The Fey at Play and the Four Fairies

There are a number of subtle, continuing themes running through a lot of my work especially the Four Fairies and the Fey at Play. In particular is the recurring idea of placing or setting. Ideally something that will provide a contrasting prop for the main character or subject. In both series a leaf or a mushroom is used as a platform or a prop.

In a simple, suggestive move the subject matter can be granted a fantastical setting just by inference of the immediate setting, or simply something out of place held in an otherwise ordinary and mundane hand. And often the simplest out of place artefacts create the most striking, fantasy image. In this case the leaf or toadstool infer a very small stature of the subject.

Fey at Play first Bouzouki player, pencil, pen and ink.

The Fey at Play and the Four Fairies are each given the appearance of having wings and Elven like ears. However it is the leaf or toadstool they are sat upon or set beside that really seals the fantasy element.

In the more recent Fey illustrations the 'prop' or 'setting' has become slightly understated in favour of more realism in the main character and more detail in general. Nevertheless it remains a vital technique in this sub-genre of fantasy art.

Sometimes the roles are reversed and it is the 'setting' or 'prop' that is mundane and very much in its place whilst the subject is unusual or misplaced, be it a monster, a hero, an alien or even a flight of sharks.

Shark Infested Skies, pen and ink available from the Shop.

The use of a leaf as a prop is an obvious and effective device to evoke images of fairy lore and folk tales swiftly to the mind of any reader or audience.

Whilst leafage can manifest in a huge variety of sizes most of us are more familiar with garden and park variety dimensions and this stereotype is only reinforced by several generations of fantasy and fairy tale themed illustrative renderings for books, posters and eventually television.

Similarly a toadstool or mushroom instantly conjures images of fantasy and adventure with an even more potent reputation for transcendent, even mystical narratives.

Lawnmower Man mowing his lawn. Pen and Ink

And when the reverse is true and it's the prop that is ultra-mundane, then the lawnmower is a perfect example of the 'supra secular' and 'prosaic' in action bringing even a caped crusader down to merely ground level strangeness. It almost single-handedly represents the most prosaic of suburban status symbols as to be a cliche itself for middle-class conformity.

The Fey at Play Illustration Project

I had originally planned to create a drawing of a fairy or pixie sat upon a mushroom playing an electric guitar a few years ago, though it took a little while to get the project off the ground as technical challenges, and inspiration, both conspired to create something more ambitious than originally planned.

First there were the challenges mostly to do with design and my choice of cartridge. This involved switching Isograph nibs from 0.10mm, the smallest I could get my hands on, back to 0.18mm, my long trusted original choice.

The 0.10mm nib was so small that the ink actually appeared grey on the page such was the minute deposit of ink in the pointillism technique. It looked more like a graphite illustration than pen and ink. It took a completed A4 drawing for me to conclude that my usual choice of nib was best and so it was back to the drawing board…literally.

First face draft with 0.10mm Isograph nib.

A second image was started, and the improvement was immediately apparent. However, my first impression of the character I had drawn had, for some reason, not sat well with me. It appeared too dark, too many dots had been applied, and I felt that I’d set myself up for a dark toned illustration and by inference more work to do. Once again, I felt I had to start over again, though I would eventually return to and finished the second image, but more of that later.

My next choice was a fiddle player. Having worked as a peripatetic guitar tutor, I was gifted a small violin on my departure after having shown an interest. This inspired a couple of ideas regarding the ‘little people’ playing as an ensemble of different characters. Indeed, this is where a sense of inspiration began to manifest.

Being a new and rather unfamiliar contraption to my eyes the violin proved a challenging and compelling instrument to draw. I had been used to drawing guitars and variants of guitars for as long as I could remember but not so the violin and it's rather different bowing technique. As a result, I enjoyed the task of trying to represent a violin player as authentically as possible.

Fey Playing Violin, early stages. Pencil, pen and ink.

My usual technique is to roughly sketch with pencil my planned illustration and then fill in the ink as I go along, as if the ink was shading in the pencil rough. This always requires a sensitivity to how much pointillism is being applied. Too much shading and I run the risk of setting myself up for too much unnecessary stippling work later on in the picture. There is always a balance of light and shade in every picture, especially where realism and rendering are concerned.

With a sensitive balance assured I can proceed stage by stage, pencil first followed by ink, until near completion of the design. At this stage it becomes a question of final, subtle shading.

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