So, my friend Nightingale is writing a book series (which I'm editing) and she would like @Ashsong and @Firesong to illustrate. I'll pass along messages on here :)
@Ashsong Hey! Nightingale wanted me to ask you something about Ricardo. She LOVES his picture that you drew, but was wondering if there's any way you could make him... handsome-er I guess? Because he's not quite human.
He's not quite human meaning in my drawing, or that he IS not quite human and that I need to draw him more not-quite-human? XDDDD
Just so you know, I don't have a digital art app anymore (had Adobe Fresco. Horrible expensive company, don't recommend!) plus I left my Apple Pencil in a different country lol. I can still draw, but it won't be digital!
Oh my gosh, this is looking AMAZING. Thank you so much!! In terms of a few adjustments, really all I can think of is to zoom out a little on the building to showcase the dome, and maybe make Ricardo a bit smaller to show his age. The door could also be a bit bigger. Thanks again for this. I can't wait to see where you go with this! -Nightingale
Those are very simple adjustments and should be done in a few days (Hopefully) and I'll make sure they are what you'd like before I go ahead to the coloring portion :). If there is anything else, don't hesitate to let me know!
I'm having a blast with this cover! Talk to you again hopefully soon!
I'm so sorry I took so long getting back to you! My summer has started crazy. I would like the elves to have pointed ears, but you may do whatever you want with them outside of that. I would prefer a close up for the building, with little background, centralized on Ricardo and the building. Thank you so much for your time, and sorry again for being so late.
You are actually correct in making the outside of the building! I am sorry if I confused you with all of the descriptions. I wanted to make sure that if you had questions at all, they were answered. Ricardo has his back facing the reader as he starts to open the door. Light is streaming out the crack. You won't have to worry about his face. We can only see the back of his head. A last detail: as I said before, you can do whatever you want with the stained glass. However, I forgot to mention one thing that absolutely WOULD NOT be depicted on Ilumina: sorcerers and sorceresses of any kind.
DoorKeepers are hunted by warlocks and witches above all others, as the witches and warlocks are generally the only ones who can ably hunt them in the first place. I don't want to confuse readers who might see a wizard on Ilumina and think, 'Why is there a warlock on a portal built by a DoorKeeper?'
So Far for the stained glass, I have and elf (I assume there is pointed ears? Everyone seems to imagine them differently. And the other, I can't quite decide. There is also the one above the door which I think I may do a sort of landscape that is very whimsical to not draw away from the subject, which is Ricardo going in the door.My first thought was outside, since that seemed to be a cooler idea for the cover. Opening to the book (opening the door )but with all the detailing about the inside, I wasn't sure. Thank you for clearing that up.
I would say I will get a new sketch of the idea for the cover as soon as I can, but do you want a close up, or a view from farther away. If you do want farther away, what would the surrounding area look like?
I have a few sketches of my first thoughts for the cover. Both are generally the same, one a closer perspective focusing more on Ricardo, the other is from farther away, putting more focus on the building.
Ricardo is coming into the building, and you can't see the stained glass windows in either very well, but you can see them.
Do not be afraid to tell me to scrap this. Right now I am trying to figure out exactly what you want Nightingale and begin narrowing things down :).
have a pic I drew of the outside of the building (not exactly for the cover, but trying to get an idea of the building. Space wise and such) I also have a slight sketch of him and I assume she want 6 year old Ricardo on the cover since that is how old he is in the scene? Also, Does she want Ricardo coming through the door, so sort of peeking in/halfway in, already in the gold door so it is shut behind him and I assume she wants a view from the inside of the building, not the outside since she described what the inside would look like with the windows and such?
I plan to do a few messy sketches so you can get a few ideas of what I'm thinking. I have so many ideas rn, and want to make sure I take it in the direction you are thinking :)
Picture
Ignore the eyes. I was I'm the middle of fixing them when I was called away. what about the hair?(don't worry, I will get rid of the feminine look. And age him down.)
Twenty boys trekked through the beautiful countryside of New Mexico. The shrubbery surrounding them was yellow, orange, and dusty shades of green. Mountains stood tall with their backs against the horizon, and hills moved up and down like waves towards them. The trees were small and few, the grass pale. Yellow wildflowers swayed in the hot breeze.
The boys ranged in age from six to seventeen, and came from Saint Francis Home for Boys, situated in the center of Santa Fe. Nearly all of them had come from abusive families and troubled backgrounds. They were usually either completely unreasonable or absolutely silent, making them difficult to handle. However, the nuns who took care of them were unendingly calm, for the most part.
Today, there was nothing but moody silence from the group.
Sister Mary broke the tense air. “Chin up, boys! Let’s sing a song!”
“Let’s not!”
Sister Mary’s narrowed eyes scanned the group for the speaker, to no success. Quiet sniggers issued.
“May I suggest one?”
Sister Mary sighed in relief and turned to the boy, “Of course you may.”
Immediately, she almost regretted it.
Of all the boys at Saint Francis, the strangest was Ricardo Astuto.
Ricardo was on the small side for six. Though his features were clearly Hispanic, he was oddly pale. The sisters guessed it was due to his mother. He was a beautiful child, with chocolate brown hair hanging just above his shoulders, and eyes the same color. Yet, there was something about him that set him apart from all the other boys, and not just his skin.
His eyes were unlike any the nuns had ever seen. They seemed to pierce whoever he looked at down to the bone, and burned with a strange fire.
The other thing was that he never stopped smiling. Never.
The nuns never saw him get angry. They never saw him frown. Most shockingly: they never saw him cry. With his troubled past, he had many reasons to.
He also carried himself with an unusual amount of composure for a teenager, let alone a six year old. He always had the same expression: a calm, cheerful smile that never reached his jaded, piercing, burning eyes.
Ricardo paused, thinking. “Um, can we sing Dreams Come True by Hall and Oates?”
Everyone chuckled.
“I meant hiking songs, Ricardo,” Sister Mary said gently.
“I know,” he answered brightly. “I just thought we could do something different today. All in favor of the sisters singing Jump by Van Halen?”
Every orphan’s hand shot into the air. The boys laughed at the sisters’ expressions. The sisters looked ruffled for a moment, then laughed themselves.
Ricardo smiled wider. For all his joking airs, he rarely laughed, if ever.
Suddenly, he saw something in the distance.
It was a beautiful building, about the size of a small house. It was circular, built of marble, with a domed roof topped with a gold spire. The stained glass windows were images of fairytale landscapes, elves, princes and princesses. The solid gold door gleamed in the sunlight.
Ricardo pinched himself and blinked hard. The building remained. He blew out.
This was…weird.
He looked around at the sisters and the other boys. None of them seemed to see anything.
Ricardo was, by nature, incredibly intelligent and somewhat cynical in his thought process. He immediately knew that only he could see this building, and he also knew that he wasn’t insane.
This warranted an investigation.
“Hey, can we stop and hang out for a little bit?” he asked. “I mean, we’ve been walking for half an hour.”
Sister Mary paused. “Well…all right. Boys! We’re stopping here for a moment! Make sure to drink from your water bottles before we continue!”
They stopped on the side of the trail.
Ricardo walked up to the building.
Above the door was a single word carved and painted gold.
“Ilumina,” he said softly, tasting the word.
He looked around him. No one was watching. What would happen if he went inside? Would he disappear? That would be hard to explain.
“I’ll look briefly,” he whispered to himself. “See if there’s anything valuable. This is obviously magic, after all. I could use a lucky break.”
He opened the door, stepped inside and closed it softly behind him.
Ricardo’s eyes widened.
There were six doors around the room, not counting the one he entered through. All were made of a precious material.
One door, marked: Savelia, Land of Elves, was made of solid silver.
The one he’d entered through, made of solid gold, was marked: Earth, Land of Men.
Hresvalga, Land of Dwarves, was made of ruby. Aersandal, Land of Men, was also gold.
He snorted, “Wow. Firstly, the people of Aersandal must have really nice summer attire. Secondly, why do humans have two worlds? That’s kind of unfair.”
He shook his head in disbelief and humor. “Well, this is certainly bizarre.”
He walked over to the door titled Savelia, continuing to muse aloud to himself, “No point blaming this on something stupid like, ‘I didn’t get enough sleep!’ Or, ‘That was a bad burger!’ This is very, very real. I’m looking at four portals to four different worlds, Earth among them.”
“Correct.”
Ricardo turned around calmly.
The door into Aersandal was open.
Seven people entered. One was a man dressed in red and black, with a simple gold crown on his head. Six men in steel armor surrounded Ricardo, blocking all the doors.
Ricardo’s hand went to his jean pocket, where his pocket knife waited. “Who are you?”
The man bowed. “My name is Arius Arventious. Yours?”
“Ricardo Astuto, nice to meet you. I hate to be blunt, but what are you doing?”
Arius smiled and began to pace slowly around Ricardo, like a lion with a wounded gazelle. “Ricardo, you must have guessed by now that you’re…different, yes?”
Ricardo shrugged. “I don’t really care.”
“You should. You are something called a DoorKeeper.”
“Hmm, interesting,” Ricardo said, as if talking about a history fact. “Care to explain?”
“DoorKeepers are the only ones who can open these doors,” he gestured around them. “The doors into different worlds. DoorKeepers can take people with them, but no one else can find or open them.”
“So, you’re a DoorKeeper, too?”
“I am.”
“Okay, great. Continue.”
“You see, normally, one DoorKeeper is born each generation. But this generation is odd. Multiple DoorKeepers are being born rapidly. So far, I’ve found three, counting you.”
“Uh huh…” Ricardo said slowly. “And what have you done with the other two?”
Arius stopped in front of him. “I’m planning something great, Ricardo. I’m going to unite all of these worlds under one flag while I have the chance. Then, I’m going to keep them that way. With the help of the other DoorKeepers, I know it’s possible.”
Ricardo smiled friendlily. “Great! Good luck! No offense, but I’m not interested.”
A soldier seized him abruptly, holding his arms behind his back.
Arius lifted his chin. “You don’t have a choice. From this moment on, you’re my slave.”
Firesong,Thank you so much for joining my production team, (lol) to help with my series. Iceberry showed me a few of your drawings, and I am seriously impressed. I think your skill will definitely get more people looking at the books. I have a scene in mind for the cover. It is the moment when Ricardo Astuto, the heart of the plot, found a portal just before being abducted by Arius Arventius. It is the beginning of everything, and I thought it was certainly a fitting cover for the first book. I'm going to send you the prologue via Iceberry, along with some extra descriptions. As I told Ashong, I cannot pay you for the drawings presently, but once the series is published, I would love to have a conversation about compensation. Again, thank you for your time and effort in helping my visions come to life.I would like you to illustrate the moment when young Ricardo is opening the golden door. Ilumina is meant to look somewhat Greek in architecture. with its marble columns and domed ceiling. But then, the stained glass is done in a medieval style. It is very bright inside; the light from four different worlds filtering through the stained glass, and making the room feel akin to a kaleidoscope. The white of the marble contrasts with the bright colors. The building looks incredibly out of place against the dusty landscape of the countryside. More than anything else, I would say that Ilumina shines, to the point of being difficult to look at. The marble shines white, and the stained glass shines with a multitude of different colors. You may do whatever you like with the designs for the stained glass, as the exact art is not specified. Please show an elf or a dwarf in one of the panes. The gold door is carved, and again, feel free to go as wild as you want to with it. Lastly, I believe I forgot to specify that young Ricardo is wearing a small black leather jacket in the prologue. Eagerly awaiting the results, -Nightingale
Maybe this was said in the post for Ashsong, but I may be missing young Ricardo's physical description? His age for the cover may also be very beneficial for the art seeing as people change as they age :)
I am very excited to join this project and already my mind is racing with ideas!I will include my progress for you to check along the way, just to be SURE I get your vision down. DO NOT BE AFRIAD TO CORRECT ME OR HAVE ME CHANGE THINGS! I am more than happy to do so! Lol!
@Ashsong Hey! Nightingale wanted me to ask you something about Ricardo. She LOVES his picture that you drew, but was wondering if there's any way you could make him... handsome-er I guess? Because he's not quite human.
A more recent sketch of the book cover idea. It's not perfect by any means, but is this closer to what you had pictured?
@Firesong Firesong,
I'm so sorry I took so long getting back to you! My summer has started crazy. I would like the elves to have pointed ears, but you may do whatever you want with them outside of that. I would prefer a close up for the building, with little background, centralized on Ricardo and the building. Thank you so much for your time, and sorry again for being so late.
-Nightingale
Firesong,
You are actually correct in making the outside of the building! I am sorry if I confused you with all of the descriptions. I wanted to make sure that if you had questions at all, they were answered. Ricardo has his back facing the reader as he starts to open the door. Light is streaming out the crack. You won't have to worry about his face. We can only see the back of his head. A last detail: as I said before, you can do whatever you want with the stained glass. However, I forgot to mention one thing that absolutely WOULD NOT be depicted on Ilumina: sorcerers and sorceresses of any kind.
DoorKeepers are hunted by warlocks and witches above all others, as the witches and warlocks are generally the only ones who can ably hunt them in the first place. I don't want to confuse readers who might see a wizard on Ilumina and think, 'Why is there a warlock on a portal built by a DoorKeeper?'
Thank you so much for all of your time and help.
-Nightingale
Btw, the building looks perfect.
@Firesong
I have a few sketches of my first thoughts for the cover. Both are generally the same, one a closer perspective focusing more on Ricardo, the other is from farther away, putting more focus on the building.
Ricardo is coming into the building, and you can't see the stained glass windows in either very well, but you can see them.
Do not be afraid to tell me to scrap this. Right now I am trying to figure out exactly what you want Nightingale and begin narrowing things down :).
For Icy and Nightingale,
have a pic I drew of the outside of the building (not exactly for the cover, but trying to get an idea of the building. Space wise and such) I also have a slight sketch of him and I assume she want 6 year old Ricardo on the cover since that is how old he is in the scene? Also, Does she want Ricardo coming through the door, so sort of peeking in/halfway in, already in the gold door so it is shut behind him and I assume she wants a view from the inside of the building, not the outside since she described what the inside would look like with the windows and such?
I plan to do a few messy sketches so you can get a few ideas of what I'm thinking. I have so many ideas rn, and want to make sure I take it in the direction you are thinking :)
Picture
Ignore the eyes. I was I'm the middle of fixing them when I was called away. what about the hair?(don't worry, I will get rid of the feminine look. And age him down.)
That's still SO cool!
You're writing a series @Iceberry ? that's so cool!!!! I'm writing one too!!
PROLOGUE
Twenty boys trekked through the beautiful countryside of New Mexico. The shrubbery surrounding them was yellow, orange, and dusty shades of green. Mountains stood tall with their backs against the horizon, and hills moved up and down like waves towards them. The trees were small and few, the grass pale. Yellow wildflowers swayed in the hot breeze.
The boys ranged in age from six to seventeen, and came from Saint Francis Home for Boys, situated in the center of Santa Fe. Nearly all of them had come from abusive families and troubled backgrounds. They were usually either completely unreasonable or absolutely silent, making them difficult to handle. However, the nuns who took care of them were unendingly calm, for the most part.
Today, there was nothing but moody silence from the group.
Sister Mary broke the tense air. “Chin up, boys! Let’s sing a song!”
“Let’s not!”
Sister Mary’s narrowed eyes scanned the group for the speaker, to no success. Quiet sniggers issued.
“May I suggest one?”
Sister Mary sighed in relief and turned to the boy, “Of course you may.”
Immediately, she almost regretted it.
Of all the boys at Saint Francis, the strangest was Ricardo Astuto.
Ricardo was on the small side for six. Though his features were clearly Hispanic, he was oddly pale. The sisters guessed it was due to his mother. He was a beautiful child, with chocolate brown hair hanging just above his shoulders, and eyes the same color. Yet, there was something about him that set him apart from all the other boys, and not just his skin.
His eyes were unlike any the nuns had ever seen. They seemed to pierce whoever he looked at down to the bone, and burned with a strange fire.
The other thing was that he never stopped smiling. Never.
The nuns never saw him get angry. They never saw him frown. Most shockingly: they never saw him cry. With his troubled past, he had many reasons to.
He also carried himself with an unusual amount of composure for a teenager, let alone a six year old. He always had the same expression: a calm, cheerful smile that never reached his jaded, piercing, burning eyes.
Ricardo paused, thinking. “Um, can we sing Dreams Come True by Hall and Oates?”
Everyone chuckled.
“I meant hiking songs, Ricardo,” Sister Mary said gently.
“I know,” he answered brightly. “I just thought we could do something different today. All in favor of the sisters singing Jump by Van Halen?”
Every orphan’s hand shot into the air. The boys laughed at the sisters’ expressions. The sisters looked ruffled for a moment, then laughed themselves.
Ricardo smiled wider. For all his joking airs, he rarely laughed, if ever.
Suddenly, he saw something in the distance.
It was a beautiful building, about the size of a small house. It was circular, built of marble, with a domed roof topped with a gold spire. The stained glass windows were images of fairytale landscapes, elves, princes and princesses. The solid gold door gleamed in the sunlight.
Ricardo pinched himself and blinked hard. The building remained. He blew out.
This was…weird.
He looked around at the sisters and the other boys. None of them seemed to see anything.
Ricardo was, by nature, incredibly intelligent and somewhat cynical in his thought process. He immediately knew that only he could see this building, and he also knew that he wasn’t insane.
This warranted an investigation.
“Hey, can we stop and hang out for a little bit?” he asked. “I mean, we’ve been walking for half an hour.”
Sister Mary paused. “Well…all right. Boys! We’re stopping here for a moment! Make sure to drink from your water bottles before we continue!”
They stopped on the side of the trail.
Ricardo walked up to the building.
Above the door was a single word carved and painted gold.
“Ilumina,” he said softly, tasting the word.
He looked around him. No one was watching. What would happen if he went inside? Would he disappear? That would be hard to explain.
“I’ll look briefly,” he whispered to himself. “See if there’s anything valuable. This is obviously magic, after all. I could use a lucky break.”
He opened the door, stepped inside and closed it softly behind him.
Ricardo’s eyes widened.
There were six doors around the room, not counting the one he entered through. All were made of a precious material.
One door, marked: Savelia, Land of Elves, was made of solid silver.
The one he’d entered through, made of solid gold, was marked: Earth, Land of Men.
Hresvalga, Land of Dwarves, was made of ruby. Aersandal, Land of Men, was also gold.
He snorted, “Wow. Firstly, the people of Aersandal must have really nice summer attire. Secondly, why do humans have two worlds? That’s kind of unfair.”
He shook his head in disbelief and humor. “Well, this is certainly bizarre.”
He walked over to the door titled Savelia, continuing to muse aloud to himself, “No point blaming this on something stupid like, ‘I didn’t get enough sleep!’ Or, ‘That was a bad burger!’ This is very, very real. I’m looking at four portals to four different worlds, Earth among them.”
“Correct.”
Ricardo turned around calmly.
The door into Aersandal was open.
Seven people entered. One was a man dressed in red and black, with a simple gold crown on his head. Six men in steel armor surrounded Ricardo, blocking all the doors.
Ricardo’s hand went to his jean pocket, where his pocket knife waited. “Who are you?”
The man bowed. “My name is Arius Arventious. Yours?”
“Ricardo Astuto, nice to meet you. I hate to be blunt, but what are you doing?”
Arius smiled and began to pace slowly around Ricardo, like a lion with a wounded gazelle. “Ricardo, you must have guessed by now that you’re…different, yes?”
Ricardo shrugged. “I don’t really care.”
“You should. You are something called a DoorKeeper.”
“Hmm, interesting,” Ricardo said, as if talking about a history fact. “Care to explain?”
“DoorKeepers are the only ones who can open these doors,” he gestured around them. “The doors into different worlds. DoorKeepers can take people with them, but no one else can find or open them.”
“So, you’re a DoorKeeper, too?”
“I am.”
“Okay, great. Continue.”
“You see, normally, one DoorKeeper is born each generation. But this generation is odd. Multiple DoorKeepers are being born rapidly. So far, I’ve found three, counting you.”
“Uh huh…” Ricardo said slowly. “And what have you done with the other two?”
Arius stopped in front of him. “I’m planning something great, Ricardo. I’m going to unite all of these worlds under one flag while I have the chance. Then, I’m going to keep them that way. With the help of the other DoorKeepers, I know it’s possible.”
Ricardo smiled friendlily. “Great! Good luck! No offense, but I’m not interested.”
A soldier seized him abruptly, holding his arms behind his back.
Arius lifted his chin. “You don’t have a choice. From this moment on, you’re my slave.”
There was a sharp pain in the back of his head.
Everything went black.
Firesong, Thank you so much for joining my production team, (lol) to help with my series. Iceberry showed me a few of your drawings, and I am seriously impressed. I think your skill will definitely get more people looking at the books. I have a scene in mind for the cover. It is the moment when Ricardo Astuto, the heart of the plot, found a portal just before being abducted by Arius Arventius. It is the beginning of everything, and I thought it was certainly a fitting cover for the first book. I'm going to send you the prologue via Iceberry, along with some extra descriptions. As I told Ashong, I cannot pay you for the drawings presently, but once the series is published, I would love to have a conversation about compensation. Again, thank you for your time and effort in helping my visions come to life. I would like you to illustrate the moment when young Ricardo is opening the golden door. Ilumina is meant to look somewhat Greek in architecture. with its marble columns and domed ceiling. But then, the stained glass is done in a medieval style. It is very bright inside; the light from four different worlds filtering through the stained glass, and making the room feel akin to a kaleidoscope. The white of the marble contrasts with the bright colors. The building looks incredibly out of place against the dusty landscape of the countryside. More than anything else, I would say that Ilumina shines, to the point of being difficult to look at. The marble shines white, and the stained glass shines with a multitude of different colors. You may do whatever you like with the designs for the stained glass, as the exact art is not specified. Please show an elf or a dwarf in one of the panes. The gold door is carved, and again, feel free to go as wild as you want to with it. Lastly, I believe I forgot to specify that young Ricardo is wearing a small black leather jacket in the prologue. Eagerly awaiting the results, -Nightingale