Tag: art

Thoughts about art, writing, and imperfection

Hope ZaneWriting

I took a kind of sabbatical from author spaces and spent a lot of time drawing over the last couple months, while also dealing with my health.

In the meantime, I wrote a lot of the next chapter in Lira and Willow’s story, which then got cut up and edited into about 30k words as of now. This book has been fighting me harder than any book I can remember in recent memory, but I hope it’s all worth it in the end.

I’ve been wanting to do more with my art lately. It’s something I’ve wanted for a while, to be able to integrate it with my writing, to be able to see my characters and worlds come to life. I haven’t felt “ready” or “good enough” for a long time, and in many ways I still don’t!

My breakfast/lunch today!

But I’ve also been having some thoughts about “professionalism” and what it means, and how in some ways, I think it’s what’s led us to where we are, re: gen AI art and the way some people feel like they need to use it, or that it’s more desirable than their own imperfect efforts. And I do believe that human art is good and vital and necessary, despite and maybe because of its imperfections. So I think I will at least try to begin cultivating the visual world of my novels, in whatever way I can.

Maybe it will be a growing experience for both of us!

Willow

Hope ZaneBook Release

I really need to get my website in some semblance of better order at some point. Sometimes I look at other author’s websites, and I think, ‘Ah, so organized! You can see where everything is. You can learn about their books easily,’ but my page is… well. Like this.

I finally published the first part of Lira and Willow’s story. You can find it as Will-o-the-Wisps on a few different ebook stores. There is more to their story coming! I have some of it written already, but this felt like a good place to pause for now.

Some of you might remember Willow from the Allister High AU I wrote a while back, featuring Nice. It might be some interesting background on him~

For the time being, I am trying to get all my WIPs and finished manuscripts a little more organized. I have a lot of stories to show you, including the next chapter in Laurel’s story in The Fox and the Rose. tbh the eternal limiting factor is always book covers, but I am working hard.

Here’s a little WIP of Willow. It doesn’t look quite like the Willow I imagine in my head, but I think you always have to start somewhere:

An illustrated image of a Caucasian youth with light brown hair, long eyelashes, blushing cheeks, and delicate features. They are wearing an open collared shirt with a loosened black tie, and there is a necklace of thorns around their throat. A single line of red blood is dripping from their throat to stain the collar of their shirt, and they are touching the necklace of thorns with two fingers.

Fairytale boy~

Hope ZaneArt

I set out to draw Mouse (tbh I thought it would be fun to draw all the boys from Fairytale in their prince-inspired outfits…) but this looks more like Charis to me?

I’m still working out their designs, but I think this might be Charis in Mouse’s clothes 😂👀

Art-ing and Writing

Hope ZaneWriting

Koreatown is done (?) but I’m having trouble figuring out the cover, so it’s a bit of a work in progress.

I’ve really committed to doing my own covers in recent days, and it’s been frustrating, exciting, and kind of hilarious. I have a perfectionism problem. I’ve made a ridiculous amount of thumbnails and sketches.

On the writing– I went back to Willow and Lira’s story, of all things. I like the chapter I’m working on today. I think I might try to finish it by the end of the day and then maybe get some art up.