if i'm honest for once
When I was racking my brain for the EP cover, I needed it to feel like myself. My friend Journey had taken a polaroid of me a month prior, something she does for every guest that comes into her place. I had shown it to my mom, and she went “that should just be the EP cover!” I feel like the picture captures my personality in the sense that I’m just smiling so big— I also really liked the colors. I think the wood grain border makes it cohesive with my previous pieces, which are mostly warm toned. It was such an interesting challenge drawing cool tones for the actual polaroid, I had to pull out the color theory nerd in me. I feel as if this EP is a snapshot into my more honest songs, but also into some phases in my life that have passed, which makes a picture of a picture perfect to me.
listen to the EP here
forgive
forgive
I went through around a billion drafts of what picture to use for ‘forgive,’ it’s a very conceptual song in the sense that there are not a ton of images to work off of directly; however, fire is a symbol that comes up multiple times in the song, both directly and indirectly. There’s lyrics like “perpetual sin, it kills all my fire,” “I’ve never felt much hell, like the burn of my christian guilt,” “smoking a cigarette,” as well as the general idea of feeling burned out completely. I had my mom take the reference photo with me while I was home, and it felt really right to go with this one. I had so much fun drawing the light as well.
the way that i am
For ‘the way that i am,’ I wanted to capture the feeling I had when I wrote the song— just me, in my bed, with my guitar. My friend Annika had sneaky taken this picture of me writing when we were staying in France, and I am so thankful to her for it. Although I drew this on a 12x12” paper, the details were still very fine to work with, as a majority of the photo is either wall or the bed itself. Drawing a guitar is a nightmare. So many intersecting lines and precise points, it took me so long. I loved adding various colors to the fabric to make it look more saturated as well.
spoiling me
spoiling me
The spoiling me artwork is like my child. This marked the first time I had decided I wanted to draw my cover arts, and the first time I had picked up a pencil in a year and a half. In the very first line of the tune, I mention “daisies on the mantle,” so my head immediately went to daises in a vase or on an actual mantle. Then, I realized it would be much more fun to draw the individual petals closer up— maybe the flower wilting. I figured I could come up with something more interpretive than that. A fly!! To represent something spoiling! I’d bought daises to take pictures, and was initially planning on drawing the fly freehand from a separate reference; however, my dad managed to catch an actual picture of a fly landing on one in our kitchen. Man, I am just so proud of this one. So many good memories around it.
to be held
The ‘to be held’ cover art is one of my favorites. These are two of my stuffed animals, whom I adore. I figured it was a funny representation of being held, since stuffed animals are made to be. Drawing hair is always a struggle for me, so this was most definitely a fun challenge for myself. There’s also a coffee cup in the background, as I paint a scene in the second verse surrounding coffee.
men on the internet
men on the internet
For ‘men on the internet,’ I had come across a wall of old telephones at a local antique shop. I’d had the pictures in my phone for forever, and randomly remembered them when it came time to brainstorm. I feel as if the old phone brings a funny juxtaposition to talking to people online, and I also liked the idea of drawing something yellow to tie together the color palettes of the rest of the cover arts. Side note - the yellow pencils were significantly harder to blend than others to me.
generations in the making
For this cover art, I had decided to draw a quilt. The song itself deals with beauty standards, and the idea of generational beauty in spite of them. This quilt specifically has been passed down through my family quite a bit, so I thought it was particularly fitting. I love drawing fabrics, but the plaid did take excruciatingly long.
real winter
For ‘real winter,’ I had decided to scavenge through my camera roll to find a picture from the first snow I had experienced away from home. This song compares the bitterness of a new cold to singleness, how my high school experience had not prepared me for both real winter or for love in general, and how sometimes its easier to just brace yourself and figure out how to adjust. The flowers being alive in spite of the snow really stuck out to me, I loved the contrast of the purple and white, as well as the romantic implications of flowers.
benefits
benefits
Hands have been one of my favorite things to draw since middle school. For some reason, I was set on drawing hands for this cover, mainly because I wanted to keep things interesting. With this picture specifically, there’s also this cool insinuation of reaching and wanting more with the more masculine hand reaching out subtly. This picture took me absurdly long and I am in love with the color layout and different pant shades between the two.