Sketches of a tree, a house, a light bulb, and a landscape on paper, with a central paper reading 'CONCEPT ART' on a wooden surface.

DISCLAIMER

The images and photograph on this page are concept visuals I made using digital illustration tools to help me picture characters during the writing process. They are not intended as finished artwork for the manuscript or book. However the story is eventually published, the final look of the characters will almost certainly be different. The method used was simply to bring them to life in my head.

Black and white portrait of a young woman with long straight hair, wearing a white collared shirt and a dark sweater, smiling softly.
Black and white portrait of a young girl with long straight hair, smiling, wearing a collared shirt and sweater.
A pencil sketch of a woman with shoulder-length hair, wearing a collared shirt.
A black-and-white pencil sketch of a man in a suit and tie wearing glasses.

These headshots were created before and during the writing process. I was still drafting when the vast majority of non-main characters were made, and it really helped me picture them in human form - the school chef, for example, became much clearer once I had a face to work with. They aren’t artwork for the manuscript or book, but they supported the storytelling as I wrote. I created visuals for every single character, including a teacher who only had a single line.

Other authors should try this, because it really does bring characters to life as you write. It took far more than a single prompt - around seventy hours and many, many attempts before I finally had images that matched closely what was in my head. I often looked at a character and thought, “What would you say in that situation?”

Two children, one smiling and one surprised, talking to each other near a doorway.

One of my most time-consuming concept pieces, created to explore emotion and timing during the story’s development. Sometimes seeing a moment visually can unlock how to write it.

Five children standing outdoors on a beach, smiling at the camera.

This photograph was another way of imagining possible characters together. Again, it isn’t artwork for the manuscript, but it helped me see different group dynamics and capture the feeling of how individuals might look side by side. Just like the sketches, it’s part of the creative process - a visual memory, if you like, that supported the writing. Amazingly helpful.

For the record: when it comes to finished artwork, a human illustrator always wins. But for creating a private visual guide that brings the characters to life in your head while writing, AI in whole or part can do the job. It does take a lot of time and patience, if you’re truly serious about matching the closest look you have in your mind.