Like my mother. Bathed in gold, then replaced.
I’m nearing the last bits of corrections and getting ready to send the manuscript to publishers, and in the meantime, working on the illustrations. I was thinking of doing one per chapters, so around 55, but the more I work on those, the more I feel like writing the scenes in the first place was already “enough”. Drawing them feels redundant. It’s a nice bonus, but I am wondering if the drawings wouldn’t restrict the reading experience, wouldn’t set a specific imagery into the reader’s mind, instead of letting them imagine the characters and scenery in their own way.
I usually like seeing art in books, but maybe doing one per chapters is a bit too much, maybe only picking the best out of them, those that would elevate the text instead of just illustrating it would work better. I’ll continue drawing those as they will end up in a separate artbook if not in the novel, and they help me visualize better what I wrote (also, I really love how each 4 parts of the book has a strong color palette, the first being golden, then blue/purple, then grey and orange, and finally, red).
Let me know if you like seeing art in novels, and what you prefer, sketches, full illustrations, etc. I will do a poll on Instagram to test the waters there too. Not that I will decide anything based on the results, but it’s good to have an overall idea.
Also, I’ll now only do one monthly update instead of two, (since I already missed one in September) now the updates will pretty much be the same, there won’t be anything new for a bit I think, sending the manuscripts to publishers, working on the art, waiting, waiting and waiting. But I hope the bits I post on IG and TT are enjoyable, and as always, I’m so grateful for your support. I cannot wait to bring this story to you.
And Happy Halloween!
Love,
Aude