Teen’s passion for art illustrated in new book

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Woodland Regional High School sophomore Kaylee Velez, 16, holds a copy of ‘Deathly Pale’ by Anthony Paolucci in her home May 1. Velez created the illustrations for the book. Velez and Paolucci will be signing copies of the book from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday at the Beacon Falls Public Library. –LUKE MARSHALL
Woodland Regional High School sophomore Kaylee Velez, 16, holds a copy of ‘Deathly Pale’ by Anthony Paolucci in her home May 1. Velez created the illustrations for the book. Velez and Paolucci will be signing copies of the book from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday at the Beacon Falls Public Library. –LUKE MARSHALL

BEACON FALLS — A local teen has a drawn blood for a new book.

Woodland Regional High School sophomore Kaylee Velez, 16, created all of the artwork for “Deathly Pale,” a novel by Anthony Paolucci of New Milford.

“Deathly Pale” is about vampires and humans who are able to coexist peacefully until a disaster begins to threaten that harmony, Paolucci explained. He described the story as a paranormal romance.

Paolucci said he asked Velez to do the illustrations for his book because he was impressed with her talent.

“She had drawn a picture for my daughter, and it was apparent that she had a gift. She approached me about doing a book last year, and I had just started writing ‘Deathly Pale.’ When I reviewed some of her work on Facebook, I realized how much she had grown talent wise and agreed to a project right away,” Paolucci said.

Velez said Paolucci suggested what scenes he would like to have drawings for and, after she read the book, she drew what she imagined. She drew seven pictures for the book in total.

She drew them as they inspired her, not necessarily in chronological order with the story.

“All of them I did out of order and took my time with them,” Velez said.

Velez is no stranger to the artistic world, and has had a passion for creating artwork since the age of 5.

“I started getting into drawing and, since then, never stopped,” Velez said.

This illustration was created by Woodland Regional High School sophomore Kaylee Velez for the book ‘Deathly Pale.’ –CONTRIBUTED
This illustration was created by Woodland Regional High School sophomore Kaylee Velez for the book ‘Deathly Pale.’ –CONTRIBUTED

Velez said she began honing her drawing style after a friend introduced her to anime, a Japanese style of drawing.

“I thought the style looked really neat so I started practicing it around sixth grade. Then I tried developing my own style,” Velez said.

Her preferred method of creating artwork is with PaintTool SAI, a computer painting program, which she used to design and create all of the artwork in the book.

“I mostly do stuff on the computer, but when I’m at school or somewhere I can’t access one I draw in a sketchbook,” Velez said.

When she is not drawing vampires for Paolucci’s book Velez prefers to draw fantasy creatures such as dragons, angels, and demons. However, she does not want to limit herself and has recently been trying her skills at realism.

Paolucci and Velez will both be at the Beacon Falls Library from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday to sign copies of the “Deathly Pale.”