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Begetter John Misty's Album Cover Makes Fun of Everything

Cartoonist Edward Steed talks landing his absurdist aesthetic on the cover of the musician's latest album, Pure One-act

September 21, 2017

Earlier this twelvemonth, when Josh Tillman, a.g.a. singer-songwriter Father John Misty, needed a sleeve designed for his new anthology Pure Comedy —his sardonic meditation on gimmicky life—he called on an illustrator with a similar grasp of tragicomedy: Edward Steed. For the past four years, Steed'southward cartoons have littered The New Yorker with succinct, oblique humor, and with characters and situations that lay bare life's many follies. His uncanny aesthetic is on full display in the album'southward cover design—a sprawling, scrupulously detailed canvass populated with odd figures and bizarre takes on modern-day rituals, from romance to advertising. Below, Steed explains how the project came to exist.

How did you come to work with Father John Misty for Pure Comedy ? Were you familiar with his work before this?

I didn't know his music, but he sent me his old tape, I Beloved You Honeybear , and the first track from Pure Comedy . He had seen my cartoons in The New Yorker , and wrote me an email saying he liked my work, and thought that my style would accommodate the new record. In that location were some similarities in our worldview, and I didn't take to adjust my style to suit him.

Did you accept a brief for the album comprehend? What were your own intentions for it?

He had this idea of four different-colored skies, and just asked for a drawing to get [with] that. I sketched lots of pocket-size scenes—sort of satirical in tone simply not literally referring to the lyrics—and and so bundled them on a landscape. I suppose the unifying theme is the absurdity of human life on earth. More often than not, I was only trying to make something that'south expert for people to look at while listening to the tape. I merely drew the type of album cover I would want if I made an album, which I never will.

What was the procedure of creating this intricate artwork?

I spent a few weeks sketching ideas for individual scenes and characters. This was similar to the way I normally work doing single-console magazine cartoons. Arranging them in a context of a large landscape took a while. I'd never drawn anything at that size before, and to practise the last drawings took about a week. Information technology'southward all in ink, and I used a metal-nib pen, the kind you dip in ink.

The sleeve carries overtones of Hieronymous Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights." What references served every bit inspiration for this comprehend?

At the beginning of the projection, I went to the library most days and took out all their Bosch books, and looked at lots of medieval and classical paintings. Also, religious fine art, hell paintings, funny stuff like that. The boat in the lesser right corner [of the front cover] was based on Bosch'due south "Send of Fools."

Are at that place whatsoever other scenes that stand out for you?

I like the funeral scene in the height right corner. Nosotros besides made a set of cards [pictured higher up] featuring the same characters from the encompass, which will assistance explain some of the scenes.

Since this was the first anthology cover you've illustrated, did this procedure change any ideas you initially had nigh album design?

I'yard not really a proper illustrator; I just practice what I practice and I'thousand not very good at taking directions. Josh was easy and fun to work with, so he was a perfect collaborator. Information technology was exhausting making such a large drawing. I was naive about how long it would take, but I think it turned out pretty dainty. My optics and hands injure later.

What'south your favorite album cover?

Kevin Coyne'southward In Living Black And White. It's quite funny—the joke is on the back cover. Information technology seems charming at first then gets a bit sinister when yous look closely. And I think he looks similar the kind of people I draw.

(Images Courtesy Edward Steed)

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