Month: May 2023

Originally, I only planned for one tree to be in the foreground of the piece, however I later decided to change it to two trees as I wanted the viewer to feel as though they were observing quietly from a distance.

For my final piece I used both acrylic paint and soft pastels on an A0 canvas.
I wanted to depict a sleeping fawn, as they are often associated with the innocence of childhood.
I chose to use an unnatural colour palette because I wanted it to feel almost dreamlike.
I wanted to use the pastels as I believe they bring a softness that the paint alone cannot achieve, or at least not in the same way. I also think that they aid in creating interesting lighting within a piece, which is what I was inspired to do after viewing Bauer’s work.
I decided to keep the details on the fairies very minimal, as I didn’t want them to be the focal point of the piece.

This is my biggest piece to date, and it was very daunting to begin working on, but I think it has improved my confidence in creating larger pieces, so perhaps I’ll do more in the future.
One of the things I noticed was at times the canvas was grating down the pastels quite rapidly, which was rather wasteful. I saved the majority of the shavings so I can find a way to use them in future work.

Margaret Tarrant is a British illustrator known for her popular illustrations of fairies, which are often detailed and lively.
I find her use of colour to be really nice, and she sets the tone within her pieces by using it. While some of her pieces are bright, and seem to radiate spring, some of her other pieces take on a more muted, pastel palette.
Many of her detailed, larger pieces have really nice composition that draws the viewer in.

I really dislike this as piece as I ran into a lot of issues surrounding the hair and face, and I was unable to properly fix them. I do like how the dress and plants came out, but I think the issues overshadow the positives. I used watercolour and coloured pencils for this

I went on a trip to Cliffe Castle to see the historical items, and artwork, that are there, as I thought I may find a piece there that would inspire me.

I decided to draw the taxidermy two headed lamb they have, as there is a lot of folklore and superstition surrounding animals with this deformity. I did this with crayon as I had worked with oil pastels, and wondered if I would have the same issues with regular crayons, and I found that I didn’t, however they were far harder to blend. I don’t think I would use them again.

In previous projects I have attempted lino cutting, and I have wanted to continue practicing by including it in this project. I decided to create a dragon that is inspired by the dragons depicted throughout Chinese history. I decided to do this as I saw a very intricately created vase on my trip to Cliffe Castle that depicted two dragons as its handles.

While I am still making some mistakes, especially on the legs and tail of the dragon, I do think I am improving slightly in controlling the tools, and using the correct amount of pressure when necessary.

The Green Man is a figure that is thought to originate from the 16th century, and is often depicted as having leaves coming out of his eyes, nose, and mouth. He tends to be covered in foliage, however the design has been altered at different points in time.
It is often found on religious buildings, especially medieval churches, and is thought to be a symbol of rebirth, and the arrival of spring.

I wanted to draw this giant isopod as I feel as though creatures such as this tend to fall into the category of being rather otherworldly, and I imagine it would have created a story for itself, such as the kraken, if discovered sooner.