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This week I am working on a fairly large piece of art that actually has a deadline, so I don't have any new craft projects to blog about. However, I've been pouring over the artwork of several astounding illustrators and painters lately... I thought I'd share some with you (and this might become an ongoing thread here at the Faerie Blog).




Coming straight from the Golden Days of Illustration is Arthur Rackham, a famous English illustrator of fairytales, myths, and legends.

Anyone who illustrates the Brothers Grimm, Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Arthur, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Valkyrie, Aesop's Fables, The Wind in the Willows, assorted Greek, Roman, and Norse myths, and other miscellaneous stories has got to be awesome, right?

Combine the subject matter with a dark and mysterious watercolor, sinusoidal sepia pen, an eye for magical lighting, and elegant lines... it's not hard to see why Rackham is one of my favorite artists of all time. I think I was first captured when I saw his illustrations in a very musty, crinkly book of fairytales that I got at the library in grade school.

Plus, his work is now in the public domain! You'll see several of his illustrations grace the February issue of Ink and Fairydust.

Here's just a few of his pieces-- not necessarily my favorite ones, but the ones that I like that are easy to find. :)


You might recognize this painting of a tree dude talking or capturing a girl (I can't tell which)-- it's certainly one of Rackham's works that I've seen all over the place. However, I have no idea what the name of this piece is or what it is from.

At first I thought it might be a drawing of the myth of Daphne, who was chased by Apollo and turned into a laurel tree... but then I realized that this the girl in this drawing is not the tree. No idea what I was thinking!



I'm not sure what this piece is called, but I'm interested in it mostly for the technicalities of that watercolor wash in the background. (I've been trying to learn watercolors and the array of techniques is so overwhelming!)



Pandora. I'm sure you are all well aware of the Greek myth of the first woman Pandora who opens the forbidden box out of curiosity and unleashes horrible things into the world. Frightened, she tried and tried to close the lid on the evils, but succeeds only in trapping Hope.



This is from Undine, which I have never read. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and now I really need to read it, because apparently George MacDonald (an awesome author) considered it one of the best fairy stories ever. It's an old German tale of a water nymph who marries a knight, and my understanding is that the storyline is similar to The Little Mermaid. 


I love the magic and swirl lines in this photo... along with the desaturation except for the blues and greens.



This is such a funny picture... my favorite awkward scene from A Midsummers Night's Dream: when Titania falls in love with Bottom.



A dancing fairy from Peter Pan. I love how she is walking tightrope on a spiderweb.

Aside from his recognizable watercolors, Arthur Rackham did some pretty cool marginalia:

from Peter Pan

a Valkyrie-- one of the warrior maidens of the sky from Norse lore

If you like these works, I'll direct you towards this wonderful website called Art Passions. I just found it today; I believe they have the most comprehensive gallery of Rackham's work. It's a bit hard to navigate-- especially considering the huge amount of artwork that Rackham produced during his prolific career-- but I can guarantee that it's a black hole you'll happily get lost in.

Sadly, there were two people who won giveaways from the 12 Days of Christmas event who have not responded within the past several days (I was nice lazy and didn't announce new ones immediately after the 48 hours were up). So I'm announcing new winners-- again chosen with Random.org.

I just had to immediately prove to the world (*cough* the tiny bit of the world who reads my blog, still a surprisingly giant amount of people) that 1) my new tablet is awesome, and 2) I CAN'T DRAW ON IT VERY WELL YET.

First off, I wanted to say thank you to the wonderful shops who so kindly gave away some of their wares for this giveaway. I do hope you keep them in mind for future birthday gifts, treats for yourself, etc.

Secondly, I want to thank everyone who participated in this 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Extravaganza! I really wish you all could have won! :)

And for those of you who are new to my blog, welcome! I'm a teenaged artist who loves... well, art! This blog is where I share all the artsy knicks and knacks that I work on-- everything from classical drawing to graphics design to jewelry making to crafts.


Below are the winners from the giveaways!

Please note that in some cases an email address was not left. If you won a giveaway, you need to contact me (shealynnsfaerieshoppe@gmail.com) within 48 hours.

I never know what to title these "random posts" that are filled with "random updates," because the word random is no longer random and has, indeed, become annoying.


The first bit of potenially useful information: today is the last day to enter any of the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways! Hurry!



The second bit of potenially interesting information: I started school up again last week.

Okay, so that wasn't interesting at all. But I have to say it. It's my perfectly legitimate excuse for being a lousy blogger in the upcoming weeks. I'm doing a few too many honors classes for my sanity (nevermind that I'm also running the Shoppe, doing graphics for Ink and Fairydust, trying to exercise more, hanging with friends, spending time with my awesome family, cleaning my room.... etc... I'm trying to prove to you that I'm busy here).

I won't be posting every day; in fact, it may be more along the lines of once a week. There are some things-- alot of things... most things... in life that are more important than blogging frequently.

In other school-related news, I'm loving my Literature course. This year all my subjects are focusing on the Medieval Ages. (I am FINALLY done with Ancient Greece and Rome!) So far in Literature I've read everything from Beowulf to Dante's Divine Comedy to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight... and loved every minute of it. The next month will be spent on Chaucer and Shakespeare! *literature/history geek happiness*

However, the 3 essays a week may yet be the death of me.


Third bit of more-interesting-news-than-me-talking-about-school news: I've listed new items in the Shoppe!

Here's just a few of the new items. Browse the first 3 pages of the Faerie Shoppe to see more... and over the next week I plan on photographing the 10 or so things that I made over my lovely Christmas break!

Steampunk style necklace made with an old watch movement, watch face, used guitar strings, used violin strings, and bobbins from said instrument strings. Plus lots of faux garnet. Yummy.

Lembas Leaf Earrings, copper and my favorite beads EVER!

Guitar String Bangle

Blue Flowers

Woodland Leaves-- Made of very study solid copper and green seed beads. I plan on making this set in several colors-- imagine the glories of bright red autumn leaves!

Simply Elegant Copper Leaf Earrings-- a sturdy solid copper (oh my goodness it just about killed my fingers, but it makes for a long-lasting pair of lightweight earrings).