Something Strange & Deadly Character Art

, , , , , , 22

For the purposes of promotion, I’ve hired an amazing illustrator named Natalia Pierandrei to create character art for Something Strange & Deadly. I won’t tell you what exactly I’m doing with these images–that’s still Very Top Secret–but I just HAD to share Natalia’s preliminary sketches with.

They are nothing short of exquisite (as is all of her art, in my  opinion). It’s as if she reached into my brain and plucked out the exact images I had in mind for Eleanor and Daniel.

Now:], let’s be honest: Covers are out of the author’s control. That’s life; we accept that oftentimes the model on the front can’t possibly look like the character in our heads. While the Eleanor on my cover is undeniably beautiful, she’s not quite how I imagine my heroine.

So the fact that Natalia can not only reproduce my characters exactly as I imagine them, but I can share these images with you (eventually in a final, full-color version! WOOHOO!)…

Well, I am absolutely thrilled.

Now, onto the preliminary sketches along with the rough character descriptions I gave Natalia. (Honestly, it’s a wonder she was able to so accurately create an image from such a crappy slew of sentences.)

Eleanor Fitt

“Eleanor is a 16-year-old, curvy girl. She has blond curls and blue eyes. Her family used to be wealthy upper class, but now they have no money. She is very stubborn and impulsive–she tends to act before she thinks.”

by Natalia Pierandrei

Seriously, have you ever read a worse description? And yet LOOK AT WHAT NATALIA PRODUCED!!!

I mean, just look at all that spunk. Or Eleanor’s historically accurate dress. I can’t even imagine how stunning it will look once it’s colored in…

Daniel Sheridan

“Daniel is supposed to be a 19-year-old who works for the Spirit-Hunters as an inventor. He’s got a short temper and works better with machines than people. He is self-assured to the point of arrogance. He is tall, lanky, has sandy hair and green eyes.”

by Natalia Pierandrei

Swoon.

Swoooooooooon.

I have spent the last two days staring at these sketches with hearts in my eyes. ♥_♥ I want to pet them. Or marry them. I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to see what she does with Jie Chen and Joseph Boyer (the two remaining Spirit-Hunters).

If you haven’t already, then you must go RIGHT NOW and “like” Natalia on Facebook. She puts up new art everyday (erm…no, I’m not stalking her).

You tell me: Does seeing character art make you want to read a book more? Or does it have any affect on you?

♥