Behind The Artworks: Watch Me Breathe - The Strange Pull Of What You Really Love (2019)

Jake Aaron Ward: This artwork is actually based around something my mother drew. I was dining out with family at one of those restaurants where the tablecloth is paper and they give you crayons to draw with. She was just kind of absentmindedly doodling while everyone was talking to each other, and when I happened to look over, she had drawn this interesting picture of lips and a nose, which she had just circled as if to signify its completion.

I thought it looked too cool to just let get thrown away after we left, so took as high quality of a picture as I could. I thought it was interesting that the face was incomplete, so I tried to sort of Frankenstein it into a complete figure, with hands and eyes and some other stuff swirling around it.

Attentive fans may notice that one of the eyes is from the single cover for Feel Alright, while the other eye is from the single cover for Don’t Think I Haven’t Thought About It. Looking at the actual album cover, you can probably see the part that was the original crayon drawing, amidst the other stuff that I added around it. 

An album cover made using only crayons and a free subscription to Canva is about as DIY as you can get, but I’m honestly really proud of how it turned out and I feel it represents the soul of the music perfectly.