Album cover illustration: the alchemy of sound and vision

When the music speaks, I start sketching

For me, the journey of creating album art always begins with the music. I listen to the artist’s work repeatedly, letting the melodies, lyrics, and emotions set the mood and guide my imagination. My favorite medium to kickstart a project has always been pen or pencil on paper. There’s something raw and immediate about sketching out ideas quickly, combining thoughts and visuals as they come to me. While the final album cover illustration will be fully digital, these preliminary analog sketches remain the soul of my process.

But over the years, my process has evolved. With advances in tools and software, I’ve started exploring new ways to generate more ideas within tight deadlines. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with AI and collage, mixing and matching AI-generated results with my own sketches and photographs. These AI outputs aren’t finished pieces for me, they’re drafts, fragments that I reshape and refine within my own visual language. Once I have a clearer idea, I move to tools like Cinema 4D, Photoshop, and After Effects to bring the vision to life.

Collaboration makes magic

One of the most memorable collabs in my career was with the electronic music duo Forester. Their first album-cover illustrations set the visual tone for their brand, and it was a thrilling challenge to capture their sound in single images that together contributed to building a cohesive visual identity.

When I was just starting out, I remember some artists asked me if I could animate their album cover artworks for use as Spotify Clips or Instagram Reels. At the time, I hadn’t considered animation, but their requests, paired with my own curiosity, pushed me to experiment. I explored ways to animate static artworks, adapting them to different aspect ratios and formats. This not only expanded my skillset but also opened new creative doors. Eventually, it led me to dive deeper into animation and even take on video projects.

These moments remind me that collaboration isn’t just about meeting expectations. It’s also about finding ways to enhance and extend the creative process, making it more interesting and delivering results that resonate.

The album cover illustration that almost wasn’t

Every project comes with its challenges. One of the biggest hurdles I’ve faced is balancing my artistic vision with client expectations. It’s not always easy, but after years of experience, I’ve learned that communication is key. My main focus has always been to meet, and ultimately exceed, my clients’ expectations in terms of results.

At the same time, I believe it’s important to stay true to my artistic voice. After all, it’s my own style and creative decisions that brought these clients to me in the first place. Through my career as an art director and illustrator, I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with clients who not only trusted my vision but also taught me new ways of thinking and creating.

Balance is always difficult, but possible. And when it works, the results are magical.

Imperfection often feels more authentic

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that imperfection can be beautiful. In a world where digital tools allow us to create flawless, polished work, there’s something deeply human about leaving a few rough edges. It’s those imperfections that make art feel alive, relatable, and authentic.

Whether it’s a hand-drawn sketch, a glitch in an animation, or a texture quality, these “flaws” often become the most memorable parts of a piece. They remind us that art is a process, not just a product, a journey of discovery, experimentation, and growth.

Let’s create something unforgettable together

If you’d like to explore more of my work, I invite you to browse my cover art gallery, where you’ll find a collection of album artworks I’ve crafted over the years. You can also follow the Spotify playlist featuring the most iconic album cover illustration by Shorsh.

And if you’re working on a project that needs a visual voice, feel free to reach out via this contact form. I’m always excited to collaborate with artists and creators who are as passionate about their craft as I am.

Let’s create art that doesn’t just accompany music, it becomes part of it.