The winter winds are still rattling the window panes here at the Mythwood Studio and there is more snow ready to land on us tonight. Yet, as unlikely as it seems, spring is still just around the corner and I know that there are some you who, even now, are planning your first walking party of the season. It is to you that I am directing this post. I would like you to consider an often overlooked route that starts at Cherry Hill Gate  and takes you right through Inverary and on to Tweed. Out of the way, yes, but well worth a try.


I mention this now because the Laughing Willow Inn has just been newly renovated and is again open for business. With that nasty exorcism of last year safely in the past and a new breakfast menu receiving high praise, I think you will find, as I did, that the Laughing Willow Inn is an enchanting place to rest your weary bones after a day or an hour of vigorous rambling. There is always an entertaining gaggle of fellow wayfarers for company and a fresh log burning on the fire.




By all accounts the rooms are snug and cozy and the beds are soft and warm. A perfect place to review your map and plan the next days excursion. Barliman Butterbur himself would find little to complain about in this charming and freshly painted little inn.



It should be noted that I am not in any way affiliated with this establishment and pass along this information merely as a courtesy, which is the occasional purpose of this blog.

One more thing before I let you go. It is my job to state the obvious so please allow me to proceed. The Cherry Hill Gate area can be a little damp and spongy in the spring so I recommend another water proofing treatment  for those old walking boots and be sure to include some extra socks when packing. A poncho might not be a bad idea either. And don't forget, there will be a warm fire burning in the hearth when you arrive.



Thanks for stopping by and be sure to travel safely.

More soon.

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A few more pieces that are inspiring me these days. First up are couple from a new discovery of mine, although you have probably known about him for years. Rene Hausman, A Belgian cartoonist, illustrator and graphic novel creator. I just found him on Pinterest a couple of days ago and he is my new favourite. I like his exaggerated cartoon style and the subtle watercolour work. I just love discovering new artists.

Next is an artist I have loved for many years now - Myles Bircket Foster. He is one of the Victorian cottage painters operating in Britain at the beginning of the last century. He is primarily a watercolourist but he likes to get in there with the Chinese White and do some opaque rendering as well. This one is just terrific. I love the way he takes the time to carefully work every inch of the painting. I feel like I could stroll into that picture and explore it all afternoon. The stone steps and little wooden railing are just terrific.



 Next is another Victorian cottage painter named Helen Allingham. She is also a watercolourist but I don't think she went in for the Chinese White the way Bircket Foster did. She was more for scratching out and colour lifting to obtain light effects or to place small flowers in front of large dark areas like hedges or earthen banks. She is also very detail oriented. Every part of the picture is important.


This last one is something I found on Pinterest. I don't know who did this but I think it is just brilliant.


That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by. More soon.

Okay, one more Hausman piece, just because those little birds are so cleverly designed. Look at the way he did their feet.

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A bit of drawing. Even when I'm just messing around I like to try and come up with names or designations for the odd balls that appear on the paper. Giving them names gets them one step closer to being in a story.

A few ideas for some possible Gwelf locations and the scenarios that could unfold in these environments. I've been playing around with the idea of a pine cone shaped cottage. Or perhaps several pine cones pushed together. That's what we have below, and a short cottage with a tall roof. Oh, and some squat little gnome birds that travel those paths and live behind those windows.



I'm also seeing if I can get something going with the idea of an apothecary who has set up shop in a tree. She sleeps in the little cabin built into the upper story of her tree. Since she is a raven witch, she feels at home up there. Her human customers recognize her capabilities and respect her expertise but are nevertheless nervous and intimidated.

Thanks again for stopping by. More soon.

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I have been feeling somewhat guilty because I have not been able to share anything with you for a while. I was sick over the Christmas break and lost a couple of weeks there and then I'm right back into a project which is NDA protected - meaning it's all hush hush until it gets published.

So I think what I will do instead is share some of the art that really inspires me. The first piece is by Alan Lee. This illustration is for me the very essence of Middle Earth. For my money there is more Tolkien in this one painting than all five of the movies - the moody sky, the endless landscape, the old bridge and the feeling that you are in a charming yet dangerous wilderness, all pure Tolkien.

The next piece is by Alan Lee's old room mate Brian Froud. I love this picture for so many reasons, but mostly because it just says Faerie Tale. It has the gloom and the grit and the spookiness of the very best Faerie Tales. I love the girls hair and the patches on her dress - fabulous !


The next piece is my all time favourite John Bauer piece. This is another spectacular example of creating a Faerie Tale world or "secondary world" as Tolkien called it. The seemingly perfect nature of the symmetrical composition is beautifully enhanced by the writhing snake like roots that are leading toward the girl from both sides of the picture. And the two birds at the upper right are lovely little touch.


This next picture is from a Russian illustrator named Pavel Tatarnikov. This one is such a brilliant display of character rendering, not to mention the nearly impossible task of painting chain mail. I don't know how he gets his watercolour to do that but it is just stunning. I'm pretty sure he is using gouache to get some of those textures. The metal work and armour is fabulous too.


Here's another one by Tatarnikov - just for fun. And just look at all the work in those trees. I had a couple more I wanted to add to this post but it looks like Blogger wants me to stop here. More soon.

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8 x 10 - Acrylic on board.

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I've had this idea for a while now, where a giant is making off with someone's house. In the past I would have gone with whatever I came up with first and dove right into the painting. However these days I like to ruminate on things a little more and mess around with the idea. There are always variations to consider - expression, costume, posture etc. So for now, here is some of that thinking, or horsing around, take your pick.

More soon and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers.

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He came down out of the hills in full armour. He stomped through her garden, wrecked her front door, ruined her table cloth and even broke her favourite window. When he finally woke up he wandered off and never came back.



Thanks for stopping by.

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As usual I am up to my knees in client work that I cannot share because of contracts and NDA's and that sort of thing. However, I have set October aside to take care of a few small commissions and perhaps even paint one for myself.

In the meantime I have some recent sketchbook work. This is all random doodle stuff that I do to warm up or just have fun and possibly spark an idea for a picture. It is all very spontaneous and executed without any plan or forethought, which I'm sure is quite obvious. Here we have some gnome archers and some gnome wives and some other bird like critters.

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As summer moves into its final days and the colours on the land transition to the warm golden hues of autumn, Meadow Sprite activity invariably increases. These recent sightings were made in and around local gardens and nearby fields.

Be on the lookout for these normally elusive creatures. You just might be surprised to find out what is lurking in your garden or behind the shed.

More soon and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers.

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I have had numerous requests recently to put pencil work up on my Etsy store. I will be doing just that this evening. Below are the images I will be putting up. You can check my Etsy page here - http://www.etsy.com/people/LarryMacDougallArt

Thanks again for stopping by. More soon.

Cheers

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This one flew past me near The Crown and Otter, followed by a flock of crows.

It's getting to be that time of year again. The final days of summer will soon be upon us and we can already sense that Autumn is just around the corner. The nights are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. The annual migration of Trolls out of the Big Hill Country has begun and a few have recently been observed on the outer regions of Gwelf. These aren't the scary ones though. These are the harmless and the curious ones coming down out of the hills for a little look around in advance of the bigger and nastier ones that will arrive closer to Halloween.

These 2 were standing in a turnip field just off the Post Road near Bambury.

Don't be fooled by these early arrivals though. They may not be looking to start any trouble but if you scare one, or if they find their way into your wine barrel, there is still the potential for property damage, broken bones or worse. I just want to take a moment and remind everyone traveling in the Gwelf area this season to be cautious. I don't want to scare you but it is always better to put safety first. Trolls are easy to spot and even easier to smell. Stay vigilant and look for clues. Trampled gardens, broken gates and stray livestock are a dead give away.

This one was on Albion Bridge. There was something wrong with him, not sure what.

There will be a lot for tourists to do in the Gwelf area this fall so please be careful and enjoy yourselves.

Thanks for stopping by. More soon.

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In the past I would often post the warm up drawings I do in the mornings in preparation for a day of sitting at the drawing board. I haven't done a post like that lately and someone asked me if I'm still doing the warm ups or have I let that side of it go. I'm still doing it most days. Not every day mind you but quite often.

So in the spirit of full disclosure, here is a recent sampling. I draw lots of heads. I probably draw more heads than anything else. I also still draw lots of hands - sometimes my own, or I'll find random pictures of hands in magazines and draw those.




And figures of course. There is still a lot of work to do in that department.





Facial expressions - very important.




And sometimes when I'm drawing my own hands I will use a little mirror I keep on my desk and draw the reflection so that I can get a bit more variety out of the old left hand - see above.

Thanks again for stopping by.

More soon.

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Well, I managed to find a bit of time to actually paint this one. I was hoping for slightly better results, but then I'm always hoping for better results. Anyway - watercolour and gouache on cold press paper. More soon.

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I'm anticipating having bits of free time on my current project as communication passes back and forth between myself and the art director. These things usually take time and I wanted to have something to work on while the wheels of production turned - you know what they say about idle hands. I've had this little Redwall inspired mouse archer in mind for a while so I thought I would jot him down while I was thinking about it.




With any luck I'm going to be able to find the time to paint my Robin Hood Mouse while continuing to push forward on the commercial work - fingers crossed.

More soon and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers.

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Okay, some recent sketchbook. Since everything I'm doing these days is still NDA protected there is very little that I can share, but my sketchbook is still mine and there isn't anything anyone can do about it - so here goes.

These first couple are variations on a pose that I came up with for one of the projects I've recently been working on that I can't actually talk about. I have changed them of course and they no longer resemble their original incarnation but there is a vague similarity which you will see if I am able to obtain permission from the publisher to share a bit of said project with you.

These next ones are just for fun and come straight out of the old sketchbook. The way faeries appear in my mind they are misty and indistinct and it is not easy trying to pin them down in a drawing, when describing them seems to take away their magic. Thus the paradox of drawing the Unseelie.





That's it for now. I hope to get back here much sooner with another post. Thanks so much for stopping by. More soon.

Cheers

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Root Cellar Books

As anyone who has visited the Gwelf region can attest, it's very well known for the variety and quality of it's book shops. This is a topic I have been meaning to get to for quite a while now. The problem was,  where to start, what with there being so many worthy establishments deserving a mention. So, as luck would have it, I ran into Fox the other day at the Belle Flower Inn and he told me, over several pints, how much he still enjoys popping into Root Cellar Books, the one out there on Kenilworth Road near the old stone bridge. I know the place well and was quite prepared to launch into my own reflections on time wasted and hours spent browsing those same dusty shelves when old Foxy began reminiscing himself. He is a gifted story teller and so I gave way.

Young Fox

He discovered the place many decades earlier when still a teen and began frequenting it regularly instead of going to school. He didn't have any money in those days so he would borrow the books, sit outside on a stone, which is now known as Fox's stone, and read in the warm autumn sun. At the end of the day he would return the books to the shop and in exchange, would sweep out the shop and empty the receptacles. According to Fox it was much different in those older, simpler times and borrowing a book from a shop meant to sell them was not frowned upon. Fox borrowed and read many.

Old Fox

Epic poetry and history were his subjects in those days and it is not at all surprising that he would grow up to become a scholar and a writer himself, despite his lack of formal education. I couldn't help but agree with his opinion that advanced mathematics and geometry have little or nothing to do with writing, story telling and the creative arts. There are of course some that say mathematics is a creative art in itself but that world is so foreign to me that I shan't comment. Needless to say, old Fox went on to have a brilliant and well known career as local historian, bard,  composer of fiction and patron of Root Cellar Books. Pop in if you're in the area and have a moment. I'm heading over right now. It hasn't changed a bit.

Thanks so much for stopping by again.

More soon.

Cheers.

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Yes, this is a new watercolour, but it is also a reworking of a picture I made about a year ago that I called Rabbit's Garden. At that time, when I painted Rabbit's Garden, I also started this one which is about twice the size. I wasn't sure which one was going to work but I was curious to see if I could get this larger version off the ground. However I felt at the time that the smaller one was looking stronger so I completed it and put this one away. I recently pulled it out again and felt as though I was now ready to pick up where I left off with it.

For the past year or so I have been working through the most horrendous creative block. You've probably noticed posts going up and coming down as I search for a path out of this wilderness and try to get around whatever it is that's keeping me from moving forward. I feel, for now at least, as though completing this picture is a step in the right direction.

Thanks for bearing with me.

More soon.

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Just a wee colour study this time - 8 x 10 inches, acrylic on board. This is a preliminary warm up for something a bit larger I'm hoping to get to shortly. More soon.

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Okay, I warned you that there might be some more stone heads coming and I wasn't kidding. Here we have a small Rubenesque faun relaxing on just such a head and gazing out over the Arcadian landscape. Below her we've got a prancing faun making his way through the fields and below him we have an in-flight faerie drifting over the very same fields. All three of these characters exist in the same area at the same time, feeling the same breeze and the same sun, and are aware of each other, but all have agendas of their own and will not be influenced by the presence of these or the many other characters at play on this hillside at this time, such is the manner of these beings in this place. Thus the magic is cast over all. More soon, on these hills and many others.

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While walking through  the neighbourhood the other evening, just as the sun was going down, I noticed a small flock of grackles at the top of a tall, leafless tree. They looked cold up there, huddled amid the twigs and branches. Seeing them up there with the naked tree standing out against the grey sky seemed to me to be a very Canadian scene. Not cozy or warm but cold and bleak - after winter but before spring. This put me in a nostalgic and introspective frame of mind. The kind of mood that, for me at least, will often spark an idea. It's all very spontaneous. You can't plan for this, but an idea came nevertheless and the sketches below are me attempting to work it out. A forest nymph leaping from one monumental stone head to another. I'm not sure why she is doing this, perhaps it's a game or maybe she is escaping from something unseen. At any rate, the last one is the closest to my original idea. The heads need to be bigger and she needs to be smaller.

I'm into stone heads at the moment, not sure why, but it's happening and there is no hiding from it. I'm sure it will pass, but until it does I will probably be drawing more of them - just so you know. But for now, more drawing required.

More soon.

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Much of what I have been working on for the last year or so has been protected by NDA's which means I can't share any of it with you. This fellow was protected by just such a contract but the publisher is allowing me to post him. He is an Arctic Dwarf and will be part of an Arctic Myths field guide we are putting together. A lot of work has gone into the field guide and there is yet more to do but this is a little peek at what we've been up to. I was given permission to put up one or two more so stay tuned.

More soon.

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Even though it is snowing today, spring is just around the corner in this part of the world and that has me thinking about gardening and of course the pixies that inevitably move in when the weather gets a little warmer. Now that pesticides have been banned in Ontario you are likely to see a good deal more of these little invaders so be careful with that shovel. Just a friendly reminder from one who worries.

More soon.

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This Faun turned up in a doodle session a little while ago. There's not a lot of drama here - she's meditating. I really hope I get to paint her one of these days. It's been a while since I've had a chance to do one for myself. I start getting a little twitchy if I don't occasionally get something of my own done.

Here are a few more ideas that are patiently waiting. First up is a friendly Giant. He couldn't wait to say good morning so he's coming in through the roof. After that is a wee gnome sculptor working on his masterpiece. I like the idea of the small artist and the big work. I think she will be bigger when I finally get to doing the final on this one. He should be no taller than her knee. I'm also thinking now that it might be cool if he were carving her from a living tree rather than a piece of stone like he is now. That way I could work some branches and leaf clusters into the design - could do some interesting things with cast shadows.



And finally we have a couple of adventurous girls visiting the cottage of a bird witch. I'm not sure what the story is going to be here. I'll have to think about it. I like the stairs though.


More soon. Travel in peace.  :)

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I'm still thinking about my Hunter and Waif story and who the villain might be. At the moment I'm considering  Stooka who is a northern witch/troll character I've come up with. She is menacing and ugly, doesn't bathe or laugh and is mean and cruel - but she has her reasons. Her look and personality are based on some of the Arctic Myth creatures I've been designing lately. I can't show you those because they are NDA protected but I like the way they're turning out and so I borrowed some of their characteristics for Stooka.

Stooka is of course a play on the word Stuka which as you probably know is the name of a dive bomber employed to devastating effect by the Luftwaffe during WW2. A dive bomber which was made even more terrifying by the siren attached underneath that caused it to howl and scream while diving. As if dropping a bomb on you wasn't bad enough. This siren idea lead me to consider my Stooka and how she might also use sound to make herself scarier. If she operated with a pack of wolves she could be howling with them or to them and she could become this loud scary thing that lives in the woods and steals children. The stealing of children is a repeating theme in Arctic Mythology, so why not borrow that too.



I'm also still messing with Waif and what she might look like. And - I've been chatting with Michel Rodrigue, a French graphic novel writer and artist about possibly collaborating on a project concerning witches and forests and faeries and things. We've pitched it to Lombard in Belgium. They're big. They do Tin Tin and a ton of other things. They're sort of interested but these things take time and a lot of horsing around. Anyway, what I'm getting at is I feel a graphic novel coming on, kind of like a cold only a lot more work. I don't know exactly when or how but it's coming. I'm just giving you a heads-up in case things start getting weird around here. Or should I say weirder?





More weirdness for you soon.

TGIF   :)

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A bit more thinking about Hunter and Waif. These two just won't leave me alone. They're in my head now, my imagination. And the thinking was primarily about Waif, not so much Hunter. I'm trying out different looks for her. I can't quite seem to nail her down. Should she have big doe eyes or not ? What kind of hat, cap or toque ? Maybe a hood. Scarf or no scarf ? Suitcase, duffel bag or satchel ? For some reason I need to figure this out.




There is a story brewing. I can feel it, and heaven help me, I'm actually considering a graphic novel - ugh ! I haven't drawn a page of comics in many years but I'm feeling inspired. A lot of things have to fall into place first and there is much to do, but I'm thinking about it. Also, in case you're wondering, you don't usually see their feet because they are in the snow. This is a winter story.





These two characters won't be enough though. We need a mean-ass villain to get in the way and really mess things up for Hunter and Waif. A witch would be perfect. A Northern Snow Witch with no scruples and really bad timing, or really good timing depending on your point of view. I have some ideas for her too but that will be the next post.

So much to do now.

More soon.

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