Hello everyone!
I’m writing a spiritual, poetic short story, Daughter of Xiu. Its about a Chinese woman in ancient China. Within herself she remembers her past life as Shan Mei Ling, of when she was a female Taoist warrior mystic. She draws upon this power to fight herself free from the oppression her contemporary culture imposes upon her. She returns to the mountains to pursue her enlightenment.
The wise say silence brings a man to truth, and truth in turn inspires men into silence, that one may enter the doors of stillness; the gate of our divine origin that those of deep thought call Tao.
Due to its poetic nature, the work renders itself very compatable with artwork. I will self-publish through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. In order to keep this short story affordable, I will need to print in black and white. This will work best with sketching, not painting. Due to its Chinese character, seeking a unification between sketching and traditional Chinese art would be very fitting. The style I found very accurate here is that of Alan Lee, when he illustrated Tolkien’s The Children of Hurin:
1: https://aviilokinkshi.net/05.png
2: https://aviilokinkshi.net/03.png
3: https://aviilokinkshi.net/02.png
4: https://aviilokinkshi.net/01.png
Note how everything around the artwork fades, giving it a beautiful ethereal effect; very beseeming of a book of this nature. I definitely would like to incorporate that effect. Also, the emptiness/form ratio is very much like that of the composition in Chinese traditonal art, giving it its serene atmosphere.
For example, seeing it in full Chinese style, the following painting resembles much how my inner eye would see Shan Mei Ling, the main character: https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/926545323307322852/
And this would resemble Xuan, another important character: https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/926545323307332342/
I see such high talent among you, being able to sketch in the style of realism and hyper-realism; I’m also aware of what great quality can be achieved through speed painting/speed sketching, especially with such talent.
The reason I am inclined towards speed painting/-sketching is a financial one. Due to a health-based impairment, I’m always balancing around the poverty line.
I was hoping that I might in part pay by giving a signed paperback copy in exchange for one or two pictures, with the rest financially paid. This will also depend on if Amazon will allow this short story to be published in paperback form due to the manuscript’s fewness of pages. I might be limited to eBook format, though I don’t believe this will be the case. Should I not be able to print Daughter of Xiu physically, I can sign and send a physical copy of my mystical, poetic novel Lions of Virtue.
Let me know if you might be up to the task, your price per picture (I think I might need a maximum of 10), and please give me an example of your work, should you be willing to experiment with the style mentioned above.
Kindly,
Realmwalker
