Congratulations on seeing your character come to life! Isla looks lovely and thank you for sharing the WIPs as well. It's so interesting to see the process!
I also commissioned an illustration and should see the first sketches in about a week. I find it so amazing, getting to collaborate with another artist to create something that wasn't here before. How much soul, effort and work goes into art.
p.s. How do you pronounce Isla's name? 😄 I heard two different pronunciations before (ill-zah/eye-lah).
As a freelance artist myself, I just wanted to say thank you for hiring a real, human artist and not falling for the trap of AI! Also, your artist did a beautiful job! And, yes, you have to be incredibly careful about Fiver. You might give sites like Cara (a lot of artists fed up with Instagram and AI have moved over to Cara) and The Rookies (similar site to Art Station, but specifically for newer artists and art students) a try though.
These are great resources! Thank you! I'm also fed up with seeing AI everywhere. For example, I used to love Pinterest 4 years ago before it became inundated with AI art/images and ads. Its no longer "real" and isn't a space I enjoy anymore.
You're most welcome! I'm always happy to help connect people to my fellow artists.
Yes, Pinterest has gotten harder for me to use too for that same reason along with Deviant Art. You have to be careful with Art Station now too (though there are still many great artists on there), but Cara has a strict no-AI policy. Not sure what The Rookies policy is on it, but I'm at least encouraged by the fact that I've not seen any on the site thus far.
I hired an artist to design my covers but have not had him or anyone draw my characters. I was advised to let my readers picture the characters in their heads rather than show them what I think they might look like. What are your thoughts about that?
I’m so glad you hired an artist to design your covers! I think the advice you got is true for some and maybe not others. Some people like illustrated covers with characters on them, others dont. It’s preference. And the same goes for character art. I know with fantasy — even adult fantasy—readers tend to love art.
For me, I will keep commissioning it as I can to support artists and use it for marketing. We live in an increasingly digital age and having something visual to stop potential readers in their scroll and then a caption to help them learn more about your book and premise, is always nice. But I don’t think it’s necessary to success. There are plenty of other ways to do it well without character art. :)
I am not against the idea. I want to do whatever I can to bring my characters to life. I have created a series of interviews with them and posted them on my Substack account. I have also contracted with a calligrapher to create hand-written letters from my main character to thank them for reading the book, so I am open to commission a series of portraits for the most popular members of the family of characters. That could lead to a special edition with artwork. I believe writers and artists of all types need to work together to create audio and visual experiences. Yes, I am a dreamer.
Thank you for bringing awareness to so many important aspects of the writing process. It was fascinating to see how the artwork progressed as the artist responded to your vision. BTW I can't stand AI read substitutes for human readers. Not even close!
I've worked with three different artists (I found that investing in my project was motivation to finish it, so I did that before I ever even queried the project) and the process was different but good each time! I usually make some sort of visual references for my characters because I am a forgetful writer who WILL switch the location of someone's scar from one scene to the next, but there's an extra motivation factor in having invested actual money in commissioned art and then having that pinned on my laptop screen during drafting, as opposed to just making myself a base sketch and referring to it now and then 😂
Congratulations on seeing your character come to life! Isla looks lovely and thank you for sharing the WIPs as well. It's so interesting to see the process!
I also commissioned an illustration and should see the first sketches in about a week. I find it so amazing, getting to collaborate with another artist to create something that wasn't here before. How much soul, effort and work goes into art.
p.s. How do you pronounce Isla's name? 😄 I heard two different pronunciations before (ill-zah/eye-lah).
Yay! I can’t wait to see your character art when you’re ready to show it!
It’s Eye-la🤪 a Scottish inspired name for island
Seeing this at the perfect time. Thank you for putting this together!
I’m glad it was helpful!
As a freelance artist myself, I just wanted to say thank you for hiring a real, human artist and not falling for the trap of AI! Also, your artist did a beautiful job! And, yes, you have to be incredibly careful about Fiver. You might give sites like Cara (a lot of artists fed up with Instagram and AI have moved over to Cara) and The Rookies (similar site to Art Station, but specifically for newer artists and art students) a try though.
These are great resources! Thank you! I'm also fed up with seeing AI everywhere. For example, I used to love Pinterest 4 years ago before it became inundated with AI art/images and ads. Its no longer "real" and isn't a space I enjoy anymore.
I'll look into your other suggestions.
You're most welcome! I'm always happy to help connect people to my fellow artists.
Yes, Pinterest has gotten harder for me to use too for that same reason along with Deviant Art. You have to be careful with Art Station now too (though there are still many great artists on there), but Cara has a strict no-AI policy. Not sure what The Rookies policy is on it, but I'm at least encouraged by the fact that I've not seen any on the site thus far.
Cara sounds great! I’m looking forward to checking it out.
I hired an artist to design my covers but have not had him or anyone draw my characters. I was advised to let my readers picture the characters in their heads rather than show them what I think they might look like. What are your thoughts about that?
I’m so glad you hired an artist to design your covers! I think the advice you got is true for some and maybe not others. Some people like illustrated covers with characters on them, others dont. It’s preference. And the same goes for character art. I know with fantasy — even adult fantasy—readers tend to love art.
For me, I will keep commissioning it as I can to support artists and use it for marketing. We live in an increasingly digital age and having something visual to stop potential readers in their scroll and then a caption to help them learn more about your book and premise, is always nice. But I don’t think it’s necessary to success. There are plenty of other ways to do it well without character art. :)
I am not against the idea. I want to do whatever I can to bring my characters to life. I have created a series of interviews with them and posted them on my Substack account. I have also contracted with a calligrapher to create hand-written letters from my main character to thank them for reading the book, so I am open to commission a series of portraits for the most popular members of the family of characters. That could lead to a special edition with artwork. I believe writers and artists of all types need to work together to create audio and visual experiences. Yes, I am a dreamer.
These are lovely ideas! And dreams! I say whatever brings your soul joy you should pursue in this season.
Thank you for bringing awareness to so many important aspects of the writing process. It was fascinating to see how the artwork progressed as the artist responded to your vision. BTW I can't stand AI read substitutes for human readers. Not even close!
Thanks for sharing! Same! Ai had no soul. And I do believe artists need to support other artists.
Very cool! Also just want to say... I'm here for fantasy set in 1917. ;)
That means so much to me! Thank you!
Absolutely! We need more original ideas.
I've worked with three different artists (I found that investing in my project was motivation to finish it, so I did that before I ever even queried the project) and the process was different but good each time! I usually make some sort of visual references for my characters because I am a forgetful writer who WILL switch the location of someone's scar from one scene to the next, but there's an extra motivation factor in having invested actual money in commissioned art and then having that pinned on my laptop screen during drafting, as opposed to just making myself a base sketch and referring to it now and then 😂
That’s a good point! I hadn’t thought to use it as motivation but I can see how it definitely would help. Thanks for sharing!