I use AI comic-book style art for character description references. I also found that comic book-style was more "forgiving, particularly for my non-human/alien characters. I then hire an actual artist, select the best character picture(s), and tell the artist "this is what they look like, please add this and/or have them do this action." The cover picture for my upcoming novella "Day Zero: Catalyst" came out great. It's now being colored.
I use AI comic-book style art for character description references. I also found that comic book-style was more "forgiving, particularly for my non-human/alien characters. I then hire an actual artist, select the best character picture(s), and tell the artist "this is what they look like, please add this and/or have them do this action." The cover picture for my upcoming novella "Day Zero: Catalyst" came out great. It's now being colored.