Sketch/Scrap Book

Tired gays of Parijatdvipa. Just wanted to paint Priya and Malini in a tender moment because hurt/comfort is my jam 😝 also wanted to draw Malini in her light mail armor from Lotus Empire!

In honor of the sapphic gaze and Malini being so down bad for Priya, I tried to panel some key scenes comparing how her view towards Priya changes as they grow closer through Books 1-3.

The way she went from thinking Priya was “unlovely and forgettable” in the beginning of The Jasmine Throne to “You are like ink and all I want is to make poetry of you” in Oleander Sword to “could stare at that face for hours” is so funny/cute to me, but also heartwarming. 😆

(All text quoted in the drawings are exerpts from The Jasmine Throne, The Oleander Sword and The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri)

No one deserved to finally make love more than Priya and Malini, after everything they’d been through! ❤️‍🔥

Will you do it as my ally? Ally. As if that encompassed even half of it. But Malini could not ask for this on the basis of whatever lay between them: A handful of furious kisses, a knife against a heart, a flower around a throat, a yearning that never truly seemed to abate.

Priya looked at her and looked at her, and somehow the looking had brought them closer together

——

Priya and Malini are peak yearning and restraint 😭❤️‍🔥

The scene is from Book 2 of The Burning Kingdoms (The Oleander Sword) by Tasha Suri

I also wanted to try doing something in an Ivan Bilibin fairy tale style illustration.

Some scenes and concept art from my sketchbook. I like figuring out designs through sketching before I work on illustrations!

That scene from Lotus Empire 👀

Priya binding herself for Malini was so hot 🥵

“This isn’t real.”

“All of our dreams are real. They wouldn’t hurt so much if they weren’t.”

-from The Lotus Empire (book 3 of The Burning Kingdoms) by Tasha Suri

“Is that what love is, Malini? Is that how awful love is? Because if it is, then I love you, the way that roots love the deep and leaves love the light. And no matter how much I try to be good, to do right- I’m all flowers in your arms, for your war, for you-“

-from The Oleander Sword (Book 2 of The Burning Kingdoms) by Tasha Suri

The Jasmine Throne/Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri

I just read The Jasmine Throne and the entire Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tash Suri! I’m filled with inspiration to make concept art and visualize the words from the book.

What a wonderful, immersive political fantasy with a deeply moving love story.

Here’s a painting of how I imagined Priya and Malini.

The Hunter and the Witch

Supporting Characters for my story/world-building project. I actually got sidetracked from the main plot/character when I got inspired to make this subplot 😬