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Boali Dashtestani

Art Direction / Game Art / Technical Art

bdbros.com

Concept Art / Illustration

The tone poems

Concert booklet illustrations for Kevin Kaska.

Working directly with composer Kevin Kaska, I developed five illustrations for a concert booklet, drawing on the music, regional history, and old tales.

Battle for Atlantis

A circular island city with concentric waterways, surrounded by blue sea, cliffs, and distant mountains.
Final illustration · Boali Dashtestani

Listen to Battle for Atlantis · Music by Kevin Kaska · ℗ 2011 Kevin Kaska. All rights reserved.

Painting & layout studies

An earlier Atlantis composition with print boundaries visible. The Atlantis painting with fold and trim guides. The Atlantis painting prepared as a booklet proof.
Composition development with print guides

The Golden Falcon

Ancient Egyptian columns frame a sunlit courtyard, a golden bird, and pyramids in the distance.
Final illustration · Boali Dashtestani

Listen to The Golden Falcon · Music by Kevin Kaska · ℗ 2011 Kevin Kaska. All rights reserved.

Painting & layout studies

The Egyptian scene with print guides and a placeholder text box. The Egyptian courtyard painting without the print overlay.
Layout check with placeholder text

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

A quiet lake, a small island, and a distant house among mountains, with a figure on the shore.
Final illustration · Boali Dashtestani

Listen to The Lake Isle of Innisfree · Music by Kevin Kaska · ℗ 2011 Kevin Kaska. All rights reserved.

Painting & layout studies

An early booklet layout pairing the lake painting and poem. The revised lake painting with poem and print guides. The lake painting without the poem or print guides.
Painting and poem layout

Mount Vesuvius

An erupting volcano lights a red sky above a dark shoreline, with buildings and palm trees in silhouette.
Final illustration · Boali Dashtestani

Listen to Mount Vesuvius · Music by Kevin Kaska · ℗ 2011 Kevin Kaska. All rights reserved.

Painting & layout studies

A smaller study of the red sky and silhouetted palm trees. The volcanic landscape during painting development. A three-panel print layout with temporary text over the volcano scene. The panoramic painting with three-panel fold and trim guides. The panoramic Mount Vesuvius painting without print guides.
Sky and palm detail study

Ocean of Forms

Turquoise ocean waves spiral into a deep, dark whirlpool.
Final illustration · Boali Dashtestani

Listen to Ocean of Forms · Music by Kevin Kaska · ℗ 2011 Kevin Kaska. All rights reserved.

Painting & layout studies

An earlier version of the spiraling ocean painting. The ocean painting with a placeholder poem box and print guides. A revised ocean painting with layout guides and a placeholder Innisfree poem box. The ocean painting with the temporary layout guides removed.
Painting development

From studies to print

Developing the booklet

A sheet of eight small studies for Atlantis, Ocean of Forms, Innisfree, and Mount Vesuvius.
Early concept options

The artwork was developed through feedback with Kevin, then checked against the booklet’s folds, trim, and text placement. The cover discussion led to a wider, three-panel Mount Vesuvius composition.

Cover feedback and handwritten notes discussing the three-panel Mount Vesuvius composition.
Cover expansion feedback
The Tone Poems of Kevin Kaska cover placed within the booklet print template.
Cover layout proof
Handwritten back, front, inside, and cutting notes over a three-panel print template.
Fold and cut clarification
Feedback notes

The cover feedback requested a wider Mount Vesuvius painting spanning three panels instead of two. Follow-up layout notes clarified the back, front, and inside panel order and the cut position.

Working proofs include temporary text and layout guides.

A print template for Ocean of Forms with the poem and production notes.
Poem layout template
The Ocean of Forms text template with fold and trim guides.
Template with guides
The same Ocean of Forms text template with the guides hidden.
Template without guides

Visual research

A photographed reference spread illustrating the circular Atlantean city.
Atlantis reference material
The title page of The Atlas of Atlantis and other lost civilizations by Joel Levy.
Reference book

Book reference: The Atlas of Atlantis and other lost civilizations, Joel Levy, Godsfield. Reference images © their respective rights holders.

The composer

More info

Kevin Kaska’s website IMDb The Tone Poems album

Performance

Watch the performance on YouTube

Interview

Watch the interview on YouTube

Illustrations by Boali Dashtestani for Kevin Kaska. Music â„— 2011 Kevin Kaska. Music, videos, and reference material remain the property of their respective rights holders. All rights reserved.