Aflame - Behind the Scenes

Aflame - Behind the Scenes - Caroline Calligraphie

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A behind the scenes look at the art for "Aflame."

 I'm thrilled for book two to finally be here for the Awakened series by Roseanna M. White. Here's a behind the scenes look as to how we created Kyrja. 

As always, we begin with the info-dump from the author. I ask that they send over any inspiration photos of how they think he/she should look or specific directions that are integral to the story.

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We begin with creating a collage. It helps me focus my ideas on how I want her clothing to be or images that might speak to the overall composition. I was feeling very Scandinavian and folk-y when I first apporached her. 

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One of my very early on sketches to see which direction I wanted her to face. I was hung up for a long time on wanting her to have a dress like the one in the photo. 

But as Roseanna and I spoke about her character, I realized she was very Elsa-like in the sense that the "cold never bothered her anyway..."

So, I went back to looking through wedding dresses from some of favorite designers and pulling my art-deco art books off the shelves...

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And in the meantime, I also discovered the beauty of live models! The algorithm was working for me that day and led me to a group of models who have collections (plural!) of poses for fantasy artists! It was a wonderful disovery.

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Click to watch a timelapse of 40+ hours of work in a minute and a half: 

And here is the final Princess Valkyrja!

FINAL Caroline Calligraphie for Aflame
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Once the artwork is done, I send it over to the author and my original art is incorporated into the book's design. Roseanna designs her own covers and here is the final product:

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Thank you to Roseanna for allowing me to be a part of this special story. 

Click below to purchase

Aflame

This links to Roseanna's website -- the only place you can purchase Alfame with sprayed edges!

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