Here we are folks - the post The Folk of the Air era. I poured my heart into this piece as a send off to the series, as it truly was a treat to experience from start to finish. ❄️ I’m not sure if it was apparent in the illustration I did for The Wicked King, “Self Reflection”, but I had meant to make it a ‘zoomed out’ version of the cover (the crown falling into the watery depths). I played with the idea of wondering where the crown would land; would Cardan let it fall onto Jude, or stay in his place to take it for her? Could he move at all? ❄️ I took a similar approach here with this piece. If “Self Reflection” was themed around falling, then this is about separating; splitting; severing. ❄️ *Puts away thesaurus* ❄️ Can I say that I really don’t enjoy clothing/armor design? 😔 To me its detail is as tedious as washing a car with a toothbrush. I’m more interested in the emotions of the characters and scene, but I felt I avoided it so often, that I gave my girl Jude the attention she deserved for this one. I took a study of Alan Lee’s inspirational design work (LOTR) to spin Holly’s very helpful and elaborate descriptions of fashion into a fun Queen Mab inspired design.
❄️ I have more scenes I want to draw soon, directly from the text. So many feelings, so little time. 😣 I’m excited for Holly’s next book and series, but I hope this ever-expanding Holly-verse has a chance to revisit these characters again!
