Calvin "Cal" Schenkel (born January 27, 1947) is an American illustrator, graphic designer, animator and comics artist, specializing in album cover design.

He was the main graphic arts collaborator for rock musician Frank Zappa and was responsible for the design of many Zappa album covers. Schenkel's work is iconic and distinctive in style, a forerunner of punk art and the new wave era.

Early life and education

Schenkel was born in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, on January 27, 1947, and grew up in Oreland, Pennsylvania. He attended the Philadelphia College of Art, but withdrew after one semester and set out to build a career.

Career

thumb|An advertisement for [[Fillmore East – June 1971, a live album by The Mothers of Invention, including Frank Zappa]]

In 1967, Schenkel relocated to New York City, where he was an unemployed artist. He was introduced to Frank Zappa by his then girlfriend, singer Sandy Hurvitz, later known as Essra Mohawk.

Schenkel's artwork, influenced at first by the comic strip Krazy Kat and by Mad magazine,

Schenkel worked on album covers for Straight Records, a label owned by Zappa and manager Herb Cohen. The records were by Lenny Bruce, Tom Waits, Tim Buckley and Captain Beefheart.

Beefheart instinctively picked it up and held it to his face and sat for over two hours while Schenkel took photographs. Inside the mask the smell was choking and intense but the Captain was good-natured about the whole process. At one point Beefheart picked up a saxophone and started to play something "raw" through the mouth of the stinking fish. Schenkel has film of the carp playing sax. The artwork for Zappa's Burnt Weeny Sandwich was originally intended for an Eric Dolphy album.

Schenkel provided vocals for Zappa's album Lumpy Gravy and was production designer for the film 200 Motels. He created animations accompanying the song Dental Hygiene Dilemma/Does This Life Look Interesting To You? in the film.

By 1976, Zappa's output had slowed while he was in dispute with Cohen and Warner Bros. Records. Schenkel returned to Willow Grove hoping to jump-start an art career separate from Zappa and the record industry. There he began his own "mail order" art business.

Covers designed by Schenkel

Frank Zappa and/or The Mothers Of Invention:

  • Lumpy Gravy