Sneak Peek of "Ivy" of COLD STONE & IVY

This will be a cross-blog with the Imagination Station because of the illustrations being featured but still, I think you'll like it. I've long been a fan of anime-inspired illustrator Neisanna. I just love her style - very deft, skilled and emotive. Since she is a friend, I asked her if she'd be interested in doing some prelim sketches of the gang of COLD STONE & IVY and she jumped at the chance. She works both with pencils and photoshop and her layering is a joy to watch.

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I started with a basic description of Ivy's personality - young, stubborn, clever and brave. Her dad is a police constable so Ivy isn't afraid of much. Not the dark, not monsters, not the unknown. She knows that it's people you need to fear, and even then, she's pretty confident of her ability to get what she wants. She is intrigued by the macabre - by murder and mystery and autopsies and crime and is a perfect match for young Police Surgeon-in-Training, Christien de Lacey, until she meets his brother, the Mad Lord of Lasingstoke. Then, all bets are off the table.

Physically, Ivy is Welsh, with great green eyes, freckles and masses of dark wavy hair. She is short, slim and tom-boyish - with a preference for men's clothing and bowler hats. I sent Neisanna some images of actresses I see when writing Ivy's character (namely Jenna Coleman and Poppy Drayton) for her to see but mainly, I just wanted to let this amazing artist percolate the idea of Ivy in her creative brain for a while before putting pen to paper or stylus to pad! Take a look at these great results!

Can't wait to see what else this gifted artist has in store for me, with either Christien or Sebastien next on the drawing board! 

If you like what you see, go pay a visit to Neisanna's Facebook page and say hi! She has a brilliant future in store as an illustrator and you can say you saw her when… ;)

https://www.facebook.com/neisanna