ABOUT
BIOGRAPHY
Travis Braun is an artist, illustrator, author and educator based in Orem, Utah. His work is strongly influenced by music, (especially rock n roll) graphic novels / manga, and pop culture.
Travis grew up in a small town west of the Twin Cities, MN. He spent much of his childhood drawing monsters and singing 90's rock songs into a hair brush. In high school he played guitar in the rock band Star Larva. Travis has earned his BFA in Illustration from BYU and a Master of Science, Curriculum and Instruction from WGU.
Travis is a third generation educator. He has taught at a residential treatment center for youth with learning differences and emotional disorders for 4 years, at a middle school for 7 years and is currently teaching drawing & painting at Lone Peak High School.
When Travis is not teaching or creating art he enjoys playing pickleball & disc golf, going to concerts, watching movies and just hanging out with his wife Adrienne and kids Kozette, Ruby & Hendrix.
ABOUT THE ART
POSTERS
Travis’ music posters are beautifully crafted and brilliantly conceived. He truly captures the essence of these bands and the music they create. His work is rich with symbolism and hidden meaning. Typically, the more you know about the history of the band and their music, the more you will appreciate the subtle nuances in his work.
In Travis’ own words he describes his journey to reinvent the rock poster:
“As a teenager in the 90’s I spent a good chunk of my paycheck on purchasing CDs. My favorite place to buy music back then was Cheapo, a used music store in Minneapolis. My friends and I would spend hours shuffling through piles of unorganized, used CDs in hopes to find a few gems. In those days I found great pleasure and excitement in viewing the art filled booklet of a newly purchased CD, while listening to the music for the first time. Such an experience would frequently result in me feeling personally connected to the band.
Over the last decade I have noticed such feelings are increasingly more rare, even though I am purchasing more music than ever. I believe one reason for this detachment is, for the past ten years almost all my music purchases have been intangible MP3s. This digital format has physically disconnected me from having that experience of my youth when I heard AND saw the music.
Back in 2011 when Radiohead released The King Of Limbs, I decided to purchase the special “Newspaper” edition. The day it arrived I sat down for over 2 hours to read the newspaper and enjoy the artwork while re-listening to the album. That was the first time in a long time that I felt the excitement of my youth and a tangible connection between art and music.
Since that day I have been striving to reconnect art and music in my life through reinventing the rock poster. I have always had a feeling of nostalgia when it comes to my CD collection, but now I feel these rock posters are connecting me to the music and these bands with an even greater sense of excitement.”
Rock N Roll Posters Of The Past
Rock ‘n’ roll-inspired art of the past mostly consists of concert or gig posters. Many of these posters have vibrant, psychedelic, rad artwork but at the same time lack any ACCURATE visual representation of who the band really is or what their music sounds like.
Another defective attribute of most rock posters is being cluttered with specific concert information such as the venue, date, opening acts, where to buy tickets, and even when the doors open. If you attended the concert for which a poster was created then there is maybe some significance in having the concert info on the poster; but if not, all that information means NOTHING and in many cases it takes away from the art itself.
Many other gig posters have rather cliché images. Rock ‘n’ roll is so much more than skulls, the middle finger, and half-naked, big-breasted, devil women. This is why I am driven to reinvent the rock poster; to truly capture the essence of each band and the music they create.
The Creative Process
15 – 35 hours researching the band, reading through the lyrics of every song, collecting a wide range of photo reference of the band and their original album artwork, watching music videos & live performances and brainstorming concepts & themes relevant to the band and their music. Doing such in depth research helps to create a visually accurate representation of the band and their music.
35 – 60 hours creating the detailed drawings, puzzle-piecing the drawings together in Photoshop, arranging & tweaking the composition and hand drawing the text.
10 – 15 hours creating background textures by painting and collaging photo reference.
15 – 30 hours enhancing the background textures and adding digital color.
The average piece takes me 75 hours to complete, however on a few pieces I have spent roughly 140 hours.
Symbolism & Hidden Meaning
With each piece I create I strive to truly capture the essence of the band through imagery, lyrics and the overall concept. In several of these band posters you will see original album artwork incorporated into the piece. Almost all of the text in each piece is lyrically based. Usually the more you are familiar with the history of the band and their music, the more you will understand the symbolism and appreciate the subtle nuances within my work. Here are just a few examples:
LED ZEPPELIN
I knew before I even started my Zeppelin piece that I wanted it to have a mystical feeling. As I dove into my research I quickly realized that Tarot cards would make the perfect foundation on which to build. The “Stairway to Heaven” illustration of the “Zoso”booklet obviously derives from The Hermit Tarot card. Below, you can see how the Tarot deck influenced this piece.
THE BEATLES
In “The Beatles – Lonely Hearts, Rubber Soul & Magical Yellow Submarine Tour” you will see a walrus sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah, here is how that imagery came about…
When John Lennon wrote the lyrics to the song “I Am The Walrus” he based it on the poem “The Walrus And The Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll is best known for writing Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. In Alice in Wonderland there is a part where Alice comes across a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah…. hence, the walrus on the mushroom smoking the hookah is born.
The hookah also ties in nicely with the sitar since both originate from the India – Persia region.
RADIOHEAD
In “Radiohead – The King of Limbs” you will notice 3 white mice in the tree towards the top of the image, they are each doing a different dance move inspired by Thom’s Lotus Flower dance.
PEARL JAM
In “Pearl Jam – If Not For Love I Would Be Drowning” there is original album artwork from all of PJ’s first nine studio albums, from Ten to Backspacer.
PORTRAITS
Travis' portraits combine elements of both his music posters and abstract work. These portraits are the culmination of years of developing and refining this technique. His style is extraordinary in part because his process is so unique and involved. This process includes:
- Creating hundreds of acrylic & watercolor abstract textured paintings
- Scanning the paintings and reworking them digitally
- Printing these abstract pieces
- Painting a thin acrylic wash over the top of the print
- Drawing a detailed portrait with pen & ink
- Using Inktense to improve contrast of value and enhance colors
DIGITAL / PHOTO
Travis' digital / photo art derives from original photographs of a rock bands' live performance as well as pictures taken at the venue the night of the concert. Combining multiple photos into a single image not only creates stunning texture and depth but also portrays the magic of attending a live show. This body of work exudes the spirit of rock n roll as it depicts the passion of the musicians and the electric atmosphere of a rock concert. Travis' work turns great photos into gig art.
ABSTRACT
Travis' abstract work combines the tactile, organic beauty of layered paint with a geometric collaged design. Using both traditional and modern mediums & processes has allowed Travis to visually capture the spirit of originality. Contemporary abstract art can often times feel redundant or mundane but Travis' style and approach has produced a truly captivating body of work that will appeal to art lovers and the novice alike.
