#faebruary2026

Lantern Fae — Faebruary 2026 🕯️✨

For the final day of Faebruary, I imagined a lantern glowing softly in the dark — and within it, a fae curled in quiet rest.

She floats peacefully inside the glass, wings gently extended, wrapped in warmth and golden light. Serene and still, she becomes both the source of the glow and its guardian. A small being of comfort, illuminating the night not with brilliance, but with gentle presence.

This challenge has been a beautiful journey. I have followed Brett Manning’s work for quite some time, and taking part in Faebruary felt both inspiring and welcoming. As someone who often struggles with long monthly challenges, I truly appreciated the shorter format.

Through this experience, I also discovered many talented and imaginative artists, which made the journey even more meaningful.

Thank you, Brett, for creating this space and encouraging creativity through these themes.

Faebruary2026 - Day 21 - "Farm"

Was scratching my head a bit, trying to think of what to draw... so thinking a bit outside the theme I thought farm... farm sim... HARVEST SPRITE

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral town is probably one of my all time favourite farm Sims, It's so nostalgic for me as it was a gift I got as a kid, and over the years have done a handful of playthoughs (actually working on another one currently in its remake that released a few years ago) so, I thought it counts, sprites are basically the same as a fairy, right? 😂

Being of Light — Faebruary 2026 ✨

Not all fae are bound to forest, water, or stone. Some belong to light itself.

This ethereal figure emerges in a quiet swirl of brightness — colors blending and dissolving into one another like a living current. Minimal in form yet luminous in presence, she feels less like a body and more like a manifestation of energy.

Though created in a shorter time than the others, this piece carries a sense of clarity and ease. Sometimes light does not demand complexity. It simply moves, intertwines, and exists.

A reminder that not all power is rooted in shadow — some shines.

Faebruary 2026 Day 7: Selkie — 🌊

Selkies belong to the folklore of Scotland and the northern seas — seal folk who can shed their skins to walk on land as humans.

Between shore and tide, they live divided lives, never fully belonging to either world.

In this illustration, a selkie removes her seal skin, caught in a quiet moment of hesitation. Her expression is soft and distant, touched by longing. Perhaps she misses the sea while standing on land, or perhaps she already aches for the life she leaves behind each time she returns to the waves.

Often told as tales of love and loss, selkie stories are woven with themes of captivity, choice, and longing. To be a selkie is to carry the ocean in one’s heart, even when far from it.

Cù Sìth — Faebruary 2026 🐕🌿

The Cù Sìth is a creature of Scottish folklore: a great green hound said to roam the Highlands and the liminal edges of the world.

Often described as silent, otherworldly, and enormous, it is believed to belong to the fae realm and to walk between life and death.

I first encountered the Cù Sìth through this challenge, and in learning about it, I chose to focus on its most striking and symbolic form — a green fae hound, simple and watchful.

Sometimes, the most unsettling creatures of folklore do not need to be monstrous. Their power lies in their presence.

This illustration reimagines the Cù Sìth in a stylized, gentle form, balancing beauty with the quiet unease carried by old tales.

Faebruary2026 - day 16 - "Friendship"

Ok... this is SUPPOSED to be Pinky Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which I used to watch quite a bit back when it was airing, and so I thought "I don't need a reference, I know what she looks like"

...I have been humbled XD so meet Magenta Pastry, I guess?

This is probably my least favourite one so far, because I got the design wrong and painting it was tortureee- I was going to use my guache, which I love, but found its been too long and my palette had molded ; w; so had to settle for acrylic and... omg I hate mixing acrylic paint. -.-

Member of the Gentry — Faebruary 2026 🍃✨

In fae folklore, the Gentry refers not to human nobility, but to the high-ranking folk of the Otherworld — beings of status, power, and old authority rooted in nature itself.

For this illustration, I chose to portray a female fae of quiet elegance. Her presence is refined, but not human. Her gown is formed from vivid leaves, shaped with care and intention, while her jewels are made of branches touched with a soft patina of gold.

She does not rule through crowns or stone halls, but through lineage tied to forest, season, and land.

This is a nobility of the wild — dignified, ancient, and bound to nature rather than thrones.

I think my fairy looks like Keyleth from Vox Machina☺️

Glaistig — Faebruary 2026 🌿✨

The Glaistig is a figure from Scottish folklore, often described as a beautiful woman hiding the legs of a goat beneath her gown.

She appears as a gentle maiden of the woods or streams, yet many tales warn of her dangerous nature — a fae being who lures, protects, or punishes depending on her will.

For this illustration, I chose to lean into her deceptive grace. She wears a green dress with soft pink details, her features delicate and inviting, her true form only partially revealed through her goat legs.

In folklore, beauty is often a veil, and the Glaistig embodies that contradiction: kindness and threat bound within the same figure.

She is not a monster to be feared at first glance, but a reminder that the fae are never what they seem.