Character art is one of my favorite aspects of creating books!
"Hello, Beastie."
Every author has an image of their characters that's very often different from the readers. Because our brains are so unique, every reader constructs the features and physical descriptions into characters that are wholly our own. A search for fan art from popular Young Adult books will show wildly different takes on how a main character looks.
Because of that, I was hesitant to hire an artist to try and capture the players from my stories. Then I stumbled upon Dominique Wesson's art on Instagram. I was floored.
I knew immediately I needed to collaborate with her on art for my Kingdom of Runes saga.
After our first contact, she asked which characters I wanted her to draw first. Without hesitation, I responded, "Stolas and Haven."
The two main characters from the KINGDOM OF RUNES are fan favorites, and I knew an illustration of them together, along with Dominique's bold, realistic style, would be epic.
Dominique started right away. She also began reading the series to better understand the personalities of the subjects.
A few weeks later, she sent over the mockup of the art, and I was blown away. She captured Haven and Stolas perfectly on the first try. I think I probably gasped aloud when I first opened my email.
The the final art was just as impressive, and I knew I'd made the right decision to trust Dominique with my books. Now, I look forward to the rest of the art she's doing for the series!
Do you love character art? Does it bother you if the characters look different than how you imagined in your head? I want to hear your thoughts!