Trading the microphone for a paintbrush

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Jordan Aman, Arts Editor
May 27, 2010
Filed under Arts

Brandon Boyd grew up in Calabasas, California with his parents Dolly and Charles Boyd. Throughout his childhood, his parents encouraged Boyd’s artistic drive, though he was never enrolled in any formal classes. Upon entrance to high school, Boyd became friends with Jose Pasillas, who asked him to become singer in a band, along with two other friends Mike Einziger, and Alex Katunich. This band became known as Incubus.

Boyd began drawing posters and flyers advertising shows for the band, copying pictures from a rather risque publication, given to him by Mike’s mother. At first, potential fans came to the band with a degree of concern asking questions like, “What kind of show is this?” Soon after hearing these concerns, Boyd stopped using these posters and began to pursue his budding musical career, as the lead singer of Incubus.

Throughout his life, Boyd has been interested in art. On the bands way to stardom, Boyd experimented with mediums and subjects to better develop his style as a visual artist. While, he is best known for singing lead vocals for Incubus, he has created quite a body of work in the process. Boyd designed the album cover for Incubus’s most recent album, Monuments and Melodies. The sweeping lines and flowing form of the cover are very representative of the band’s music, which is, while technical, very lyrical and loose.

Boyd’s work follows this same pattern, with technical detail and overall flow. He uses a high emphasis on line and form, and creates a strong sense of movement and rhythm within his work. There is also a certain focus on spiritualism throughout Boyd’s images.

The subjects depicted within Boyd’s work all look very content, or pensive, suggesting an overall feeling of peace. The image pictured above is an example of this spiritual fucus. The Mandala-esque designs are a common motif throughout his work, as well as the sanskrit colligraphy (featured in the above design).

Boyd’s use of color is equally important as his use of line and texture. While not overly colorful, he uses eye-catching colors such as orange and tourquoise, with other accents of color to emphasize his intricate designs. Boyd has a tendency to focus around one central color, or even use a specifically monochromatic color scheme, or work within the specific color family (such as the cover of Monuments and Melodies, pictured right).

Boyd’s work is expressive and personal, and truly shows his inner beliefs, emotions and opinions. His work is powerful, inventive and different, and is a contemporary example of culture and expression.