My boyfriend is a musician, and this month, his band finally released their first album of original compositions!!
Their 40-year-old dream has finally come true!
It was important to the band that the cover art represented the lyrics of one of their songs, Hope, which they wrote in 1984 and whose message is, unfortunately, still relevant today.
If we want peace, we need more love.
But how do you visually express a concept as abstract as hope?
The concept I presented to the band was from the perspective of a child, surrounded by violence, who, through a portal to another world, discovers that there may be another reality where the absence of violence is possible.
Following the band’s feedback and comments, here’s how the cover art developed.
On the front, we see innocence (the little girl) caught in the chaos and destruction of war (one can easily imagine Gaza or Ukraine). And in the porthole, an image that, perhaps symbolically, represents our true nature and the idea that “life could be so much more beautiful…”
The back of the cover shows us the opposite point of view, where we perceive in the porthole the consequences of a world out of balance, whether it be war, climate change, poverty, displaced people… Sadly, it wasn’t very difficult to find images of destruction – the dead tree and the smoke-covered sky literally reflect the images of Los Angeles after the fires.
My original plan was to use artificial intelligence to help me find the elements to assemble my composition, and then create an oil painting, but there wasn’t enough time. The decision was made to go with AI.
Except that artificial intelligence can be really stupid sometimes — and even a little cringe-worthy. It was more frustrating and arduous than I expected, but I got it done and I’m super happy with the end result.
But most importantly, the band is happy!
I encourage you to go listen to their music, or better yet, come see them in concert on May 18th at Salle Lebourgneuf in Quebec City and treat yourself to a CD or vinyl.
Keeping Prog music Alive!! 🤘