Reimagined Book Cover Illustrations

These two illustrations are part of an ongoing personal project celebrating my love of books and book covers. I was inspired by The Chronicles Of Narnia and Alice In Wonderland for their themes. My goal is to give a narrative insight into the stories I'm inspired by from my childhood, playing with the most memorable elements from the book(s) and interpreting them in new ways.

For this project I used both traditional and digital tools. I usually work in tandem with both, but I always make sure to play with traditional tools first before diving into using digital options. Head over to my other project "Exploring The Magic Within" to get a further peek into my illustration technique.

Digital Tools:
Cricut Printer (you can use a utility knife or embroidery scissors instead too)
Apple iPad Pro
Apple Pencil
Procreate
Scanner (I use the Lide 220)

Traditional Tools:
Washi tape
Medium weight mixed media sketch paper (98lb/160g)
Heavy weight vellum paper (29 lb/109g)
Graphite powder
Graphite paste
Traditional eraser
A detailing eraser (battery operated)
Smudge stick
Cotton ball
My fingers

Choosing a colour palette is always an exciting part of illustrating for me because I love experimenting with colour. Playing with different moods and in this case trying to evoke the look and feel of a book's universe is really gratifying for me. At the same time I have a deep appreciation for minimalism in illustration and somehow always find myself gravitating towards mono tool drawings like pencil or ink and sketches.