A Court Of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) Album Cover
An illustration I created for a musician who composed a fan soundtrack for the novel series A Court of Thorns and Roses
The client provided me with the above moodboard. Her goal was for me to create an illustration with the two main characters in this magical setting with prominent mountains as the environment. I didn't need to match the style she alluded to here. Instead they were just illustrations others have done in the past to illustrate the two main book characters.
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With that, I showed her three potential compositions for the piece.
These are fairly rough sketches--I mainly prioritized the poses the characters would do, and how the mountains would fit in the background. The client ended up liking the middle one the most.
I rendered it out in black and white first to keep in mind lighting and tone.
Using Gradient Maps, I drafted some color schemes based on the original moodboard. After asking the clients opinion, she preferred the first one
I cleaned up the colors and added some additional texture to the illustration. Because the client gave me more creative control over how the final piece overall, I thought that the sketchy lines could add some life to the piece.
As for font choice, I knew that an elegant font would work best with both the theme and the client's previous work. Orpheus Pro worked out nicely, as some of the more decorative element contained stars, helping the overall cover feel more cohesive.