This is a series of gouache paintings that I recently completed for an art exhibition. The theme of the exhibition was about albums or band recordings that you would take with you to a desert island, assuming you could not live without it.

My pick was The Beatles around the Strawberry Fields Forever phase (Magical Mystery Tour LP).
Each painting is done with gouache on 12" x 12" wood panel.

I was influenced by the video that was released a few years ago for the Strawberry Fields Forever song.
It is an amazing video for its time, considering it was done almost 20 years before the invention of the music video.
I chose gouache for this project because I thought it would suit the smaller size and subject matter very well.

I started as I usually do, with pencil sketches in my sketchbook. I developed a sketch for each piece and tried to make
each one feel unique on its own, as well as work together as a series. Each painting has many layers of washes...ending
with more opaque application of color.

So far people have really liked the series. I've received good feedback from the instagram posts...I will be hanging the
work this week, so I'm looking forward to actually experiencing the response from viewers.

Every time I use gouache it feels like I learn something. This time I think I learned more about wet vs dry application
of the gouache and how they can work together in harmony.

This series was a challenge to balance getting a likeness of each of the Beatles, as well as having artistic license to
be creative and daring with my painting.

scott Erwert

Professional illustrator, designer and artist with an expansive work history: from Fortune 500 clients to independent nonprofits - and everything in between. Erwert is one of only a handful of artists licensed by Lucasfilm to create original artwork for Star Wars Celebration fan events around the globe, and his work for their brand has been published in numerous books, magazines and websites.

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