My illustrations for Folktale Week 2020
As an illustrator and lover of picture story books, I’ve always been fascinated with folk tales and fairy stories so I decided to get involved with Folktale Week this year. We were given seven daily prompts and had to weave a folk story around them. A fun and creative challenge.
I’ve been inspired by a North American folk story where peacocks and ravens were once friends. The playful birds decided one day to paint each other’s feathers. The raven did a splendid job and created the vibrantly coloured peacock we see today. But, the peacock was jealous and didn’t want to share his magnificence with anyone, so he painted the raven black. I’ve created my own version of this folktale.
THE PROMPTS
Birth
Harvest
Solstice
Ritual
Dance
Courtship
Death
The series of illustrations
Hover your mouse on the pictures to reveal the story.
I’m thrilled with this series of work and I used Procreate and AquaReal watercolour brushes onto a coldpress paper by the very talented Lisa Glanz. I purchased my set from Design Cuts and love that they offer a discount when you purchase more than one product. I’m not affiliated with Design Cuts or Lisa Glanz but love them for their top quality resources.
Doing challenges can be a fantastic way to build your portfolio and prove that you can work to a given theme and deadlines. I found it tricky to weave the story around the prompts but it was certainly fun to make it evolve. Another huge bonus was making new illustrator friends on Instagram and it was a wonderful bonus to gain new followers too.
Want to work with me or license my art? Please get in touch with me. I'd love to collaborate with you. You can send me an e-mail by clicking the @ sign above.