Its time for another installment in my Off The Record Project and this time – its personal! If you are new to the project, you can read more about it in the original Off The Record Post.

Band Of Brothers

I’ve always been a big fan of Hall and Oates. They’ve had so many great albums, but my favorite will always be Rock and Soul Part 1. I think I owned this album in LP, cassette and eventually DVD format – so I’m very familiar with the striking, graphical cover art. These songs have always been on heavy rotation in the Lourcey cars, so it is not surprising that my boys both like the songs very much. Darryl Hall and John Oates have had this band going since 1970 and you have to pretty good friends to stick together for that long. That’s why I knew it was a perfect cover when Heather suggested it for Dean and Beau’s contribution to the series.

The Album

The photography portion of this one was pretty easy. I just had to get the boys in a pose that somewhat followed the original. The difficult part was the post-production-specifically, how to get that drawing-type look but still make the boys somewhat recognizable. (the other issue was keeping them from actually arm wrestling during the shoot, but we survived that part)

The Lourcey Version

Once I selected the image that worked best, I had to figure out how to get the outlines. I tried converting it to a sketch, but there was too much detail- even after I cleaned it up. I tried running some various sharpeners on it, but that didn’t work either. I eventually decided to basically trace the outlines, using the photograph as a guide. This allowed me to make revisions as I progressed and fine tune the image into a better likeness of my boys. As the image started forming, I realized that my lines were slightly thinner than the original- giving it a little more of sketch quality. The added bonus was that this allowed me to carry over more of the facial characteristics than I could have with bolder, thick strokes. It took a while, but I eventually ended up with this image.

Brotherhood Part 1

Although the album was originally titled “Rock and Soul Part 1” I decided that what really drew me to the image was the connection between the two. That made “Brotherhood Part 1” the obvious choice. Although I can’t really take any credit for this, it actually has a good deal of story- especially as it relates to my boys. They are holding hands, yet they are also in a competitive arm-wrestling position. Now that Beau has entered high school the boys have officially moved on from “Part 1” of childhood to next chapter. It all just kind of came together that way. Gotta love happy accidents.

The Next Chapter

I photographed another cover this weekend and several more working through the planning process. If you would still like to participate, it isn’t too late. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

The project is a collaboration. I will do the photography and Photoshop work, but you are responsible for helping with the planning. Once we agree on a cover concept, your job is to gather the costumes, props, etc. The fabulously talented Julie Spero will provide hair and makeup, but you have to schedule a time with her. You aren’t just modeling- you are helping to bring the concept to reality. It can be a lot of work, but I think its worth it- especially if we end up an image that rocks!!!