libra rights

The image above is the cover for Steve Lacy's latest release: Gemini Rights ↗. I've been obsessed with this album cover ever since it came out. Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Lacy fan and I haven't heard much of his material past C U Girl, Dark Red, or Kendrick's PRIDE. In fact, other than Bad Habit, I haven't listened to most songs on the album more than once (this is foreshadowing)

I think part of this cover's appeal is the fact that I not only liked it visually but also felt like I could re-create it. Before starting this poster, I spent days going over the steps I'd take to make my own version it with a combo of photo editing and a well-placed vector mask. I was pleasantly surprised

First step was to find the pictures. Fortunately, I had just taken some formal pictures in front of a blue background at the end of last semester (very convenient). Unfortunately, every other picture I could find of myself had the same silly, too-happy-for-an-album-cover smile

Nonetheless, I carried on. I saturated, edited, added noise and superimposed the two with a shape I can only describe as a smaller recycling icon (♻️) with horns. As a final step, a bit of self-deprecating humor (introspection?) with a reference to the one song on the album I remembered: Bad Habit. Chef's kiss