David Stone Martin, Artist

By far one of The Leopard's biggest influences is the remarkable illustrator David Stone Martin. Even if you don't know his name, you've probably seen his work on hundreds of album covers, most notably Billie Holiday's early LPs and and many other beautiful drawings and paintings created for jazz impresario Norman Granz's various record labels.

Martin's medium of choice was crowquill pen and ink, where he cultivated a rough, distinctive line, not wholly unlike his primary influence, the brilliant political artist Ben Shahn.

Martin's also created art for children's books and advertisements, but it was his jazz art that made te biggest impression on me. When I was given the opportunity to create covers for jazz bassist Christian McBride's LP covers, my mind went directly to Martin's wonderful work. 

Although I didn't want to directly emulate him, I tried to create a feeling similar to his.

I don't know if I ever got close to achieving it, but I'm was happy to even be able to try.

The ones that get away

(Click to enlarge)

One of the hazards of the illustration business is when a project doesn't come into fruition. Case in point: The Leopard was commissioned to do illustrations for the excellent jazz saxophonist Steve Lehman's latest CD package. We had a few inspiring conversations and a lively repartee. I really felt we were on the same page.

In a timely manner, Lehman dutifully sent me photos that I would use as references, and after a couple of false starts, I began to work on drawings.   I was having fun. I happily sent the art off to Steve and awaited his response.

Lo and behold, Steve sent an email back that he liked what I did, but he had quite a few suggestions. Well, in fact, many suggestions. I couldn't believe how we could be on such different pages conceptually. After reading all his requests, I realized that my style and his style simply would not mesh. So we agreed to part ways. It's sad, and I had never had this happen before, but I really wanted him to be happy. His music is so good, he needed someone who could visualize it the way he saw it in his mind.