A short “bonus” post today: I had dinner with my illustrator, Melissa, on Saturday evening and she provided me some great progress updates on the art for Drawful. I’ll have more to share soon as she begins digital work on them to start coloring and touch ups, but here are two sketches I’m just so excited by I have to share.
First up, is the front cover:
I love that this puts the Princess and Drawful’s friendship right there on display, while saying so much about why and how they get along. They’re at ease around each other, and trust one another. Both Drawful’s protectiveness of the Princess as well as his affection are on plain display here and I love it.
For the second image, here’s a SPOILER WARNING, since it’s the closing image of the entire story.
In this one, we see the culmination of the tale and adventure: Princess Brooke having been named Queen Regent, wielding the Blade of the Unbidden as her trophy and scepter, with Drawful, her protector, by her side.
I honestly get a delightful little shiver seeing that, and her Kingdom celebrating her, and knowing the journey she takes to win and earn that place on the throne despite all the odds and other folks in the way (even many with good intentions).
I can’t wait to share this completed story with you all, and in the meantime you can enjoy a preview of the unedited first half to get a taste of it. The full story should be ready for you all later this year!