The Belle Flower Inn

Okay, something a little different this time. -  bit of travel blogging from the Faerie Realm. I've been meaning to get to this for some time now but kept getting waylaid by other projects.

The Belle Flower Inn

I thought today we might stop by the Belle Flower Inn, which of course is not really an Inn at all but a lovely little Bed and Breakfast. The Belle Flower is located on The Old North Road between Chatham and Gwelf and was at one time a favourite stop over establishment for travelers in the area - that is to say, if there was an occupancy to be had at this once popular spot.

As it turns out the rumours of a haunting at this charming old inn have, by all accounts, turned out to be true and some poltergeist activity has been recently reported. I myself have stayed at the Belle Flower several times and although some odd occurrences were noted, it wasn't anything alarming enough to keep me from returning.

Francis Brookwater - owner of the Belle Flower.

A missing toothbrush and a muddy foot print on the duvet were not sufficient to curtail my visits. However, events of a more serious and bizarre nature have recently been reported. One guest, Pedal Mueller, was seen levitating several feet above her bed while sleeping and later awoke to find herself inexplicably in the garden. Calming elixirs were provided and she made a swift and complete recovery. Tales of an even more sinister nature have also been heard but I wouldn't want to rush to any hasty conclusions.

Luckily for us business has slowed down somewhat and a room is now a lot easier to obtain at Ye Olde Belle Flower than it used to be. I'm quite sure that the more adventurous of us

Pedal Mueller - Guest.

would not hesitate to enjoy the hospitality of this once fine and noble house.

So the next time you find yourself trekking on "the other side" and looking for a place to bed down for the night, you could do a lot worse than The Belle Flower Inn..

And a word to the wise - breakfast will not be served past 8:30 so you'll have to get up early. You won't be sorry. Try the toast !

Happy travels and peace be with you.

Goblins and Witches

Some work from a recent pencil session. It has been decided that along with the story illustrations I will be doing for the Irish Faerie Tale book I'm currently working on, I will also do a page of Faeries and critter designs from Irish mythology. Here we have a few pages of potential characters

These designs are all in the goblin-witch category. These are a lot of nasty and unclean things lurking around in the shadowy hills and murky forests of Irish Lore and we're just getting started.
More soon.

Peace be with you.

Troll

This guy came up in a recent doodle session. I was thinking about trolls and hobbits and how cool the new Hobbit movie could be. So here's a troll for you in hopeful anticipation of the new Hobbit Movie. We only have a year and a half to wait. I hope I can hang on.

More soon.

Peace be with you.

Leaf and Wing

This watercolour is a couple of years old. It was done as most of my pieces are - an experiment to try out a new approach. In this case I was painting directly on to a watercolour block, which is unusual for me. I most often work by tracing from a light box. I was also trying out these wing shapes - kind of leaf like and spindly. I still like them and use this wing style when I can.

I've just added her to my Etsy store which you can check out here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/LarryMacDougallArt?ref=pr_shop

More soon.

Peace be with you.

Finn 1997 - 2011

Finn was our dog. A 14 year old Australian Shepherd/Border Collie cross - smart, loyal and full of energy. Everything you could ever want in a dog. He wanted to be where we were. Every piece of art I have done in the last 14 years has had his spirit in it in some way.

I am lucky enough to live on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment in Southern Ontario, which means it was my privilege to walk Finn over those steep, wooded hill sides every day. Our walks through the woods in all weather and all seasons filled my imagination with the wonders of the natural world and inspired many of my drawings and paintings.

We lost Finn a few days ago. He was an amazing animal and a spectacular companion.

So long Buddy Boy. You have left a big hole in our lives and will be greatly missed.

Peace be with you.

Recent Sketchbook

Well, it looks like Blogger as somehow lost my last post so I think I'll just throw it up again. If it should happen to find its way back to the blog then I suppose I will have to delete one of them.

Anyway, here are a couple of sketchbook pages from a recent doodle session. At the top is an old Troll Midwife and below her is a Gnome Witch. Just some simple 3B pencil on printer paper.

More soon. Peace be with you.

Cheers

Arctic Myths - Grizzly People

I believe I've spoken of these supernatural characters form Arctic mythology before. The Grizzly People are typical examples of the myths and legends told by the Inuit people. The Grizzly Beings are animal, human hybrids which feature prominently in Inuit lore.There are also Wolf People and Seal People. Here the Grizzly People are large human characters with bear like attributes and modes of behavior. They hunt and eat humans,  rob graves and scavenge human camp sites. They are very large and very dangerous.

It was decided that we should have a Grizzly Being on the title page of the book we're just finishing up and so this first illustration shows just such a one, menacing and striding toward us, having just decided we are something worth adding to the menu.. He is big and rather misshapen and carries a large Inuit spear, which is just as likely to be used for digging as it is for hunting. I like to depict these fellows with bags or satchels because they are scavengers and I can imagine them traveling about with bits of old meat, bone and other edibles picked up on previous foraging operations.

In this second illustration we see a Grizzly Man with a fresh body he has just pulled from a grave.  He is scruffy and dirty which is typical for them and much in need of the bath he will never ever have and the dentist he will never ever visit.  These pictures are for a new collection of Arctic stories from Inhabit Media entitled The Shadows That Rush Past, A Collection of Frightening Inuit Folktales. These stories are historically the kinds of stories told to children in order to teach them survival lessons and this book is for children also - Inuit children. There are plans to release these books in English but as far as I know not many of them have yet been translated.

You can find out more about Inhabit Media here - http://www.inhabitmedia.com/

I'll have more for you shortly

.Cheers

Dreaming of Spring - Sketchbook 2

I believe I've spoken before about how much I love to draw with a simple old bic pen. The bic  glides smoothly over the cheap printer paper I often use and leaves a nice clean blue. There's no erasing with a ball point pen so you can't get too careful or fussy. You have to think on your feet when working this way and a little coffee will help to keep you alert and fresh. I often like to start these doodle sessions by drawing the frames on the page first and then challenge myself to put something, anything into each one. This of course leads to a certain amount of repetition but it can also yield happy accidents and pleasant surprises. You have to be willing to take whatever you get when working this way but it's often worth it because there's nothing better than a new idea.

Peace be with you.

More soon.

Dreaming of Spring - Sketchbook

I don't think I have ever been so desperate for Spring to arrive as I was this year. Winter just seemed to hang on and hang on. Even when the calendar said it was Spring, Winter kept stabbing at us from the grave with snow flurries, sleet, wind and frost. We are definitely into Spring now and things are beginning to warm up, but the spring I'm dreaming of is the warm golden spring of mid May, not the cool and damp spring of early April. These sketchbook doodles are from this past winter when the balmy, sun lit days of May were front and center in my thoughts.

Prints !

I was finally able to get some prints up at my Etsy shop. Luckily these are a lot more affordable than my over priced originals.  :)
Please follow this link and give it a peek  -  http://www.etsy.com/people/LarryMacDougallArt?ref=si_pr

Lavender Blue - Leprechaun Tree House

This new one is for the Lavender Blue and the Faeries of Galtee Wood faerie tale book I've been working on. Here Lavender pauses in front of the Leprechaun's tree house before she knocks on the door. At this point in the story she has already been through a lot and is justifiably cautious. We don't yet know whether the Leprechaun is a friend or an enemy and since this is a faerie tale, caution is definitely advisable.

This picture is watercolour with gouache and pencil crayon.

Arcadia Sketchbook - Satyrs

A wee bit of harmless pencil work from a recent doodle session - 3B pencil on regular sketchbook paper - a simple diversion from some recent days of serious painting. I'm back on the Lavender Blue project and hope to have something new to post shortly.

But until then - peace be with you.

Mythic Faire

This weekend I will be in Baltimore for Mythic Faire.
Check this link to find out more  http://www.renconvention.com/

Cheers

Nymph Resting on Stone Head and Dreaming Distant Thoughts.

Just a bit of recent pencil activity. I'm probably the one who is actually dreaming the distant thoughts - it's time to wake up.

More soon.

Cheers.

Mice !

Okay - this is a little different. A few years back it was looking like we might be doing some Redwall related work - you know, the Arthurian/Robin Hood mice stories - very cool !  Anyway, we worked up some samples and got very excited about working on Redwall until the whole thing inevitably fell through. I still like these ones though and would love to have a chance to do something like this again sometime.


Cheers