HOME | DD

Description
It was the last of its kind. For centuries, trees of this kind had grown, but now, there was but one. And ancient race of gnarled and powerful hardwood, the branches gave stage to a host of vivid flame-colored blossoms that adorned it all the year. The petals from the shed flowers carpeted the ground in a soft and fragrant pink, and the small red fruits which sometimes grew enticed the nimblest and most daring of animals to risk a venture into the tangled branches for a bite.
The fattest, oldest tree in the whole of the woods, its ancient roots had branched and twisted in all dierections and over time had pulled the rocky floors apart, and rent other trees upward from the ground.
It was clear all around it, and here was where the grass grew and the wild flowers, free to have sunlight in the tree-made clearing. And it was here the unicorns lived. Where they ate, slept, frolicked, birthed their young and died.
It would be difficult to say whether it was because of the clearing that they stayed so near the tree, or if it were because of the ancient, powerful magic that slowly coursed through it's massive arms, for such trees are often host to beneficial spirits and happenings.
Among men, or at least the few who had ever seen it, the tree had many names in many tongues, but for the unicorns it was simply the great tree, the largest tree in the whole of the wood. The wisest among them knew it to be a tree of destiny, but what wonderful, terrible destinies it held were hidden from even the sharpest of prophetic eyes.
----------------------
How cute, the little unicorn artist thinks she's Arthur Rackham. Haha, recently did a tutorial peice for a magazine, entailing how to illustrate like Arthur Rackham digitally.
I adore Rackham's work, and the tutorial peice really reminded me how inspiring it really is. So, instead of digitally (as I was lacking my art computer) I got out my pens and my cheap $3 watercolors and decided I'd re-try the old pen-with-colored-wash technique myself. I like how it turned out, but it isn't my favorite peice. More experimentation is needed, and an advanced critique (both on the illustration and the story) are encouraged, because they might make it into a book.

Description
It was the last of its kind. For centuries, trees of this kind had grown, but now, there was but one. And ancient race of gnarled and powerful hardwood, the branches gave stage to a host of vivid flame-colored blossoms that adorned it all the year. The petals from the shed flowers carpeted the ground in a soft and fragrant pink, and the small red fruits which sometimes grew enticed the nimblest and most daring of animals to risk a venture into the tangled branches for a bite.
The fattest, oldest tree in the whole of the woods, its ancient roots had branched and twisted in all dierections and over time had pulled the rocky floors apart, and rent other trees upward from the ground.
It was clear all around it, and here was where the grass grew and the wild flowers, free to have sunlight in the tree-made clearing. And it was here the unicorns lived. Where they ate, slept, frolicked, birthed their young and died.
It would be difficult to say whether it was because of the clearing that they stayed so near the tree, or if it were because of the ancient, powerful magic that slowly coursed through it's massive arms, for such trees are often host to beneficial spirits and happenings.
Among men, or at least the few who had ever seen it, the tree had many names in many tongues, but for the unicorns it was simply the great tree, the largest tree in the whole of the wood. The wisest among them knew it to be a tree of destiny, but what wonderful, terrible destinies it held were hidden from even the sharpest of prophetic eyes.
----------------------
How cute, the little unicorn artist thinks she's Arthur Rackham. Haha, recently did a tutorial peice for a magazine, entailing how to illustrate like Arthur Rackham digitally.
I adore Rackham's work, and the tutorial peice really reminded me how inspiring it really is. So, instead of digitally (as I was lacking my art computer) I got out my pens and my cheap $3 watercolors and decided I'd re-try the old pen-with-colored-wash technique myself. I like how it turned out, but it isn't my favorite peice. More experimentation is needed, and an advanced critique (both on the illustration and the story) are encouraged, because they might make it into a book.