I was really excited when I sent him the finished product and he was happy with it. That style continues with what Tyler is doing now. They have such a unique, cohesive, and bizarre visual style that runs through everything they do, and it was so refreshing to see that at the time. That’s one of the things that drew me to Odd Future when they were getting all that attention back in 2010.
Well, it was an honor because I’m really into what he’s done visually from the very beginning. What was it like attempting to create something that will live in the visual world he's been creating for years? I think he has a much better innate capacity for working with color than I do… I was really impressed with his drawings and especially with his use of color. Maybe Tyler wanted his concept expressed in a more realistic way.ĭuring the process of working together, he showed me some drawings from his sketchbook and he’s really talented as a visual artist-let alone everything else. Even though it’s surreal, it is usually grounded in a certain visual reality. I think he also appreciates my technique, which is pretty labor intensive. Why do you think he reached out to you for this?Įven though our styles differ, I think there is an underlying weirdness in both of our work and maybe he connected to that aspect of my paintings. Visuals have always been really important to Tyler and he's done a lot of his own artwork himself in the past. After I showed him the final comp, he was on board and basically left me alone until I finished the painting. I would make detailed comps based on his sketches and ideas, and we went back and forth a couple times. He would send me sketches of what he was thinking and some photos that expressed the tone he was looking for.
I think Tyler was initially thinking it would be similar to my series of paintings in which the viewer’s perspective is from inside a car. He had some very specific ideas in mind for the cover, which evolved a bit during the process, but I was really into it. What was the process of working with Tyler like? How hands on was he after the initial idea? His manager got in touch and soon after that Tyler and I spoke on the phone and we started the process. But this was too exciting of an opportunity to pass up. I had done a few album covers and other commercial work in the past, but I hadn’t done a cover in many years as I’m focused on my own work now.
I had seen Odd Future at Highline Ballroom in NYC in 2011. He had seen my work in the book Rizzoli published recently and liked my work, and I was a fan of his. How did you and Tyler connect for this project? Outside of the jarring color palette, White points out that the cover is loaded with details, revealing that "there is a tiny Maclaren on the road" even if it's "barely legible on Instagram, and probably not at all on iTunes."Įric White's 'Outpost 2' 2017 (oil & graphite on canvas)
I think he has a much better innate capacity for working with color than I do.” While they were in the midst of the creative process, Tyler showed White some of his own sketches, and White admits, “I was really impressed with his drawings and especially with his use of color. Tyler approached the cover with a specific set of ideas, but ultimately trusted White enough to let him to finish the piece after the final compositions were agreed upon. The mood of the pieces range from trippy, to desolate, to oddly macabre-right up Tyler, The Creator’s alley.Ī fan of Tyler and the entire Odd Future crew since catching a show in 2011, White tells us the opportunity to create the cover for Tyler's new Scum Fuck Flower Boy album is “an honor because I’m really into what he’s done visually from the very beginning.” He has an ongoing series of LP paintings on his website, spanning across all genres and totaling over thirty five completed pieces.
Eric White has been painting LPs since he had a dream that Elton John had assholes for eyes.