Books, concepts, and commercial work.
A selection of illustration projects, from book covers and story art to concept series and client commissions. Click any piece to view full size.
Book covers
Covers made in close collaboration with authors and publishers. Each one went through several sketch rounds before landing on the final.
Book illustrations
Interior pieces, story scenes, and promotional artwork that goes with the covers above. Characters and scenes drawn to live alongside the words.
Commercial work
Digital airbrush illustrations for a cleaning company campaign, playful character work for a brand that wanted humor in their messaging.
Made by hand, not by prompt.
Every illustration on this page came from a real conversation with a real author or client. Here's why that still matters in 2026:
When you commission an illustration, we talk. I read your manuscript, ask questions, send rough sketches, listen to your feedback, and iterate. The final piece reflects your project, not a generic average of every project that came before.
Original artwork comes with clear copyright that's yours to license, print, or use however you need. AI-generated images still sit in a legal gray zone, and a growing number of publishers, awards, contests, and platforms now reject AI work outright.
I learned the slow way: years of practice, art school, real human teachers. The style you see here is mine, not borrowed from thousands of artists whose work was used as training data without their consent.
Hand-made illustration carries intention in a way that machine-generated work can't quite imitate. Readers can feel the difference, even when they can't name it.
Some of these pieces are over a decade old, some are recent, but each one came from a real conversation with a real author or client. If your project needs that kind of attention, I'd love to hear from you.
Yours,
Carolyn Pini