Bookends Idea

This is art from an idea I had called Bookends. It's got a somewhat Steven Universe-like premise where instead of the characters having forms and personalities based on different kinds of gemstones, these personalities have manifested from different types of books.

It's set in a future where books are no longer used. Without the ideas contained in books being diluted to the populace, the books have manifested as sentient creatures and have been discovered by a single little girl who's trying to preserve them. I was originally never going to share this, but then I came up with an idea I'm really excited about. And now I can put this one out here safely. It was really fun designing the books, and you can see the different sheets of paper that make up their forms. Even the book covers have some function on them. It'd be so cool to put the page texture on them in a digital format, but I thought trying to replicate that texture here would take away from the art. Anyway, I thought I'd give you the personalities of each of the characters so you could have some idea what was going on. They are basically parodies of stereotypical genre's so some of their features should be recognizable at a glance. They'd meet other kinds of books and people along the way of course, but this is the "core group."

(Bottom)Laura: The single-named human girl who first discovered the library where these books were hiding out in. She's exactly the kind of person who needs to be able to curl up with a good book from time to time, but she never knew it until now. She'd probably need the most developing before this idea was ever taken off the shelf. She's a necessary presence, but she's not quite as interesting as the sentient books.

(Top)The Great Journey: An epic fantasy tale of sprawling lands, wizards, and dragons. “Jour” has perhaps unexpectedly manifested as a girl and is an incredibly valiant knight-like big-sister. Often speaks in nearly incomprehensible poetry, but is loving and good and is perhaps the only book of the three who can really laugh at herself. Her book cover forms the chest-plate of her armor. I didn't draw her big enough.

(Left)1983: A classic dystopian novel who looks and acts like a mopey teenager. 83’s extreme paranoia and ability to find the most pessimistic, tragic, overly-complex interpretations of the most innocent happenings can be humorous in that he says them in total seriousness and nearly without emotion. His book cover forms the pocket in his jacket. He was the only book who's design I just drew today.

(Right)Classic Children’s Fairytales: “I’ve always thought of myself as more of a Classica than a Classic.” Stereotype princess with a belief in happily ever after. Bubbly, remarkably philosophical at times, slightly lazy, and overly-emotional. You can't see it from here because her capelet is covering it, but her book cover forms her fairy wings. Her design is probably the least original, but I think it's the funnest.