Nicasia (Steampunk illustration for the fantasy book "The Court of Mirrors")

Here is an example of one Steampunk fantasy illustration I did as commissioned work for the Fantasy/Steampunk novel "La Corte de los Espejos" premier some years ago. It's Summer and as I picked a book to read again, I chose to give a second read to this one and that's why I'm sharing this :)

This post though includes some works in progress and sketches not shared before as an example and has the purpose to showcase an example of my work as illustrator. Even if Steampunk is not my usual genre It was fun to draw and this small blog includes the previous stages and works in progress as well as some background information.

The book "The Court of Mirrors" released in 2013 in Spain and was the first installment in a duology. The book had a sequel "The Last Spring" (La última primavera) that I'm looking forward to buy and read.

Here is a picture of my edition of "La Corte de los Espejos" (I did not make the cover). Still it was a surprise to receive a surprise parcel with the novel andIt came with a custom dedicatory for me :)

Keep this volume within rats reach

And a sweet note from the author mentioning my music had helped in the process of writing it which was very sweet and encouraging.

^{Above: my own copy of "La Corte de los Espejos"}

So what is Steampunk?

Steampunk is an anachronic or retrofuturistic sci-fi/fantasy genre inspired in XIX industrial steam powered machines like those depicted in Jules Verne, or H.G. Wells (writers that I particularly love). Steampunk has become a fashion trend too among cosplayers (people who dress up in elaborate costumes) in fantasy conventions worldwide, featuring often victorian fashion, corsets, goggles and ornaments with gears mimicking pieces of machinery and gadgets. Though the book featured in this post has Steampunk Elements in aesthetics, it is more a cross over with fantasy though.

"The Mirrors Court" : A Novel by Concepción Perea

The drawing at the beginning of this article was made for the presentation of the Spanish Fantasy book "La Corte de los Espejos" (The Mirrors Court) written by talented novelist Concepción Perea. A thrilling combination of fantasy and Steampunk. The lead character is Nicasia who I portray in the illustration. She is a half knocker engineer and just one of the many complex and amazing magical characters in this novel including a charming Cat-like Pooka called Dujal which whom she has a great dynamic. The Court of Mirrors is the capital of Terra Linde, a place where the "fairy folk" don't believe in the existence of humans. It was a bestseller in my country and I may say happy because it was written by a talented friend. I sang myself in the presentation and my friends dressed like the characters of the book for it, it was super fun!

Above: Additional super small illustration of the character for a cameo necklace that was gifted to the writer. I love to paint in miniatures as part of one of a kind hand painted jewellery and accessories. There are always usually some art on sale on my shop but I also do small commissions like this one. So this was my first attempt to sketch the character. Grumpy knocker Nicasia.

Some WIP (Work in progress)

Preliminary sketch

I did this drawing all the wrong way, barely sketching the composition or anything at all I just went for it doing a quick doodle of the character, and I paid for may lack of patience (starting to paint before I had already finished the doodle)

First colour wash and detailing

So many mistakes in this first attempt to colour the illustration, many things had to be corrected, I didn't like the flat light and I decided to make it warmer by lamplight kind of illustration. Eyes were too big and cartoonish and she was just not "bitter" enough. In the initial sketch I knew right away she was "too pretty" for the character and I had to add her a frown. Concepción likes very much BJD (ball joint dolls) so that's why I chose to make her with big eyes. The puppet/robot is key in the representations of the character.

Some details and close ups

And yet again the final result with highlights and final colour

This illustration has a couple of years and I see so many mistakes now in it that I could polish easily but well this is how it was released and for the first time I'm including some of the preliminary work.

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• Check another post featuring another Steampunk illustration of me
  https://steemit.com/art/@yidneth/the-green-fairy-la-fee-verte-my-steampunk-illustration-wip-and-background-story
  

Priscilla Hernandez
singer-songwriter & illustrator
http://yidneth.com