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So I’m having a show this month at Pangaea Cafe and Pub here in Quincy, CA, and I’ve been working feverishly trying to finish up a few more pieces for it. Just got this one done a few days ago and have been meaning to post it.:
The Well Witch. watercolor, 9"x18"
It’s from a book I just read (which I highly recommend if you enjoy children’s books–it was fantastic), Well Witched, by Frances Hardinge. (Although I prefer the original title from the UK edition, Verdigris Deep–it suits the book much better, and is so much more atmospheric and eerie. Silly US publishers, renaming things for no reason!) I loved the book so much, I just had to do an illustration for it. I did change some details from the book, but it’s inspired by it, anyway. One of these days I’m probably going to totally dork out and send Frances Hardinge a giddy fan letter…
Anyway, I’m hanging the show this Saturday, so I’ve got a ton of last-minute things to finish–including a whole ‘nother painting I want to get done (eek!)…I’ll have another post with pictures soon.
Just finished a new drawing last night, finally. It’s been so hard to get time to work because it’s that part of the semester when everything is due all at once, and it’s really frustrating because I have a lot of ideas floating around that I wish I could work on–not to mention a story completely finished but for a few little bits of editing that I can’t seem to get time to do. Arrgh!
Oh well, at least this one drawing is done, that’s better than nothing–and I’m always amazed what a difference it makes to my mood and outlook on days when I get time to draw, even if it’s just for a little while. Anyhow, here’s the point of this post:
The Silver Key. 11"x14", pen & ink
One of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories is “The Silver Key.” It’s about a man who has always had these wonderfully vivid dreams where he travels to other worlds and sees all these fantastic things, but as he ages, he finds that he has “lost the key to the gate of dreams.” (Isn’t that a nice phrase?) Then he finds a strange key hidden in the attic of his house, and he hopes if he takes this key back to the home he grew up in it will somehow allow him to get back to his dream worlds… it’s a really good story. The ending revolves around the main character’s ten-year-old self — hence this drawing.
