My daughter’s friend Rachel recently launched her own artistic design business. Pretty ambitious for a high school student, huh? Her dream is to someday work in Disney Animation Studios, and as she prepares for college, she’s working on expanding her portfolio of art and character design.
So, I hired her to draw THE EIGHTH DAY characters for me to use on my website. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was really impressed. Not only is Rachel talented, but she worked with me through several drafts to get each character right.
What do you think?
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| Character Art by Rachel Gillespie at Artistic Expressions |
You can help Rachel out by liking her Facebook page, Artistic Expressions. I know she’s eager for more work, so if anyone is looking for characters drawings, send Rachel a message and tell her Gabbey’s mom sent you!
Additionally, I have to share a link to THE EIGHTH DAY’s first blogger review. Thank you, Leandra Wallace, for your glowing praise — and for the recipe to a scrumptious dessert that wouldn’t last long at Jax and Riley’s house.
From Leandra’s review: “If there’s one MG book that you pick up in 2014, this should be it. And for those of you that might not venture far from the YA lanes, TED is actually a bit of a cross-over.”
I’m so glad she said that! Some of you may already know TED originally started as a YA manuscript and then morphed into a MG adventure series. But one of the holdouts from the YA version is Riley … whom Susan Kaye Quinn has told me is swoon-worthy. I’m pleased that Leandra, too, thought the book will have a cross-over appeal to YA readers. I hope she’s right!
Hi Diane .. that’s brilliant of Rachel … and by the look of her work for you – she definitely has places to travel .. and her road will be successful along the way.
Wonderful she had the temerity to be involved with you and your mental representations of your characters .. those look so good. She deserves more work … good luck to her ..
I’ll be across to Leandra’s review for your The Eighth Day .. and being able to put your novel forward to at least two genres .. will open many doors .. I’m so pleased for you – cheers Hilary
Congrats to your daughter on following her dreams now. Love her drawings. And awesome this could be a cross over story.
I saw the sketches the other day. Very, very talented young lady. Seriously. When I first saw them my brain screamed MARKETING!
Fantastic character art! I’d say Rachel has a real future. 🙂
I think a lot of MG could be a cross over read, but most people won’t give it a chance. Sigh. I’m excited to read it!
Riley is definitely swoon-worthy, but really… all your characters are awesome. One of the things I love about 8th day (and I believe I told you this from the very beginning) is the ensemble cast and how each character is worthy of falling in love with. So can’t wait for this to be out!!
And now I want to write another MG just so I can have the talented Ms. Rachel do art for me!! Hm… I may have to find some other work for her…
I hopped over to read the review. Excellent. I agree with everything she said. I hope my review comes close to being that good!!!
Fabulous. She really has a lot of talent, or else maybe she was very inspired by the characters. Actually, I’m going to go out on a limb and just say you’re both talented ladies!
Oh yeah, Riley’s definitely swoonworthy, a little bad boy, but good underneath. Love the character sketches Rachel did!
How cool to be able to see your characters somewhere other than your head!
That is such an amazing dream that Rachel has- and I’m sure she’ll succeed if she’s already putting this much hard work into her dream. You go, girl! And thanks for the shout-out, Dianne. The Eighth Day truly is an amazing book that I think is going to really make waves this year. Oh, and Happy Grunsday ‘tomorrow’! 😉
Yay! That’s super awesome. I think everyone should go for their dreams–and I’m always inspired by the energy and gumption of our teens. *high five*
So cool! She’s definitely talented! I’m so in awe of people who can draw.
Awesome review! And I love the drawings.
I’m looking forward to reading TED. I told my 9 year old about it and he’s so intrigued. Once I can unbury myself from the mountain of projects I’ve got going on, I’m all over it!
What great drawings Dianne. Someone’s got oodles of talent!! The book sounds great too!
The artwork is awesome!!!! Very nice 🙂
Rachel did a great job – the characters are so perfectly teen. Congrats on your review! Good reviews are THE BEST! You can be sailing for days. 🙂