I’ve been happy to work in this comission for Easy Speak and Spablab, the project of my poet friend Paul Nelson. I met Paul at Lake Chad Cafe during my neighborhood Jackson St. Jazz Walk. It was a concert of Seattle’s Jazz band Jim O’Halloran’s World Jam. The level of …
Koldo Barroso IMAGINARIUM / Visions of Sounds 50 years of Magic, Imagination and Album Covers. A celebration of my 50th birthday on a trip through my many universes, dreamed of a collection of more than 60 original works of art. October, 2017 Seattle, WA STARLESS 1988 Acrylics Inspired by the …
Dear friends: in October I turn 50. This year, I feel that I need to give something very special from myself. Many times my friends have told me that coming into my bedrooms and studios is like entering another world, another time, another dimension. Now, I feel that I need …
From time to time, the planets line up and you feel complete. This year, I’ve had the privilege of working on one of those musical projects where creative freedom, illusion and friendship converge. In addition to my task to create the cover as in other Don’t Disturb’s projects, this time …
“A Ray of Sunshine” Listen to this little hymn to cosmic love in Bandcamp. July 1970. The intense rays of the sun in Formentera, Balearic Islands, penetrate my skin to the rhythm of a pop song plays everywhere you go in Spain. It’s Los Diablos “A Ray of Sun”. That happy …
Sometimes I get my fingers in the waters of the Pacific Ocean waters, here in Seattle, and I feel that I’m connected to the warm coasts of Spain, my homeland. I like to think that one of my beloved people is right at the same time doing just the same …
In the gloomy Seattle winter days like today, the speakers of my sound system become my fireplace. I rub my hands and bring them closer. The Mediterranean sound of Chano Domiguez keeps me warm and comforts me. I miss the Mediterranean culture in which I grew up, full of Sundays under the …
It’s Friday night. I’m sitting at my drawing board in my studio loft at Hiawatha Artspace, Seattle. Through the generous windows, I can see the lights of the tall downtown buildings. I can hear them talk about magical and mysterious stories going on down there: impossible love affairs, unexpected reunions with …
Tito Puente, Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri, Cachao, Perez Prado… they are some of my Latin music heroes. It’s been exciting to put all of the fun vibes into this album cover. In the forthcoming year, I’m willing to work in other Latin and fusion projects, here in Seattle and …
This illustration piece is my very personal tribute to a song that changed my life as a teenager: “Awaken”, from YES 1977 album “Going For the One“. The original size is 24″ x 24”. My older sister bought the album that very year. I was 10 years old and very soon …
Naomi and I have just moved to our new studio/home at Hiawatha Artspace lofts in Seattle Central District. We applied for an apartment two years ago and now it’s become reality. We’re so happy to see our dream come true! Artspace is non-profit organization that provides affordable places where artists …
After a few years of musical hiatus, this summer I’ve been producing some music of my own. All the way through the summer I had this feeling in my guts that I needed to pull out so bad. I needed to capture and freeze the feeling of the everlasting summer …
This summer I’ve been working in this album cover for a Seattle compilation project. When it comes to imagery, Seattle is such an inspirational city in so many ways!.. The mountains, the woods, the deer, Space Needle, the monorail… Boy, you couldn’t ask for more! All of these amazing elements …
To get an estimation for your custom Album Cover please visit my Prices or contact me. This spring/summer season I’m going to be pretty busy with a new series of retro album covers. These will include some jazz, latin, exotica, tiki, electronic and space-age goodies. Here’s my latest …
My new piece for the Space Age retro album cover series is a little tribute to the recently passed away David Bowie. It’s not the first one that I’ve done, since I had the pleasure of contributing in 2014 to Changes exhibition in Madrid, organized by Susanita Little’s Gallery, with …
Here’s the first piece of my new series of retro pop album cover collection that I’ve been introducing during my visit to Madrid in March. I’m working hard so I can probably see this collection exhibited by late summer here in Seattle and maybe hit some other galleries in Europe. I’m …
Naomi and I have been on a vacation trip to my hometown Madrid. It’s been an unforgettable time meeting our beloved family and friends! And the best time to enjoy the wonderful Spanish food, sun and it’s lively city night life that we missed so bad! In this trip, I …
This is a custom poster that I have created for my 7 years old nephew in Madrid, Alex. I wanted to make him feel excited everytime he looks at it so I’ve portrayed him at his fav things, which are playing tennis, swimming and Star Wars. It was so cool to give …
This is the sleeve art I’ve been working lately. This is is the second release of Spanish jazz rock band “Don’t Disturb”, who are my best friends Juan Carlos D. Samper and Jorge Scapoli. I have also played some music with them myself in some of my former music adventures, …
I’m working on a series of sketches for a new Groovy Flipside piece. This time it’s a mashup of Spider-Man’s Gwen Stacy and Yo-Yos. As a kid I used to be hooked on her so bad! It’s kind of funny to think of her playing with a Spider-Man Yo-Yo. Here …
My latest piece for the Groovy Flipside collection is a mashup of 70’s sci-fi classic movie Logan’s Run and iconic Studio 54 disco. It’s been fun to imagine sex symbols Farrah Fawcett & Jenny Agutter shake their sexy booties at the disco like there’s no mañana! Here you can see …
I’ve been working on a new piece for the Groovy Flipside collection inspired by Hanna-Barbera Cartoon, which I used to watch every evening as a kid. The new mashup comes with Nova from one of the most iconic sci-fi movies ever the Planet of the Apes. With a wink to …
Here’s the first piece for a new series of mashup cartoon pieces called Groovy Flipside. It’s all about creating mashups of all the great American pop culture icons from my childhood. As every other kid of my generation, I grew up watching Hanna-Barbera & Warner cartoons, Bonanza, The Munsters, Bewitched, …
I’m working on a side project that has been inspired by my new home in Pacific North West, where I’ve spent the last eight years. All the time people keeps asking me how do I like this place. It’s easier for me to answer with pictures rather than words. Most …
I’ve had the pleasure of taking part of this very special collective tribute exhibition dedicated to David Bowie, organized by Susanita’s Little Gallery and hosted in Madrid Lunch Box & Tiki Room gallery. My paper sculpture piece, Bowieman, is an artistic interpretation as a tribute to Bowie and the generations of Spanish kids who grew up …
This work has been inspired by the mountains where I lived, in a small village in the North of Madrid called Soto del Real. Naomi and I would spend every weekend walking and hiking in the mountains and woods and sometimes we go to this area in the rocky mountains called La Pedriza. This is a very popular place where lots of people go from all over the country for hiking. In the 18th century, the mountains of La Pedriza used inhabited by famous bandits -bandoleros- who would escape from Madrid when in danger and have their hidden dens in …
The lyrics of this song relates the situation between two lovers who get far from each other because of their indecision and passivity. So I pictured this image of two young lovers in an English period scenery, waiting for a letter that was never sent and never received, letting the fog grow slowly around their feelings until there was nothing left between themselves but haze. For this scene, I was inspired by my personals memories of the time I lived in London in the 90’s: my autumnal walks the cold and foggy Thames and the silent streets haunted by the …
Illustration for Judy Dyble’s album “Talking With Strangers”, 2009. This song written by Tim Bowness and Alistair Murphy is about recovering an important part of ourselves that was always there. It’s the discovery of a precious treasure that was forgotten and abandoned; something that means an essential part of the character and is completely hidden in a tangle of thorns, brambles, wires and cords. Many times in my life I’ve felt like that; memories, passions, friends, places… My experience in life is that all things I have lost, when they’re really valuable, they always end up returning to me in …
When I step into this project, I didn’t know that a cover of this song would be included. Being myself a HUGE fan of Peter Sinfield’s poetry, it was an amazing surprise for me! I’ve always loved this song recorded by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. For this particular lyrics, I was trying to capture the concept of two lovers who don’t tell how much they love and need each other and they end up accepting the situation in resignation until the love fades away. I’m was deeply touched when Peter Sinfield sent me feedback about the work: “How delightful. Thank …
When I first got involved into this project, I really didn’t have the foggiest idea that members of King Crimson were involved in the album. To know about the involvement of band members Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald and Pat Mastelotto in the album gave me the chills! King Crimson’s music has played an important influence in my work since I was a teenager and I have seen the band play live on several occasions. I can especially remember a unique night at London’s Jazz Cafe in December 1997, watching a mind-blowing improvisation by King Crimson’s Project One. Adrian Belew was …
For this illustration I was inspired by old engraving illustrations of ships from the 17th century. The song lyrics are about meeting people on the Internet and I had this idea of portraying the net as a flying city. See full project