Sketches, Swatches and a Snowy Owl

Sharing work-in-progress for Folktale Week 2024

Hello,

Folktale Week officially starts on Monday and I wanted to share a little update on how i’m getting on with the challenge.

Thumbnails and swatching tests

If you haven’t heard of Folktale Week, it’s a 7-day art and story writing challenge which takes place in November on Instagram. It’s free to join and anyone can take part. Set up by a group of artists and illustrators who love folktales and visual storytelling, the seven different word prompts are released on the Folktale Week Instagram account in October so participants have time to create something in time for the week-long showcase in November. Even if you don’t take part, it's worth checking out the #folktaleweek hashtag, the challenge has a world-wide following and so much beautiful, inspiring work is shared.

The official dates for Folktale Week 2024 are 18-24th November and the word prompts are:

1. Mist

2. Gate

3. Blight

4. Trail

5. Depth

6. Bone

7. Blossom

My approach this year is very different from last year, which focused more on storytelling and involved writing for about half of the time. The theme of this year’s work is also different; last year’s was centered around sea folklore and ghost stories. This year, I’m keeping it simpler. Each artwork is inspired by a different species of owl, with the word prompt guiding the environment depicted for each owl.

You might find it useful to revisit my Folktale Week posts from last year, links are included at the end of this post.