Creating the World of Fairies: Arthur Rackham

• Rackham uses a unique mix of ink pen and watercolor to create mystical images found inside children’s fairy-tales. The dark features and colors, distinct details, and soft quality of Rackham’s pieces captivate his audience.
• Rackham was born in England in 1867 as one of twelve children. He began drawing from a young age and attended the Lambeth School of Art when he was 18 (Art Passions).
• The first book he illustrated was called To the Other Side and was a guide of both The United States and Canada published in 1893.
• This and his other early books were successful but did not compare to the success of his images in The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm where he began to find his unique style (Kosik, 2018).
• Rackham’s work is now considered part of the Golden Age of Illustration—the period from 1875 – 1920.
• His signature features include his personified tree drawings, blending of watercolors to embolden his images, and painstakingly detailed line work to bring his characters to life.
• Some of the his most famous book illustrations include Rip Van Winkle (1905), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1907), Peter Pan in Kensington Garden (1906), and The Wind in the Willows which was finished the year he died in 1939 (Kosik, 2018).

Works Cited

“Arthur Rackham Biography.” Pook Press, 2018, www.pookpress.co.uk/project/arthur-rackham-biography/.

“Arthur Rackham Fairy Tale Illustrations.” Art Passions, www.artpassions.net/rackham/rackham.html.

Kosik, Corryn. “Arthur Rackham.” Illustration History, Norman Rockwell Museum, Mar. 2018, www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/arthur-rackham.

My drawing: 

Under the Sea

I wanted to draw something that evoked the wonder and excitement that Rackham’s drawings evoked in me. I immediately thought of the ocean and creatures like the octopus when I thought of a magical, mythical world. I tried to use dark lines with watercolors to imitate Rackham’s style. I did not have ink pens or water-color paper though, so this technique resulted in some bubbling of the paper.

Inspirational Pieces:

The Infancy of Undine from Undine

Illustration for Irish Fairytales

Man in the Wilderness from Mother Goose

I have outlined most of the drawing with sharpie. Next I plan to add some water-color then any more details to make the drawing more similar to Rackham’s style of immense detail and subtle color.

When I think of magical and mysterious creatures I think of the ocean. Instead of choosing a specific fairytale I wanted to capture Arthur Rackham’s ability to create other worldly creatures by drawing a bustling sea landscape. This is just the initial pencil sketch, but I plan to outline everything with a thin sharpie, add watercolor, then add more detail overtop with pen in order to mimic Rackham’s style. I want it to look realistic like Rackham’s creatures but also fun and imaginative.