The Traveller.

The Traveller.

Watercolor painting practice.

You have to know enough about a world to be able to show things in the foreground that bring the background with them. You must have it firmly enough in your mind so that it all hangs together. You don’t have to say that there are wild beasts in the wood, so long as you have got the right setup where there might be.

Diana Wynne Jones, Reflections on the Magic of Writing (via fillyjonkapologist)

Right!

I remember loving Danny Devito's movie Matilda when I was a child - I still do, for that matter. Recently, I had the great pleasure to read the original story by Roald Dahl and I fell in love even more with this bright little girl's universe. This piece is a bit of a cross between the movie and the book. I love the idea of Matilda having intelligent brown eyes, but I simply could not imagine her wearing something else than Mara Wilson's little blue dress.

Sketch Dump for Diana Wynne Jones' "Conrad's Fate" (Chrestomanci Series). Conrad's Fate is my favorite DWJ books. I like how Conrad is convinced through most of the book that all the bad things happening to him are caused by his (nonexistant) bad karma. I also quite like Mr Amos' character for being pear-shaped. "The Bishop down in Stallchester was much less awe-inspiring than Mr Amos was - although it was hard to see why. He was the most pear-shaped man I had ever seen. His stripped waistcoat rounded front, his black coat speard at the sides, and his hands had to reach a long way in order to claps behind him."

I intended to paint the roses messily with lots of drippings and splatches, but her hair looked so soft and lovely I did not quite dare ruin it. Let's face it, I'm not a messy watercolor artist >___<;;;