Music for vast canyons and rainy mountains.
Inspiration
The initial concept sprang from a trip to Vancouver, BC in 2017. The locations I visited and the photos I captured influenced my songs and later formed the basis for my artwork.
My first draft started with a color-shifted photo taken from the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge.
This image was then fed through a bitmap sorter (larixk.nl/experiments/sort), producing an abstraction of the original photograph. I did this to evoke the feeling of churning water without resorting to a literal representation.
I then purchased a canvas print of the above image to hang on my office wall. I was satisfied and thought my work was accomplished, but seeing the texture of the canvas print inspired me. I could use this canvas texture to add a more organic feel to the final cover!
After photographing the canvas, I decided it would be unfortunate to crop the image to a square ratio. Instead, I created a sort of "Polaroid" layout with supporting text to create balance. My final epiphany was adding coordinates that relate to the album's themes. These coordinates reference 4 mountains of the Cascades – Garibaldi, Baker, Rainier, and St. Helens – which influenced a number of songs I wrote for the album.
In addition to the album cover, I secretly bundled an ink drawing with all Bandcamp downloads. This is a fictional map inspired by real locations around the Pacific Northwest. It tells a rough story of the album from start to finish, with each song loosely connecting to these locations.
Other Artwork
I design original artwork for all my releases. I wanted to detail the most meaningful one for my portfolio, but here are more examples of what I've created in the past.
Fading Light / 2020
Mountain Sounds / Jun 2019
Shallow Dialects / Dec 2016
Beacons / Aug 2014
Obsidian / Sep 2012
