What up? I don't post as much as I lurk so I'm trying to be more sociable in posting hahah. How often do you guys get a track all prepared for soundcloud or bandcamp, go to upload and don't have artwork made up? just curious if you keep stuff done in a folder or how you guys go about getting that prepared, as I'm not a photoshop buff AT ALL but i have a dope canon t31 that I've started wrapping my head around to use. what programs do you use and whats the best way to go about dicking around with art for yr tracks? thanks fam!

I like seeing the collages that are cut and pasted together.

I try not to separate the two for actual 'projects'.
However, the random or quick drops are usually paired with a random image I had in a folder. Sometimes I'll put something together in PS after the track is finished

I come from an art background so I'm usually dabbling with visuals for the sake of it even if it doesn't surface with the music I put out

Photoshop isn't too hard to get the hang of either, curiosity and a couple YT vids will have you in the right place in no time.

good insight dudes. i definitely love the digital cut an paste look which seems really popular right now. i remember giving photoshop a whirl long time ago getting frustrated trying to figure out what a vector image was lol i also agree with the single-track-random-folder-image process thats usually how it works for me, but definately wanna try some new stuff.

Are you looking for just a picture to fit your beat or something with typography?

Can you translate the vibe of your music to a visual idea?

I used to organize a beatbattle on soundcloud called 'Paint The Picture'. The idea was you get a picture and everyone tries to make a beat to accompany the picture. I thought it was a great way for beatmakers to get inspiration from a visual source and connect audio and images. But I stopped doing the battles because there was too little interest.

I also used to play jazz records and play flickr slideshows at the same time. You'll be amazed how intense music can steer the vibe of a picture.

If you're really interested in creating great artwork alongside your music you could try one of these practices and be inspired.

And on a sidenote I would use Photoshop, but that's just because I'm a photographer and I know how to work the program. Otherwise I would try some iPad app.

Magazines, scissors and some glue. Scan your art into the computer.
A real decoupage. (You might have to look up that term.)

I don't worry about track artwork, I worry about tape/EP/Album artwork. If it's part of that, I'll just upload whatever album's cover it's from or what not. I think making art for each track is a bit overboard especially if you make tracks quickly. It will slow you down and you'd be better off just collecting a group of tracks and turning them into a single album/ep and just doing one piece of art for everything.

Just my view. I'm known to be wrong sometimes.