Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

As soon as I saw the book cover for Eyes Like Stars I knew I had to read it. It’s just so pretty. Beau­ti­fully ren­dered, and it’s so unusual to see an illus­tra­tion like this on the cover of a YA book that it didn’t really mat­ter to me what the story was about. The best illus­tra­tions give you sense of the story within, and I think this dig­i­tal paint­ing by con­cept artist and illus­tra­tor Jason Chan does just that.

Gor­geous rich colours, beau­ti­ful sub­tle light­ing, a girl with the kind of hair I only wish I could pull off, and fairies (and not just any fairies, but the fairies from A Mid­sum­mer Night’s Dream!). I didn’t even care about read­ing any reviews on whether the story was any good or not. When a book is graced with such qual­ity illus­tra­tion and design, I tend to just assume the story inside with live up to the art­work. I love how Square Fish has allowed the art­work sell the book, and kept any font to a bare min­i­mum. These ini­tial draw­ings and work-in-progress pic­tures give you an idea of how Jason Chan cre­ated the illustration:

Jason Chan has done the art­work for the cov­ers of all three books in the series. All are lovely, but I think the third cover, So Sil­ver Bright, is my per­sonal favourite. The detail on the dress and thick the­atre cur­tain is exquis­ite and I love the darker tones. I also enjoy see­ing how the main protagonist’s hair keeps chang­ing with each cover!

To read an inter­view with Jason Chan about his work on the The­atre Illu­mi­nata series, click here.

You can also check out his other work on his blog here.