Illustrations

About the Illustrator

Diana Moore has had a pencil in her hand from the day she was born (well, more or less). From age 7 she knew she wanted to write and illustrate children’s books. After receiving her B.A. In English from Wheaton College, she completed a B.F.A. in Design, focusing on Illustration, at Cornish College of the Arts. Her career has spanned graphic design and marketing, and she now focuses on book illustration and teaching painting. She is thrilled to have worked with her dad, DC Moore, on Two Kingdoms.

Illustration Process with Diana Moore

In developing the drawings for Two Kingdoms, creating a medieval sense of place was important. For example, what did a blacksmith’s anvil look like in the Middle Ages? What did medieval manor houses look like? I borrowed books from the library and did online research to find reference images on which to base my illustrations. I used Pinterest to organize the media I found. I had boards for castles, weapons, dragons, siege equipment, etc. The illustrations were sketched in Procreate using the 6B pencil, allowing me to use layers, effects, and patterned brushes, and enjoy the overall flexibility of digital media.

I want anyone who reads the book to imagine themself in the story, and imagine the characters in a way that is relevant to them. That’s why I specifically chose not to sketch the main characters. Although there are illustrations of a few secondary characters, how the protagonists look is up to the mind of the reader.