For this piece of cover art I wanted to communicate how I felt at that point in my life -the feelings that drove me to write this song. Existential dread and fire imagery are quite central to the song so they became the central symbols in the art.
I settled on a cool blue for the head quite early on, as it drew an effective contrast with the flames. By the second round of sketches, I had loosely researched the anatomy of the human brain which I felt was important for the truthfulness and clarity of my depiction. I decided that the head should have simplified features, so that it wouldn't take attention away from the focus of the piece, and also it would make it more universal.
I started by sketching versions of my head on fire, before settling on a side profile, which seemed the clearest view of what I was trying to represent -just like a silhouette -and I think it also has parallels with both health and safety signs, but also ancient artwork such as hieroglyphs and indeed occult/esoteric art.
