I recently finished two new illustrations, inspired by the music of the Grateful Dead.
“Cosmic Charlie” Ink, watercolor, digital.
Prints available
“West L.A. Fadeaway” ink and watercolor/digital
Prints Available
I also created some variants of this illustrations:
Although I’ve been a fan of Grateful Dead, I had’t done much art related to them until recently. Last year I was asked to create posters for Without A Net, an all star lineup of musicians playing the music of the Dead. This led me to create a few other illustrations that took elements of my own artwork with a GD twist, which I used to create some posters for the Dead & Co. show in Philly in 2015. And most recently, I created a poster for Splintered Sunlight, an east coast Grateful Dead tribute band. I avoided illustrating songs as I do for Phish, although I had plenty of people suggesting I do. It wasn’t until Phish’s recent Nashville show, which had Bob Weir sit in for their second set. They ended up playing 4 GD songs, which of course I had to illustrate!
SET 2: Julius > Fuego > My Friend, My Friend, Samson and Delilah[2], Twist[3] > Miss You[4], West L.A. Fadeaway[4] > Playing in the Band[5]
This show featured the Phish debut of Samson and Delilah and Playing in the Band. West L.A. Fadeaway was last played October 6, 2000 (383 shows). Samson and Delilah through Playing in the Band featured Bob Weir on guitar. Weir also sang vocals on Samson and Delilah, Miss You, and West L.A. Fadeaway. The soundcheck’s Blues Jam featured a verse of Funky Bitch from Trey and Walking Blues featured Weir on vocals.
I plan to do a couple more songs in the near future, but I’m in no rush. I want the ideas to come organically, and for it to be original. This can be difficult, on account that fans have been creating Dead inspired art for almost 50 years now! But it’s a challenge I’m willing to take on! Stay tuned for some new art in the coming months!
Setlist/notes © 1990-2016 The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
Josean Rivera 