Meet the illustrator behind hundreds of Windsor rock show posters

If you've been to any Windsor rock music shows over the past decade, you've likely seen the work of The Ugly Vision.

That's the personal brand of local illustrator Greg Maxwell, who estimates he's hand-drawn 300 to 400 music show posters and flyers since 2011 the vast majority of them featuring local bands and artists.

"I've lost count," saidMaxwell, 37. "I grew up in bands in high school and friends of mine just started asking me to do their posters. That's kind of how I started. And then just word of mouth spread and I started doing more and more."

It didn't take long for Maxwell to forge his own style, influenced by punk rock, cartoons, comic booksand B-movies.

"Rough, crude," Maxwell says, describing his personal aesthetic. "Sometimes horror. Macabre sensibilities. I try to keep things kind of sloppy."

One hallmark of The Ugly Vision: A surreal drippinessto words, facesand objects. "I love drips. They're fun to draw," Maxwell said.

He's also known to re-purpose celebrity faces. A promotional poster for Windsor record store Dr. Disc drew wider attention because Maxwell depicted pop star Olivia Rodrigo wearing the iconic makeup of KISS bassist Gene Simmons.

"Gene Simmons shared it a few times on his social media," Maxwell said. "So my social media kind of blew up for a couple days, and that was a lot of fun."

Another source of inspiration for Maxwell isthe work of Raymond Pettibon, whose sinister illustrations adorned the album covers and promotional materials for the hardcore punk band Black Flag in the 1980s.

Like Pettibon, Maxwell does most of his work with little more than a pen and paper. "80 to 90 per cent hand-drawn," Maxwell said. "Then I usually scan it and it's coloured digitally, so there is some computer going on in there. But everything, for the most part, is hand-drawn, originally."

Maxwell doesn't even have a special workplace. His drawing spot in his apartment is a standard desk illuminated by a cheap lamp and his balcony window.

As for the suggestion of going fully digital, as many modern illustrators have done, Maxwell is wary. "I don't want to call myself a Luddite, but I don't grasp technology as well as some people do... Keeping the old ways of doing things I enjoy that, when it comes to art and music especially."

"I don't like seeing things go digital because I like the idea of there being a tangible item. Somebody can pull the flyer down after a show It's a keepsake."

Maxwell's customers seem to appreciate his old-school non-digital philosophy. He's been a steady supplier of show poster and flyer art for such Windsor-based artistsas The Blue Stones, Huttch, Ron Leary, James O-L and the Villains, and countless others.

He's also done work for legendary visiting bands such as D.O.A., S.N.F.U.and By Divine Right.

"I still love going to the shows that I do posters for," Maxwell said. "I see no end in sight, just yet... I do enjoy having free reign to draw goblins and creatures and zombies and stuff like that on posters."