I started by doing a photoshoot with the artist, Donnie T Smith, in his childhood bedroom. He was still in the process of making the EP when it happened. We chose the best one (top left) and I brought it into Procreate to start working. The remainder of the top row are a couple of work in progress photos. The bottom left was my first final version. We stuck with that one for a while. However, the EP was still a work in progress and the artist decided months later that he wanted to be surrounded by stars. The background was taken out along with some foreground elements and facial details. I also changed his shirt color. I made the background a galaxy full of stars called it done, but quickly became dissatisfied with the result. The stars needed to move. I achieved that in After Effects. Of course they couldn't move on the actual cover, but it worked perfectly for the lyric (below) and promotional videos.