Concept art for my middle grade novel – “The Whispering Echoes Hotel”
I recently finished these illustrations as sort of concept designs for two of the characters in my book: Alder Kovář (left) and Rowan Bartholomew Winslow III (right). They are two of my favorite characters in the story, even though they’re primarily minor characters. But they each have something in common, in that they both were cursed by a demon and stripped of their humanity, yet each handled their unfortunate situations very differently.
Alder Kovář is one of the more tragic characters I’ve ever written. He was a great inventor and powerful wizard, before his soul was trapped in a metallic creature of his own making.
Rowan Bartholomew Winslow III is the exact opposite, being a very fun character to write in terms of dialogue. I based his mannerisms on one of my all time favorite British comedians, Rowan Atkinson.
Fun side note, I attended a critique group with Giuseppe Castellano tonight (The Illustration Department) and he and some of the other guests thought Rowan looked a little too much like a turtle, as apposed to a frog. I didn’t really see it at first, and then Giuseppe drew this over my illustration (below)…and now I see it. Yet…I think the more realistic version is kind of scary. But it is a dark fantasy for kids, so maybe I should fix it. Thoughts? Leave a comment below.
