Freelance Book Cover Artist & Illustrator For Hire

Freelance Book Cover Artist & Illustrator

Freelance book cover artist at your service! I am a freelance book illustrator & artist based in the commuter town of Ampthill, in Bedfordshire. I would love to illustrate your book cover, rule book, TTRPG hardback sleeve or graphic novel.

Whether you have a story that is historical, lifestyle or science fiction I would like to help convey a tone for the story through a cover (and other illustrations in your book ).

The saying goes – don’t judge a book by its cover – but everybody does! The cover entices the reader to read the book, or at least pick the book up!

I have created a range of artwork for clients, ranging from pencil drawings, and character art to cover work. I also like to work on my own projects when time permits.

Below are some of my illustration skills and services that I can offer.

Freelance Book Cover Artist | Aspirations

When a potential reader eagerly grabs your book from the shelf, you want them to feel compelled to turn the pages and immerse themselves in the story. This is also true for any book. Be it a rulebook, codex, novel, or short story.

As a freelance book cover artist ( or illustration for books to be exact ), I strive to work with my clients’ needs to create something that is both pleasing to the eye and captures the essence of the narrative and context of what has been written.

At least… that is what I aspire to.

I like to work with writers, game creators, authors, historians, TTRPG makers and those that what to tell a compelling story. I enjoy reading myself and share my passion for story-telling.

I like to work with friendly and polite clients that are open to collaboration to meet a creative goal. I look forward to reading your brief. If you have any questions either get in touch or read some of the additional information below.

Example Commission | Pencil Drawings | History Book

historical drawings - Freelance book cover artist

Drawing depcting a dame school - Freelance book cover artist

My part in this project was for the inside of the book as opposed to the cover artwork. For my part of the project, I had to create a series of drawings for a client. You can read more about this on the historical drawing page.

All the drawings are copyrighted to their respective owners, please do not save, download, print, or distribute these illustrations.

This was a live brief commissioned under ‘Cosawes Manor’.

Example Commission | Paint & Cover | TTRPG Book

The illustration brief was to create a cover painting for a client’s TTRPG. The images above show a bit of process involved in creating the artwork that was later used for the book.

*Please note that all the images are copyright to Oakbound Studio.

Freelance Book Cover Artist & Illustrator | Skills

Below is a summary of skills I can offer for creating illustration and artwork for books.

Cover Artwork & Illustration
Spot pieces
Diagrams
Full-Spreads
Border pieces
Sketches
Graphic novel work
Character illustration and avatars
Drawings / Representation of equipment

Freelance Book Cover Artist | Technical Art Skills

As a freelance book cover artist, I also have a years of technical experience. In addition to my traditional drawing skills, I have a working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Indesign to put books and catalogs together. So when creating the illustrations I can check for sizes and also make the artwork ready for print if necessary.

Artwork can be created either in a pencil sketch, full-color digital painting, mixed media, fully rendered pencil drawings. Water soluble oils.

These can cover a wide range of genre from fiction, history, to figurative.

My freelance process for book illustration

As a general overview of my illustration process, there are a few key stages that I wish to draw your attention to. ( This is a rough outlier to process, each project is unique and can require an individual approach to problem solve ).

Shorthand version for my freelance book art process :

A client will send me a brief about their book project
I will discuss the details with the client and do my research
Then, I come up with some initial ideas and very rough sketches – then discuss the direction from there.
I will then take these early ideas and start to create the initial artwork.
Further, develop artwork and show polished book illustration(s).
Finish off the project ready for the client to use

Administrative Information for hiring my illustration services

NDA – After agreeing to a commission and doing the paperwork, I would be more than happy to sign an NDA to keep your project top secret if required. If you have any additional questions with regards to my skills and services feel free to send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Copyright needs to be discussed on a case-by-case basis. But I’m more often than not happy to sell the copyright along with the artwork. ( alternatively, you can look at my license details )