Today I’m sharing my illustrations for Starling House by Alix E. Harrow! I’ve been a fan of Harrow’s work since illustrating a special edition of The Once and Future Witches a few years ago, so when I saw the announcement that she was writing a gothic novel, I was super excited! I was excited to read it because gothic romance is one of my favourite genres, but as is always the case when you are a book illustrator – I also wanted to illustrate it. I actually considered writing to the publisher to see if they needed a cover. But time passed, and because life got in the way (and also I was shy), I didn’t actually end up doing it. Imagine my delight a few months later when I got an email asking if I’d like to illustrate the book! I of course said yes. I tried to remain professional in my reply, but I think some actual screaming may have happened. I read the manuscript and loved it, and ended up making five B&W interior illustrations for the book:

 

Though the book is set in the present day, an important part of the story revolves around a 19th-century illustrator who made ink drawings of scary creatures. The illustrations that I made are a little meta, in that they tie directly into the story!

After sending in the finals for these illustrations, I thought that was it, and eagerly awaited publication. But then I got another email, asking if I’d like to illustrate Starling House… again! This time for a special edition of the book published by Subterranean Press. Funnily enough, the art director had not even heard that I’d illustrated the regular edition, and just thought I would be a good fit for the story. If there ever was a book that was made for me, I think this one might be it.

So then I got to illustrate the book again! This time I created four more interior illustrations. These ones had a little bit of colour, and I was able to pick some of the sketches that were not used in the regular edition:

 

I also created endpapers:

And a cover:

Final cover

Initial sketches for the cover

The illustrations mentioned in the story describe both harsh inky lines and soft flowy drawings, so I wanted to really emphasise these two elements, balancing flat shapes and atmospheric drawing in all of the illustrations. I also wanted to impart a dreamy and surreal quality to these images, as these were important themes in the story. I’m so glad I got to illustrate the book a second time time, because the additional images as well as the opportunity for colour really allowed me to flesh out the ideas I’d started to explore in the first set of images.

I’m not particularly picky with the books I choose to illustrate, as I like the challenge of illustrating outside of my range, and generally find there’s something to connect with in any given story. Having said that though, sometimes it is wonderful to find an author whose work really clicks with the kind of images I love making. It’s not just the subject matter, but also the atmosphere created by the story and the way the author describes things. If I weren’t an illustrator, I’m pretty sure I’d still be a huge fan of Alix E. Harrow’s work, so it was an absolute delight to illustrate Starling House, not once, but twice!

…If ever there was *another* edition of this book though, I think I’m going to have to let someone else have a go at illustrating it!