This is the original cover artwork I created for A Curse Carved in Ink by Tzeyi Koay, a standalone fantasy about an antiquarian bookseller who journeys through the ten layers of hell with a flirtatious goddess of death and a brooding judge of the underworld, all to free her best friend’s soul. The catch? She was forced to kill her.

This piece is especially meaningful to me because it is the very first book cover I have ever illustrated. Creating an image for a story so rich, dark, romantic, and haunting felt incredibly special, and I wanted the painting to feel like a doorway into another world.

The artwork features a the protagonist Zhenya wearing a traditional Chinese hanfu, surrounded by lotus blossoms, drifting petals, temple silhouettes, and glowing spiritual energy. The Chinese characters mean:

“The ghost gate opens, all souls sink below.
Hell is a lotus; ten petals bloom with suffering.”

The original was created with mixed media on paper, combining watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and ink to capture both delicate detail and a otherworldly atmosphere.

As the original artwork for my first official book cover this is a truly a special piece.

Details:
Original cover artwork for A Curse Carved in Ink
36 × 48 cm
Mixed media on Hahnemühle Paper

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