Arthur Rackham is one of my favorite illustrators. His career began with a stunning edition of Rip van Winkle in 1905 and continued with many other classics until his death in 1939. There are many aspects of his work that impress me - his attention to detail, the way he portrayed trees, his control of colours, and his great imagination. However, his technique has always caught my interest. Using pen and ink, Rackham would compose beautiful lines, both delicate and bold. He would then apply several washes of watercolour and remove areas with some absorbent tissue while the paint was still wet. A final application of more pronounced watercolours would finish the composition. His compositions are unique and can be easily identified. It's enjoyable just to imitate his compositions.
Watercolour with Ahab flex pen and Noodler's Black American Eel ink.
Arthur Rackham |
Aquarelle avec plume fontaine flexible Ahab et encre noir American Eel de Noodler's.
1 comment:
Hello Michael, Christian Hege here. I found my way to this page by a search for Arthur Rackham flowers, I'm doing a series of Grimms Fairy Tales and just needed something to stare at. Thank you for this.
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