interesting to know.
For TBOS & SJ covers, he talks about the backgrounds:
On the one hand, you’re thrilled to be working for such an iconic band and then you think oh, God, the fans! They love Derek Riggs with good reason. He created such an enduring character which is known world wide. I remember doing some work for Star Wars once - they sent me a style guide with dos and don’ts. They sent profiles, front and back line drawings that you could not deviate from or reinterpret. With Maiden, it felt almost the same as that. The band didn’t give me any hassle, but I knew the fans might! You mess with Eddie at your peril!
When it came to doing the last two album covers, obviously, it had to look like Eddie, of course it had. But I thought the only thing I can think of is to make him even more monstrous and so realistic that you see every heightened detail - like a modern monster horror film. They said great, let’s see what you come up with. I was dealing with management, and they would forward it to Steve. In the end, they said, Why don’t you just work directly with Steve? He encouraged me to go a bit further, go a bit further, go a bit further, make it even more monstrous. On one occasion, he went, Oh, perhaps dial that back a bit, might be a bit too much! But he really liked the general direction.
He especially liked the treatment of the skin. I played around with a 3D programme to get the textures right. I sent him a version of it on just plain black but I planned to add a lot more detail in the background: torn vines, shrunken heads - the whole Mayan vibe. When he saw it though, he said he wanted to keep that plain black background as it would be different to what they’d had before. He suggested having the big triptych reveal on the inside of the gatefold. I knew that would be contentious and as expected got some flak for it initially when the Maiden fans thought the cover was all they were going to get...like “where’s the detail??” Which of course was on the inside.
My phone lit up when the cover went public and the management sent me a message asking if I’d been checking it all out online, and I said no. And then, when I scrolled through, it was quite funny because the first few comments were about why the cover had a plain black background. Where’s the detail? And then when the album was released, the tone changed, “Oh, I’ve just seen the inside cover; makes sense now.
Q: The band must have been pleased with the black because that is what happened with Senjutsu too, with the reveal on the inside.
Yeah. Again, I wanted to do something different. I did the face-on version to begin with and Steve really liked that. He said let’s just keep it on black and I said, “Really Steve? I’m going to get into trouble again” and he laughed. The inside illustration took me the longest time I’ve ever spent on a piece of art. It took months. Four months, maybe five months. A long, long time for me to get it right.
Steve and I got on really well. I sent him visual developments and when I changed something Steve could tell because he would overlay them. He would say, “You have changed something and I know exactly what it is! Why do you keep changing things I haven’t asked you to (laughing)?" He said he’d got me on speed-dial as ‘The Tinkerer’!
When it came to doing the last two album covers, obviously, it had to look like Eddie, of course it had. But I thought the only thing I can think of is to make him even more monstrous and so realistic that you see every heightened detail - like a modern monster horror film. They said great, let’s see what you come up with. I was dealing with management, and they would forward it to Steve. In the end, they said, Why don’t you just work directly with Steve? He encouraged me to go a bit further, go a bit further, go a bit further, make it even more monstrous. On one occasion, he went, Oh, perhaps dial that back a bit, might be a bit too much! But he really liked the general direction.
He especially liked the treatment of the skin. I played around with a 3D programme to get the textures right. I sent him a version of it on just plain black but I planned to add a lot more detail in the background: torn vines, shrunken heads - the whole Mayan vibe. When he saw it though, he said he wanted to keep that plain black background as it would be different to what they’d had before. He suggested having the big triptych reveal on the inside of the gatefold. I knew that would be contentious and as expected got some flak for it initially when the Maiden fans thought the cover was all they were going to get...like “where’s the detail??” Which of course was on the inside.
My phone lit up when the cover went public and the management sent me a message asking if I’d been checking it all out online, and I said no. And then, when I scrolled through, it was quite funny because the first few comments were about why the cover had a plain black background. Where’s the detail? And then when the album was released, the tone changed, “Oh, I’ve just seen the inside cover; makes sense now.
Q: The band must have been pleased with the black because that is what happened with Senjutsu too, with the reveal on the inside.
Yeah. Again, I wanted to do something different. I did the face-on version to begin with and Steve really liked that. He said let’s just keep it on black and I said, “Really Steve? I’m going to get into trouble again” and he laughed. The inside illustration took me the longest time I’ve ever spent on a piece of art. It took months. Four months, maybe five months. A long, long time for me to get it right.
Steve and I got on really well. I sent him visual developments and when I changed something Steve could tell because he would overlay them. He would say, “You have changed something and I know exactly what it is! Why do you keep changing things I haven’t asked you to (laughing)?" He said he’d got me on speed-dial as ‘The Tinkerer’!
So Steve wanted the black background with no details for TBOS because that's something different for the band - and ofc to have the ''real'' cover with details for the gatefold. As some of us here speculated before. Which to me is odd for a band with Maiden's tradition, even these days.
Same thing happened with SJ by Steve, even though Wilkinson wanted to do something different. The SJ gatefold art took him the longest. Him not wanting to work with the band/Steve again probably had something to do with it?
Are Wilkinson's planned details for TBOS cover the same as the 2 gatefold arts? I think not. Maybe The Great Unknown art for the tour. Interesting to know.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
In that case and for the covers, yes. But I wouldn't ''blame'' him for the production alone. They more or less want it (comparing with their side projects sound), like the songwriting style. Blaze was an odd choice, but the idea was someone different, so. Let's see with Simon. I also think Steve's vision is always driving the band, regardless of the era. He needs to be creative for the band.This once again proves that Steve is ALWAYS the ONE to blame!
In the old days his creative vision was perfect, nowadays not so much. At the very least, he needs a pair of good glasses for production needs. And ears.
Lord of Wolves 78
Educated Fool
Some great Derek Riggs Iron Maiden Album and Single Art, but without Eddie.
Attachments
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1980 - Eddie Smashing up a Room with his Guitar (without Eddie).jpg -
Somewhere Back in Time Eddie (without Eddie).jpg -
2 Minutes 2 Midnight (without Eddie).jpg -
The Trooper (without Eddie).jpg -
Piece of Mind (without Eddie).jpg -
The Number of The Beast (without Eddie).jpg -
Run to The Hills (without Eddie).jpg -
Killers (without Eddie).jpeg -
Sanctuary (without Eddie).jpg -
Iron Maiden 1980 (without Eddie).jpg
Lord of Wolves 78
Educated Fool
Lord of Wolves 78
Educated Fool
I also found this rare and hard-to-find complete landscape version of Somewhere in Time (without any type). This is just a low-resolution sample I had to downsize to post here. The great thing about this version is that you can see all the band members' eyes.
Attachments
Lord of Wolves 78
Educated Fool
Cosmiceddie
Back From The Edge
What's the use of removing Eddie from those pictures anyway.
I appreciate that it makes sense to remove any type, though.
I appreciate that it makes sense to remove any type, though.
Abas
Jester with no tears
I'd love to see the original one!
Makes the background the foreground, I guess
TheRegularUnknown
Prowler
Tygerrr
Prowler
this art was definitely made for LORD OF THE FLIES… you have to know if you have read the book
IronCarnage
Educated Fool
if only the left of the image was there
IronCarnage
Educated Fool
I have a few
TheRegularUnknown
Prowler
Awesome! Are they in your archive?
Lord of Wolves 78
Educated Fool
I can't upload the original on this site as it's 9320 x 4481 and 37MB in size. I can of course email it to you if you want. I'll need your email address.
IronCarnage
Educated Fool
nope. I might scan the ones I have
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
Been meaning to post this, but here's a kinda cool Eddie wall sculpture on Insta. 
Abas
Jester with no tears
I DM youI can't upload the original on this site as it's 9320 x 4481 and 37MB in size. I can of course email it to you if you want. I'll need your email address.