As a creative, nothing inspires me more than meeting people that show versatility and can march to the beat of their own drum without seemingly breaking a sweat. In a world that seems to get more homogenous and samey as time progresses, seeing someone going out of their way to try something different or showing proficiency in multiple disciplines leaves me in awe.

This is why I respect artists like American Dead Cross.  He’s a punk singer, he plays drums, he plays guitar, he can produce his own beats and instrumentals, he’s an amazing illustrator with a unique,  detail-heavy style… The list goes on. His output doesn’t always stick to one genre, going from punk and indie rock jams to trap, phonk and even EDM collabs.

After getting in contact with him in early February 2022, he agreed to let me design a Spotify Canvas for Punk Punk Spectapalooza,  a project oozing with so much punk and indie energy that it brought back some good memories from my high school years. The last track even reminded me of some tracks from the No More Heroes soundtrack I used to listen to on repeat. I was geeking out over this record, and I was eager to bring the cover art to life.

The cover art he sent me features a maximalist drawing of a wrinkled hand doing a phone sign. However, this wasn’t any normal hand. It was a hand with eyes sprouting from each finger’s joints and a gaping mouth with infinite rows of teeth inside it. Obviously, I was horrified but inspired to give life to this monstrosity he created.

Through the use of puppet pins, I gave this “hand beast” a life of its own.  The eyes close at random, albeit natural intervals, and the inside of the gaping mouth spins eternally while opening and closing, generating a downward spiral bordered by rows of teeth. Of course, to keep the similarities between the cover art and this visualizer, I opted to not add any background elements and keep the simple, white background.  This also helps keep the focus on the very detailed illustration, which already requires quite a bit of focus to fully analyze.

Overall, working with ADC on this visualizer was a great experience that helped me further develop my skill for puppet animation on 2D elements. After this project, I completed many other commissions for ADC’s releases,  which include the Birthstone Acid Club EP and Sentimental.  His recent hiatus has only reinforced how much respect I have for him as a creative, and I am very thankful for all the opportunities he has given me.

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