Sean O'Halloran and the Faerie Lord

Early last year I did a series of illustrations for an original folktale called "Sean O'Halloran and the Faerie Lord" for Cricket Magazine. It was a wonderful tale and I was happy with the way the illustrations came out. The story was about a young mother who was kidnapped by fairies; she was enchanted and became enslaved as the wet nurse for the offspring of the Faerie Lord; her husband was left to fend for his children on his own, continually trying to find his missing wife; ultimately, he was able to capture his bewitched wife when the fairies led her on horseback by the cross on the road.

These are a couple of the images I created for the story. This first one is Sean O'Halloran's wife as she sits, entranced, at the foot of the bed in which the Faerie Queen has just given birth. The midwife is about to hand over the newborn.

The next image is where Sean O'Halloran, having heard that his wife would be led across the countryside by the fairies at nighttime, is flailing about, trying to locate and capture his invisible wife as she passes by. (The bells on the horses have given them away.)

For whatever reason, after the work was done, I wasn't entirely happy with this second image. The composition was forced in a way that, after the piece had gone to press, didn't please me entirely. So I'm going to rework the piece. And I'll post my process here.

Until now, this blog has been where I've posted family stories accompanied by graphite drawings I've done. With this post, the direction of this blog will change. While it will continue to feature my illustration work, it won't necessarily have to do only with family stories.

Enjoy!