Fantasy Book Covers By Latvian Artist Come Alive With Dragons And Lizards

'Polymer clay' sounds like what cyborg golems are made from, but it’s actually the material Aniko Kolesnikova uses to make fantastic book covers. Going by the nom-de-plume MandarinDuck, she molds, twists, turns, presses and prods clumps of this synthetic clay until it takes on glorious shapes and forms. The book covers are nothing short of magnificent: a wise owl stares from the cover of one book, a tiger's footprint is full of morning dew in another, and two colorful dragons go for an embrace in the third. All of these covers are spectacular, extremely fitting for tomes of magical arcana… or low-fantasy books modeled on the War of Roses by an author who keeps fans endlessly waiting for more. You know who you are! Currently based in the United Kingdom, Kolesnikova is entirely dedicated to creative life and polymer clay. She runs her own YouTube channels where she shows off her products and hosts tutorials for people interested in making their own art. Finished pieces are traded on Etsy. And in the end, it's a busy day of working the clay, filming, doing research and trying “to smile a lot”. By the way, polymer clay isn't actual clay; it's based on PCV (third most produced plastic in the world) resin, and can be baked in a kitchen oven. Just don't try to eat it! More info: mandarin-duck.com | Etsy | Facebook | Flickr | Twitter (h/t: boredpanda)

Here's a video on how it's done: