Illustrator | Photographer
Jane Austen PiecesGouache on Watercolor Paper - 9”x12”
Inspired by the works of Jane Austen, I wanted to create a cohesive series of three illustrations, each representing one of her novels, while also practicing my character design using gouache. The books I chose were Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility. Since the books were written in the 19th century, much of the art inspired by them tends to feel old-fashioned. My goal was to create a modern, vibrant interpretation of these three novels to resonate with a younger audience. I knew from the start that creating a unified color palette was essential—each piece needed to feel cohesive within itself, while also standing out individually, and the overall series had to maintain a harmonious color scheme. To achieve this, I decided to use unrealistic skin tones, which allowed me to create a more striking and unified visual style across the illustrations.
I started by deciding on the style I wanted to use for this project, and this is the result I sketched out. Given that the background was going to be quite busy, I wanted to add halos around the figures to ensure the focal point remained clear and didn’t get lost in the image.
From there, I began the thumbnail process, which turned out to be more extensive than usual because I wasn’t entirely sure what direction I wanted to take.
One of the biggest challenges I faced with these thumbnails was making each one feel unique without becoming too busy. Eventually, I found a balance. While creating the digital colored thumbnails, I explored different ways to achieve a unified look. One technique I used was connecting the figures by incorporating the opposite person’s skin tone into their halo, creating a visual link between them in each piece.
For the Pride and Prejudice design, I made the characters appear opposite of each other to symbolize their initial dislike. In the background, two silhouettes whisper to each other, representing how the sisters would often gossip about each other’s lives. For the Mansfield Park piece, I positioned the characters facing one another to reflect their shared love, with Mansfield Park depicted in the background. In Sense and Sensibility, I wanted to highlight the sisters' bond, so I had them linking arms to emphasize their close connection.
Here are the final results!