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"The Choice Within" Chapter Illustrations

Project Type

Illustrative sketches

Date

August 2025

When author, Stephanie Woodman, approached me about illustrating her newest book, I was elated at the opportunity. With this being my first big freelance project for someone, I was determined to make the images she had in mind come to life. Each illustration was drafted and completed in graphite before I transfered it to a digital format for the final edits.

All rights and ownership for these images belong to Vortex Press LLC. If you are interested in having me work on a similar project, please reach out through email or submit an interest form.

There are three sets of pencil sketches on the page. An Eastern style dragon poses defensively above the image of a tigress who is snarling, ready for a fight. They look like they could be from the same scene. To the right of them is an image of a medallion. Engraved on it are the dragon and tigress chasing each other in yin-yang sort of style.

There are four pencil sketches. The one in the top left is of the Dr. Seuss character, Ann the mosquito, which he designed for the US military to encourage troops to get malaria vaccines. Below it, the picture of a lonely frog in a pond, and to the right of that, a Monkey Pod tree with a bench beneath it. In the top right, there's an image of Mt. Fuji with a forest of Cherry Trees at the base.

There are four pencil sketches. The one in the top left is of an iceberg floating in the middle of the ocean. Below it, there is a picture of an old Edison lightbulb. Next to that one is a picture of a few young pine tree saplings. In the top right, there's an image of the Milky Way Galaxy.

There are three pencil sketches. The one in the top left is of a soldier playing a bugle in front of the setting sun. In the top right, there's a drawing of a Japanese Kamikaze pilot steering his plane into a target. In the bottom middle, there's a line of four coffins, each one draped in the American flag.

There are four pencil sketches. The one in the top left is of palm tree on an empty beach with a frigate out on the horizon line. Below it, there's a picture of a ship trapped between the crashing ocean waves in the middle of a typhoon. Next to that one is a picture of a manta ray from below surrounded by some bubbles. In the top right, there's a ship stuck in a thick, soupy fog.

There are two pencil sketches. The one to the left is a pair of Great Northern Tits on a tree branch. Next to it is a small jar of lavendar sprigs.

There are four pencil sketches on this page. The one in the top left is a messily made snow angel with a trail of footprints leading away from it. Next to it in the top right is an image of a church that has been turned into a temporary hospital for soldiers. Below it are four planes flying in a V formation. And on the bottom left is a woman gazing up at the moon in the starry night sky as the wind blows her hair around.

There are four pencil sketches on this page. The one in the top left is a soda float in an old fashioned glass. Beside it is another image, this one showing an older looking hand letting blood drip down his finger to the cloth on the table below. On the bottom left, a picture of someone's hand writing in a diary. Lastly, on the right half, a picture of a hand with a baseball glove on going to catch the incoming baseball.

There are four pencil sketches of planes on this page. The top left is a black Japanese K11W flying. The bottom left picture is of a glider flying a few feet off the grass. In the bottom right is a Japanese bomber plane with its pilot beside it, waving goodbye. On the top right is the Japanese B-459 flying upwards.

There's three pencil sketches on this page. The top left is a picture of an orca breaching the water and splashing back down into it. The top right is a fearsome looking image of the Gorgon, Medusa, with her hair of snakes hissing, ready to strike. The bottom middle image shows a mythical creature known as a Baku. It has the body of a tiger, the mane of a lion and the trunk and tusks of an elephant.

There are four pencil sketches on this page. The one in the top left is a medical tent with tables, supplies, etc. Next to it in the top right is an image of a nurse in white shows reaching down to pet a calico cat who leans into it affectionately. Below it is a Japanese Seninbari belt, or a 'thousand stitch belt'. And on the bottom left is a path of Japanese Torii Gates with a sunlight shining through the tree beside it.

This page has two pencil sketches on it. The top one shows four brownies on a napkin, some crumbs scattered around it. On the bottom, there's a picture of a pathway leading down to a hilly beach, a broken down fence and some bits of grass partially obscure the expanse of the ocean.

There are three pencil sketches on the page. The top middle shows an old advertisement for V-Mail, sporting the phrase, 'V-Mail is Speed Mail. You write, he'll fight' beside a picture of a soldier heading into battle. On the bottom left, there's a picture of a window with a flag hung in it. The flag is white and has a darker border with a star in the middle of it. On the bottom right, there's a sign in front of a bunch of trees that directs soldiers with various arrows to the enlisted men's area, the beer garden, the baseball fields, and the bathing beach. Below it is a smaller sign that points to the CPO area.

There are five pencil sketches here. On the top left, a single sakura blossom falling down. Right below it is a picture of a bean bun split down the middle to show the dark filling. On the bottom left is a small dish od candied beans covered in sugar. On the top right, there's an image of a shooting star in a starry night sky. And on the bottom right, there's a young Japanese woman in a white robe with her black hair tied up with a lily flower in it. In the background, a massive full moon and some trees against the night sky.

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