Behind the Scenes
Welcome to Behind the Scenes! Here you’ll find a little glimpse behind the curtain.
One of the things I want to show you is some drafts of the art I commissioned from Alina Lalik. I wanted to show off the earlier versions to show just how hard the two of us worked to perfect the art for The Dragon’s Emissary.
Alina’s Early Sketches of Zelnor
This is the very first draft of Zelnor’s portrait. Look at how different she looks! Zelnor was a tough person to capture (especially when I could only describe her through words). Alina did a great job!
This is several revisions later. I love the way the magic circles Zelnor’s head. Unfortunately, the magic actually forms a circle around her hips, so we couldn’t use this draft.
Alina’s Early Sketches of Erianna Orvash’na
This is the earliest sketch of Erianna. Alina nailed her vibe right off the bat. The fins had to go because ishlanians don’t have fins. Ishlanians are almost more akin to semi-aquatic elves with only a smattering of scales and gills.
The very next draft of Erianna’s portrait was gorgeous. She’s living her best villain life here. The big eyelashes and furrowed brow really gave her an intense look. Of course, the final version of her was much kinder, eyes filled with only a gentle mocking.
Now Let’s See My Sketches
Fun fact about me, I am a very visual person. Because of that, I need to use a lot of image references for my writing.
When you’re writing a fantasy with original places and original structures it’s nigh on impossible to just look up the image you need. So… I sketch them!
I’m not an amazing artist, but I still wanted to share some of the sketches I made for reference in The Dragon’s Emissary.
The High Mage of Nirdeem’s Castle
Of course I had to draw the High Mage’s castle! Although I didn’t strictly need it for reference, it was too cool a structure not to sketch. I just really wanted to see what it would look like.
Zoh’Kret University in Bokest al’Bar
Zoh’kret University is such a uniquely shaped building. I had a lot of trouble finding a way to describe it well. So a reference for it was an absolute must!
I sketched both the inside and the outside; although, we didn’t get to see the interior of the college proper in The Dragon’s Emissary.
Who knows, maybe we’ll see it in a future book. And if not, you can treat the drawing as a cool easter egg.
Exterior of Zoh’kret University.
Interior of Zoh’kret University