Here’s my latest fancast/dreamcast!

The Bonds That Tie series is a Urban Fantasy, Reverse Harem romance series that’s super popular in the book community and is about a young girl, Oleander Fallows, who ran away and is caught and brought back to her bonded when that was actually the last thing she wanted…but why? The mystery surrounding that remains to be seen unless you read why, but her 5 bonded sure don’t hide their confusion, hurt, betrayal, and rage over the decision and how it’s affected them.

It’s a very mix of X-Men and The Covenant kind of vibes for me, and I will admit these books are absolutely binge-worthy. Definitely give them a try and see who your favorite bonded is for Oli

(spoiler: mine’s a very close tie between Gryphon and North)

Before we get too into this, just a reminder that this is how ME, MYSELF, & I pictured the characters in these books…you are valid to disagree, but either keep scrolling or be respectful about verbalizing it or just don’t say anything at all. It’s not hard to do….I’m only sharing how I saw these characters in my head, and I really am not going to listen to rude, faceless internet people who don’t agree with my choices and feel the need to blast me on how wrong you think I am.

Unless its race/ethnicity related, I’m happy to be corrected in that regards, but otherwise I. Do. Not. Care…I am tired and just want to share my thoughts on MY website and don’t have the energy for someone who feels the need to make a snappy line at how wrong they think I am on my own platform to try and make themselves feel better for whatever reason…I will just delete the comment and carry on like it never existed and not give it any more thought.

Thank you

~~~

Here is my Fancast/Dreamcast of the Bonds That Tie Series:

Oleander Fallows: Gionna Daddio

~~~

North Draven: Mitchell Wick, or Kevin Lütolf

Kevin, image courtesy of menofsublimebeauty.com

~~~

Gabriel Ardern: Arvid Hestner

Image courtesy of the model’s Instagram page

~~~

Nox Draven: Austin Sikora, or Spencer Neville

Austin, image courtesy of the models X profile

Spencer, image courtesy of the actor’s IMDB profile

~~~

Gryphon Shore: Giacomo Gallani

image courtesy of the model’s Instagram profile

~~~

Atlas Bassinger: Jordan Addesi

~~~

Sage Benson: Victoria Justice, or Camila Cabello

~~~

Sawyer Benson: Diego Boneta

~~~

Felix Davenport: Pierson Fode

Image courtesy of the actor’s IMDB profile

~~~

Riley: Jacob Elordi

~~~

Giovanna: Madelyn Cline

~~~

Gracie Davenport: Grace Van Dien

~~~

Gray: Kody Kearsley

~~~

Kieran Black: Ed Skrein

~~~

Kyrie Shore: Lyndsey Fonseca

~~~

Vivian Wentley: Michael Keaton

Image courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter

~~~

Silas Davies: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, or Eric Dane

~~~

Aro Han: Lana Condor

~~~

Senator Oldham: Gillian Anderson

Image courtesy of the actress’s IMDB profile

~~~

There you have it!

I’m really not in the mood for folks who feel the need to comment how off I am or not accurate I am to certain characters unless a character’s race was specifically mentioned that I unintentionally missed, but other than the main six characters, I feel like physical descriptions were also bare minimum in these books, so a lot of them I’m just going off vibes and who I just pictured as these characters in the books with actors/models/celebs I just know off the top of my head. Be kind in your disagreement or just keep scrolling (specifically off my website too), times are hard right now…

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

~~~

Hey Readers!

Welcome back, it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these articles here on my blog, so I thought well it’s about time to showcase some more artists! Art continues to matter so so so so so much, and with recent stories coming out of AI apps stealing from actual artists, there’s been a sort of digital revolution brewing of showing more support for artists, especially in the online bookish community on platforms like Instagram and Tiktok! Personally, I do appreciate some AI art and what it can do, yet I do agree that it shouldn’t involve stealing from other artists who have copyrighted work.

Below I’ve gathered an extensive list of talented individuals to add onto the other articles I’ve posted in previous years (Scroll to the bottom to get links to Parts 1 and 2!!) and I’ve included their Instagram profile name and/or their actual names if known or mentioned, I DEFNINITELY recommend giving them a follow!

I also own NONE of the images used in this post, and while I gain no financial benefits from this post and just like to help get names of artists out there, should any artist mentioned on here wish for me to take down any of their work because they don’t want it reposted on this platform, please feel free to reach out to me in any way to let me know! I’d be more than happy to do so with as little drama as possible!

Enjoy the beautiful artwork! This list is in no particular order!

FYI: you can click on the artwork to get a closer look at it!

~~~

Rosita Popova / @rosalynnarts

Here’s an artist I really enjoy who’s from Bulgaria, and my eyes BULGE out of my sockets at the incredible-ness of her art style! Yeah, there’s going to be puns in this, and I make no apologies whether they’re good or bad…Anyways, she does a wonderful job of making her character art look soft and cartoony, but still have an edge to them. As you can see from her work shown above, I first noticed her because of her work with book series like Vampire Academy, A Court of Thorns and Roses (or anything Sarah J Maas), and even Serpent and Dove!

~~~

Olivia / @vvivia

Another cartoony style that I absolutely love! Olivia has done a wonderful art piece of Rowan and Aelin that I noticed and helped me discover them on Instagram, and from then on I’ve loved seeing her posts of other SJM characters, Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and even Danny Phantom for Nostalgia sake!

~~~

Otoko Bara / @otokobara

Anyone who follows me on my bookstagram account (@goodyreads) knows I’m a BIG fan of muscular shirtless men, and this artist LOVES to push the boundaries of hot male objectification with his artwork! He takes beloved kid TV/Movie characters and sexualizes them up for the fans that grew up and can now see them in a new light…or that light is blocked because a certain phallic shaped object is in the way…that depends on what your perspective is!

~~~

Beriz Art / @berizart

This artist really reminds me of others I’ve done in previous parts of these articles: I feel like there’s definitely some inspiration from Charlie Bowater and Sasha Lee Coleman with the similarities I see if their styles. I would say I especially love the artwork done for “The Shadows Between Us” I included above with Allesandra’s flowing red dress and Kallias’s hair….so much yes in that art piece.

~~~

Michelle Ryckman / @whimsicalillustration

You can tell this artist is a big “Caraval” fan based of a good chunk of her artwork, and I cannot blame her in the slightest because of how much fun that whole world Stephanie Garber created is! I can also really appreciate this artist because she wrote her own trilogy and illustrated her own covers for it too! Whimsical is the perfect way to describe Michelle’s style.

~~~

Juliet BxRomance / @bxromance

I would argue that Juliet is one of the most recognizable artists in the whole bookish community! When you see her work, it’s instantly recognizable and stands out amongst the rapidly growing names of artists in this community. I LOVE her work and have ordered MANY prints of her stuff wherever its available, it’s just too bad she hasn’t been active on social media because (allegedly) since she’s in Russia and there’s a big social media ban over there with everything that’s been going on?

~~~

Beth Gilbert / @bethgilbert_art

Beth Gilbert has really made her name known by doing the obvious: doing ACOTAR artwork that looks AMAZING, but she’s also done some of the best “Zodiac Academy” artwork as well too, She drew one of the best Lance Orion artwork portraits that I’ve seen! Unfortuntale I just couldn’t get an image of him to share on here, BUT @atouchofmagicdesigns on Etsy has it for sale if you want to grab a copy for yourself!

~~~

Aejujubes Sricharachai / @aenaluck_jujubes

This artist is an absolute favorite of mine for VERY obvious reasons…I love the ab-tastic, sexy fantasy men drawn here, there’s like a spicy MM Witcher vibe that I am all about and if anyone has any book recommendations based off that, I’m all ears! the smuttier the better, and speaking of smutty, if this art really draws your eye, go check out this artists Patreon where things get a LOT more NSFW!!

~~~

Dominique Wesson / @dominiquewesson

Dominique became a household name in the bookish community for her amazing work with the ACOTAR characters, and from there she’s become one of the most popular artists…I mean, just LOOK at her men! I’m drooling more than if a freshly hot pizza was placed right in front of me.

~~~

Jeleynai / @jeleynai

This artist had my full support as soon as I laid my eyes on her version of Casteel Da’Neer (top image). I loved it so much I bought a giant print of him to eventually hang on my wall to be able to appreciate his beauty every day alongside my bookshelves…I’m not obsessed!

~~~

Jonas Pina / @joninhaart

I absolutely adore this artists work with popular pop culture figures and reimagining them into whatever way he’s feeling at the time! He does a lot mainly with Disney and Marvel characters, but he’s also done plenty of big Hollywood actors, and even the Scooby Doo gang! He has this comic idea of Henry Cavill and Chris Evans being secret agents, and I NEED this to become an actual thing, or I may just have to write a story of it myself, but my twist is to make them gay lovers as well! YES PLEASE!!

~~~

Holly Fox / @thehollyfox

Holly Fox is an Australian artist I discovered because I REALLY like their artwork of Aelin and Rowan out of the third ToG book “Heir of Fire.” I also just really enjoy her style, it reminds me a lot of my own with the heavier outlines and the more graphic-novel-esque style!

~~~

Mads Schofield / @madschofield

Mads is a name who’s become very well known amongst SJM fans as she became well known by doing ACOTAR page overlays for ReadingPortal Co. and I feel like there isn’t much more to say beyond that! I love her style, and as I’m typing this article, she’s coming out with more personal ACOTAR portraits of the cast that have just been absolutely spectacular to look at! I mean, the emotion behind them is just top tier.

~~~

Rio Burton / @rioburton

Rio is one of the artists who was commissioned to do inner artwork for a special pair of Throne of Glass dustjackets that Jo Painter designed, and I fell in love with her work! I especially love her mystical, new agey wolf art, my wolfpack and I on bookstagram especially love it!

~~~

@irenhorrors

Okay, I don’t normally do creepy vibes, but I’ll for sure make an exception with Irenhorrors. I LOVE this creepy, gothic, and even slightly darkly romantic vibe they’ve got going on! I would absolutely read a graphic novel with their work all over it, and even just looking at this stuff makes me want to dive into a gothic romance/horror story! I’m especially drawn to the art piece with the woman on horseback fleeing from a nasty bat creature.

~~~

Yliade / @yliade.art

For any fans of ancient mythology: particularly Greek, Egyptian, and Norse, you ABSOLUTELY need to be aware of this artist! I love the colors especially, so bright and vivid, and the deity featured is always centered and this style is just so unique, I don’t need to explain any further, BIG FAN!

~~~

Thibaud Zamora / @thibaudzamora

This one is a unique choice because they actually use AI technology to create these works of art. AI art is a very controversial topic lately with piracy and stealing copyrighted work from other artists, but I feel like this particular artist is going about it in a different way that may actually be a better way of utilizing the technology after the lawsuits that are currently taking place are settled. First of all, those colors…everything pops and is so vivid!

~~~

Sandra Winther / @sandrawintheart

This artist is very recognizable for her close-up portraits, and the enchanting, hazy yet somehow crisp details mixed in too. VERY airbrushed look, she almost gives her character art an anime-like look with the detail in their eyes. Also, be sure to check out her store, she’s very giving with textures and stamps and brushes for other digital artists, which I myself am and very much appreciate!

~~~

Tal Lewin / @caravaggia13

The hot male subjects and the easy simplicity of this artist just go so well together! I’ve started to notice this artist used for multiple MM romance alternative book covers, and I’ve very quickly become a fan because of it! Big mystery as to why…..

~~~

Elizianna / @elizianna.the.one

Elizianna is an artist who got their name on this list for multiple reasons: One, I like her style, Two, she’s usually the first to post new artwork of characters who don’t get as much attention from other artists, and three: she does A LOT of NSFW art of book characters to help our fantasy’s become a reality!

~~~

Tony Viento / @tonyviento

Another artist who does really good artwork of the bat boys from ACOTAR and has a Patreon with NSFW artwork too?!?! Hmmmm, I wonder why this person is on here….

~~~

Wictoria Nordgard / @wictorian_art

I actually just recently became introduced to this artist thanks to my special dustjackets by Jo Painter for the Throne of Glass series! Her artwork of Manon Blackbeak with that fierce ponytail was featured as the inner dustjacket artwork and I really enjoyed it! They’ve got some serious skill, and I expect to see more of their work inside books in the future!

~~~

Fernanda Fernandez / @mftfernandez

Fernanda is such a fantastic artist! I love the artwork of Aelin (with red hair too!) and Rowan from “Queen of Shadows!” I’m also just a fan of how she does her character’s hair too, the lighting and the texture work is so inspiring; I want to see more of their work inside special editions of books!

~~~

Meri / @cebanart

For some reason, I feel like this artist is very collagey (not sure if thats a word, but hopefully you know what I mean), I feel like their style is kind of similar to AI where they find things online and kind of remix it and not exactly copy and paste it, but definitely edit it enough to where its not exactly full on copying. I could also totally be way off base with this, so don’t quote me or start attacking the artist for whatever reason!

~~~

Abigail Larson / @abigail_larson

VERY similar in style and content to Irenhorrors as seen above, another artist to definitely take note of if you enjoy things on the spookier, gothic, and creepier side! I could definitely see this artist doing work for a Tarot deck if they haven’t already!

~~~

Pandy Als / @pandyals_art

One of my wolfpack members on bookstagram LOVES this artist, and I gotta say I like their work too! I really appreciate their painterly style that has a little bit of a colorful and chaotic feel to it! And since they do so much ACOTAR artwork, I’d say this artist is who I’d most likely say Feyre’s art most resembles!

~~~

Therese / @warickaart

Another gothic artist who makes me think of Leigh Bardugo books and The Folk of the Air series, there’s just a somber and edginess to all their work that really makes it stand out and feel instantly recognizable!

~~~

@jessdraw.s

Another one of the wolfpack recommendations! I just get ultra-glam, beauty magazine vibes from this artist, or some of the straight on shots of the female characters look right out of this game I used to play: Covet Fashion.

~~~

Fernanda Suarez / @fdsuarez

If you like FIERCE females with a bit of an edge, this is an artist to become aware of this artist ASAP! I especially am a fan of their Zodiac personification pieces, like this Phoebe Tonkin as a Capricorn siren/mermaid artwork.

~~~

Gonzalo M. / @gonzalom.art

Okay, but Gonzalo’s Kieran and Casteel are the HOTTEST I’ve seen of those two! The detail in this artist’s work is so astronomical, so amazing…I wish I would come up with better words to describe! The small details throughout each piece are the true highlight of this artist’s work; if you can, zoom in and just scroll around to see what I mean!

~~~

Linnea / @feefal

Feefal is an absolute delight! Her work is absolutely spectacular and I love the inspiration from nature that she gets with all her work! She is a master of character design from evolution within nature with the moon, the stars, plants, and gives them such a fun, fairytale-like aesthetic that folks of all ages can appreciate. Her work really reminds me of my friend Kayla Nyre, whom I listed in my part 1 article!

~~~

@Myrmidia

I discovered this artist on Twitter and I especially love their amazing work with fantasy characters straight out of campaigns from things like Dungeons and Dragons! This artist hasn’t done a whole lot of work in the bookish community, which is actually why I wanted to include them! It’s nice to have some variety on here.

~~~

Rachel Hanke / @rachelhanke27

This artist is one I feel needs more recognition! And if I saw her Rachel’s name listed as an artist for a special edition book that a box like Fairyloot or Illumicrate or whomever was doing, I would get excited!

~~~

Ellie / @mageonduty

I first discovered this artist for her GORGEOUS male art commissions for the Aisling Sea trilogy by Vanessa Rasanen, and from there I’ve just really come to appreciate all of her artwork, but especially the males! Oooofda, especially these bottom two pieces with the pink clouds in the background.

~~~