Silhouette of a Snake | Kay Belardinelli

Title page of a book with a stamp in the corner that reads Franklin Society. — “North American Herpetology, or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States”.

Snake coiled very beautifully into itself with a white background. The snake is black with white patchy stripes. — A beautiful illustration of a Coronella snake.

For Mar’s final album cover, I wanted something with a strong snake protagonist, representing death and rebirth. An iconic visual with many little details.

Paper cutout of the snake colored in black so her eyes and stripes are no longer visible. — The snake illustration is copied, cut out by hand, then filled in with ink and charcoal.

A live snake poised and coiled around the arm of the artist. — This is Rheia, a local ball python.

Dried skin laid flat on a white surface, its brown spots and tiny honeycomb texture clearly defined. — I took some old skin that Rheia had discarded, then cut some pieces out and flattened them.

The snake shape again, with the skin texture laid on top, some of it spilling outside the edges of the snake. — The dead skin is layered over the silhouette to create texture.

The snake with the texture darkened to almost black, and a gray photo of an industrial building in ruins is in the background. — The layered snake is edited digitally for a more subtle look, and layered over a photo of industrial ruins.

Unfinished words painted on paper in black ink, reading Ruin is Rebirth. — The title of the album is painted with brush and ink over and over.

The layered image cropped and fitted onto a cassette tape jcard with some added text. — The final cassette tape cover design crops the snake collage for the cover, with handwriting along the spine and the track listing on the back.

More about Ruin is Rebirth on Mar’s website.