Behind the Scenes - Illustrating a Book Cover

I was recently approached by a publisher with a request to illustrate a book cover and several black-and-white spot illustrations for a novel called A Calamity of Mannerings, which they described as I Capture the Castle meets Bridgerton. As someone who loves this literary era, I knew immediately that this was a dream project.

The initial concept for the cover featured the three sisters at the heart of the story. To develop the composition, I used my computer’s webcam to take reference photos of myself in various poses (a lot of illustrators do this, it’s great for getting a reference image of specific pose). I then used these reference pictures as a basis for sketching. I created the cover artwork in Procreate on my iPad, which allowed me to work directly on top of the designer’s layout. Using separate layers for each element meant I could easily adjust the composition, repositioning characters and ensuring they interacted well with the text placement.

Midway through the process, the publisher decided to shift direction and focus solely on the protagonist and her suitors. For these new reference images, my husband kindly posed for the male characters (and has made it very clear that those photos are not to be shared!). Thanks to the flexibility of working in Procreate, I was able to efficiently revise the composition, removing the sisters and adding in her admirers. Once the new design was approved, I produced a rough color mock-up to confirm the colour palette.

The final artwork was created using a combination of traditional and digital techniques. The color was hand-painted with watercolors, while the line work was added digitally. This approach kept the artwork clean and fresh, and also allowed for flexibility, particularly as we were considering gold foil embossing for the line work. Although I don’t usually use black line work in my illustrations, in the context of a book cover, where visual impact on a shelf is essential, it worked really well.

For the back cover, I wanted to create a sense of place and character. I illustrated an overgrown garden scene featuring the family’s pet sheep and a pair of rabbits. The technique I used for painting the trees and laundry came straight from my sketchbook, originally developed while painting a canal scene a few years ago.

I couldn’t be happier with how the finished book turned out. The designer did an great job bringing everything together, and the book itself is already receiving fantastic reviews. I hope you enjoyed this look into my process and how my sketchbook practice continues to influence my professional illustration work.