I was dying to experiment with a vintage-style illustration. You know, the kind you find in the old children’s books… I had a go, and it’s not as easy as it looks! The result is the fairy poem and art below.
Truth is, I’ve been immersed in a fantasy world recently upon recently releasing my children’s middle grade book, Jem and the Yumboes to the world.
Let me emphasize: I just LOVE the fantasy world! Give me “Lord of the Rings”, pretty much any book by Mary Brown, the works of T. Kingfisher, etc. etc. and I’m transported to another world. Sometimes, it’s difficult to return. I guess I love the fantasy genre so much because there’s always something a teeny bit surprising about it. You never know what exciting and strange characters you’ll meet. Or what will happen next. Imagination can run riot!
When I was young, the old-style vintage children’s books about fairies and strange creatures held a similar appeal for me. Even back then, I was mesmerised by their delightfully appealing hand-drawn illustrations – painted with so delicate and expert a hand.
I needed to have a go. I sat down at my easel and drew some mushrooms sprouting happily from the earth. Next, I added a little fairy face peeking cheekily around a mushroom stalk. I decided to use mostly monochromatic browns to create a sepia effect. However, once everything was almost finished I felt the eye needed a little something extra to focus on. So, I added a pop of bright red in the form of a ladybird. This was quite successful. To my mind it lifts the mood and draws the eye towards the main focus – the fairy boy.
As things go, even though I had finished the painting; I wasn’t quite finished! Turns out that the painting felt incomplete without some words to go with it. The little poem below is what sprung out of the whole exercise.
I hope you like it.
Fae Away
If you crouch down low
Where the mushrooms grow
There in the grass green
Fairy folk are seen
But make not a sound
For if you are found
Fae away, Fae away, oh
Shy Fae hide away
