For the longest time I considered commissioning art for my current WIP, The Deathsea Dyer (working title), but I always felt a little too… afraid of it, really. There was something truly daunting about seeing my characters be brought to life by other people on a visual level. Likewise there was something truly daunting about the process itself. The choosing of an artist, the working relationship and the payment process etc. Oh, and let’s not forget that I’m absolutely horrible at faceclaims for my characters. I had so much trouble finding reference pictures for the artists to work with, but in the end I’m happy I settled on the ones that I did.
I’m happy to say that I’ve finally conquered all of those fears – I HAVE ART!
I compiled a list on twitter of artists whose style I loved. More particularly, I wanted to find an artist with a style that matched the mood and aesthetic of my WIP. In this case, that aesthetic was color and whimsy. A fairytale for adults. Think Brothers Grimm meets Diana Wynne Jones. From my compiled twitter list, the first artist I reached out to was @lacunaorphic1 (ko-fi.com). The two headshots below are the final product of the commission – and I couldn’t be happier, from the very bottom of my heart!
What’s even better is that I have another commission in the works – and I’ll share it with you in due time…
Idah is a con-woman with a double identity and lifelong ambition to empty the king’s pockets.
Prince Eske is a stutterer-turned-polyglot, overlooked by his father until he teams up with Idah to steal a magical artifact.
A.R.Frederiksen 
I love the art! And this is a fantastic post 🙂 Really loved reading about the importance of selecting the right artist and that there is more art to come!
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Thanks! I wasn’t really sure how to make a post about it, but once I began, it was actually fairly easy. Apparently, I DID have enough thoughts about the process to document them here, lol
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