29 April, 2015

Zombie for a Day

© Mikael Peltomaa

Being a zombie is not easy. You have lots of dressing up to do - not to mention all the make up to make you look like the part. Then you'll have to walk painfully slow (or sprint really fast if you're one of the more nimble ones!) and act like you're totally brainless. Well, at least that last thing I can pull out with reasonable credibility.

The event was called Zombie Run Pori 2015 and it was held 25.4. in Pori's beautiful Kirjurinluoto park. There were hundred or so survivors whose goal was to run 4,5km long route to the safe area guarded by military. Problem was, the area was riddled with obstacles and of course - zombies!

I'll walk you through my day as a zombie.

I said being a zombie is not easy. I might have lied. At least my day as a zombie was a breeze. Thanks to my sister who had set everything up (with whom I attended the event too) - I just needed to sat down on a make up artist's bench and wait for my decay. Hanna Mäkelä was responsible for my gruesome transformation into a living dead.
.

© TGphotography (www.gronmanphotos.com). Make up: Hanna Mäkelä.
© TGphotography (www.gronmanphotos.com). Make up: Hanna Mäkelä.
© TGphotography (www.gronmanphotos.com). Make up: Hanna Mäkelä.

The finished results. I went with a military look that I already had a suitable wardrobe for. Little fake blood and tearing up the clothes added the finishing touches. Foul attitude and mindless behavior came naturally.

With my sister we were part of the zombie group stuck in a corridor that the poor survivors had to run through. Being a zombie of course I didn't had any tactics - but I just might have tried few different approaches to spice things up. Sometimes I was in the front of the corridor and sometimes in the exit. Sometimes I was slow and sometimes I was fast. Sometimes I was just screaming from the top of my lungs and sometimes just looking idly into nothingness.

© Jarno Kylmänen

But probably my favorite thing was sit by the exit of the corridor, wait for the runners to go by me - and then just go after them like bat out of hell. I might have scared a few that way.

© Jarno Kylmänen
© Jarno Kylmänen
© Jarno Kylmänen

I probably should have started this blog post saying being a survivor isn't easy - that seemed to be the hard part of this event. I think being a zombie is easy, after all.

-Eero







26 April, 2015

Rose

Thus far I've been working exclusively with various different metal bands. Mostly because that's where my roots lie and that's what I've been known doing. But I am more than happy try out different kinds of projects - so I was very pleased when blues influenced Finnish rock trio Six Minutes After approached me (with a little advertisement from my little sister) when they needed a cover for their upcoming EP "Rose".


Two things made this project special - it was going to be in colours and in addition to the cover I would draw designs for the whole EP. I drew inspiration from Art Nouveau and wanted trying painting with thin watercolour like paints that would create serene feel.
Hand With a Rose.
First thing I drew for this project was the skeleton hand holding a rose. I did it to demonstrate to the band what I was after and I thought it would make a great design for the CD.
Rose.
 I wanted a continuous picture that would go around from the front to the back. The girl - Rose - would be one of the focal points in addition to the hand holding a rose. Rose field would wither on the other side of the picture and the skies would grow darker. But of course, both sides would have to work on their own too.
Rose 1/2.
Rose 2/2.
 For the final cover, the image was flipped as it worked better that way with the album name and logo.
Six Minutes After - Rose (CD EP, Six Minutes After, 2014). / Layout by Eero Kurru.

 All in all - it was fun project in many ways. I got to draw and test new things and the guys in the band were great. But one thing is sure - I'm not drawing roses anytime soon. I lost count at 330 roses.

-Eero