birth_place training nationality name field birth_date article_title birth_name bgcolour
new york city , united states school of visual arts american arik roper drawing , illustration , painting 1973 arik roper
 arik moonhawk roper # 6495ed
arik roper

arik roper -lrb- born 1973 -rrb- is a freelance illustrator and painter based in new york city .
born in new york city , roper grew up in richmond , virginia .
his parents both being artists , his creativity was encouraged and he spent a great deal of time drawing .
after graduating from the school of visual arts in 1995 specializing in illustration and silk-screening , he began as a freelance storyboard artist for various ad agencies , and a storyboard revisionist for mtv animation .
later he was able to exercise more creative and personal styles while shifting into the world of music-related visual art and packaging .
roper has since developed a name and devoted following creating record covers and music merchandise for a wide variety of bands including cult underground legends such as earth , buzzoven , sunn o -rrb- -rrb- -rrb- , sleep , howlin ' rain , grand magus and high on fire , as well as more mainstream acts like the black crowes .
he is a contributing artist and writer to the highly regarded and cutting-edge arthur magazine as well as the music magazine revolver .
arik has also designed hand-made screen-printed posters for a pantheon of concerts and events including shows at the famous fillmore west in san francisco for bill graham presents and film posters for magnolia pictures .
he has since branched out into more diverse areas of fine graphic illustration , watercolor , sequential art , and animation .
roper 's work encompasses a diverse field of design and distinct style , ranging from black and white illustration , to meticulous lettering and logo design , to rich abstract psychedelic color and landscapes that often seem to exist in their own universe .
the imagery springs from the depths of a fertile imagination , invoking psychedelic visions , ancient dreams , and idyllic natural environments .
with an interest in mythology , consciousness , psychology , religion and other timeless subjects , roper mixes the light and the dark within his art to reveal imagery which is at once strangely unique , distantly familiar and always soaked with an earnestly fantastic aesthetic .
his latest book project , mushroom magick -lrb- abrams , 2009 -rrb- , is a vividly surreal collection of exotic fungal species from around the world .
some of his clients include : `` arthur magazine '' , tee pee records , mca records , north atlantic sound , `` revolver magazine '' , drag city , southern lord records , relapse records , nike , and mtv .
some record covers he has done include : `` dopesmoker '' by sleep -lrb- both released versions -rrb- , `` the bees made honey in the lion 's skull '' by earth , and `` live at fillmore '' , `` before the frost , after the freeze '' for the black crowes , and all weedeater albums .
he is often associated with the band high on fire in particular , due to his ongoing working relationship with the band .
