Jonathan Kieran

When authors say that writing a book is a “journey” it may seem a tad cliche and woo-woo, but any well-crafted long-form effort is indeed a trek, a quest, an expedition, an exploration, a … well, a journey. The twists, turns, side-trips, obstacles, pitstops, and occasional dead ends are very real on such an extended trip—I can vouch for that. Believe me also when I say that the whole adventure becomes doubly challenging when an author decides to illustrate his or her (or insert preferred pronoun here ____) own novel.

Authors typically have not illustrated their own works throughout publishing history. The “industry” has always harbored talented people who are best labeled, stabled, and kept in their categories pending appropriate employment. Writers wrote. Illustrators did their thing if the twain needed to meet on any given project. Even so, some writers of capability have also evinced significant aptitude for the visual arts. I was illustrating as soon as I was beginning to compose little stories and tales, which commenced around age five. I illustrated my first dark fantasy book, ROWAN BLAIZE, and have done likewise with my upcoming dark fable/novel, THE WEDNESDAY BOX, which will be released June 18, 2026 by Brightbourne.

The fascinating aspect (at least for me) of illustrating one’s own work rests in the stylistic changes that can occur as it dawns upon you that your growing story demands an entirely different kind of visual accompaniment—one far removed from the style initially envisioned for the tale. For example, I started THE WEDNESDAY BOX determined to illustrate the story with a simpler, symbolic style rendered strictly in pen-and-ink. It seemed appropriate for the stark eeriness of the project. As the narrative became more atmospheric and “eerie fabulist” in nature, however, I knew that the full force of multimedia would be required. In my case, this involved the combined use of pen-and-ink, India Inks, acrylic paint, oil paint, colored pencils, theatrical grease pencils, and distressed poster-board to achieve a symphony of both realism and near-winsome graphic effect.

What a change-up!

What an extra amount of work.

The illustration above was the first, trial piece of concept art I created for THE WEDNESDAY BOX in order to set a potential tone for the visual ambience of the novel and the many illustrations I planned to include within it. That piece, up yonder, was crafted in pen-and-ink on 11 x 14 Bristol poster board, with a smidge of colored pencil flourishes. But it wasn’t enough for my overall plan. A bit too stark and limited to suggestion alone. My altered approach to the graphic goal can be observed in the actual cover of the book itself, which I designed and drew using the full, painstaking multimedia combinations and materials I described above. The excellent Eeva Lancaster chose and applied the font.

The difference is clear:

The original artwork (save for the font) was indeed rendered on 11 x 14 distressed Bristol poster board utilizing pen-and-ink, a full India ink wash, acrylic and oil paints, colored pencils (German only 😃), colored chalk, theatrical grease paint and pencils, a variety of brushes and other secret weapons I tend to find hanging about the house. The forty-five full-color illustrations in the novel follow the style of the cover. Don’t ask me how long it took to do the work that is currently on Kindle preorder for $0.99 HERE.

I’m a cult-author, at best, and art must remain its own reward for many of us. But the proof of quality is always in the proverbial pudding. At all events, I wanted to share a bit about the “journey” involved with a project requiring so much graphic illustrative work on the part of a wordsmith. You gifted inkers, illustrators, painters, artists, creators, and readers might appreciate hearing about the process from a peer. Best wishes on your own artistic journeys!

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[ THE WEDNESDAY BOX, a dark fable by Jonathan Kieran is slated for international release June 18, 2026 ]

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