When the Fairies Come out to Play
Story and artwork from Jacob Lesan
I grew up in Slovakia, where castles and forests formed an integral part of my make-believe worlds as a child. I quickly discovered drawing as a way to portray the intense visions in my mind. When I was young, my parents would put cardboard up on the wall so that I would not ruin the plaster with my scribbles. Of course, I filled up the cardboard and reached above to scribble directly onto the wall.
Throughout my school years, I continued to draw and paint, especially landscapes. I am passionate about drawing from life—I have spent hours hiking in the woods around my home and abroad sketching and painting mountains and trees. Everything in nature contains fascinating patterns, patterns that cannot be appreciated in photographs the same way as with a painting. Through my art, I share the beauty that I see in nature in the hopes that it may touch those who may never realize it for themselves.
Lately, I have gained an interest in illustrating fairy tales and fantasy novels. While I am fairly advanced in doing portraits of trees and landscapes, I still struggle a lot with the control of my linework, and I have a long ways to go in portraying human and animal figures accurately. Through research with various art tutorials, I discovered that my deficiencies are due to my lack of a few fundamental skills, such as line control, perspective, and sufficient observational study.
I am impressed with the excellent principles that the Drawing Academy teaches, from the basics, such as how to control your hand and perspective, to advanced skills, such as anatomy of the human body. By completing the Drawing Academy course, I would be able to refine my practice and understand constructive drawing principles to better illustrate the characters and environments in stories. If you desire to see a return to the style of illustrating books akin to Arthur Rackham, Trina Schart Hyman, Howard Pyle, and Beatrix Potter, then vote for me and see the fairies play!
This is absolutely amazing!