In the folklore of the Celtic nations, the Cailleach is the archetypal hag, old and ugly and imbued with deep magical power. In some stories she seems to embody the Winter, and is paired with Brigid, who represents the Spring.

Here is an attempt at an illustration of this pairing, as a first stab at an image for a Domestika course I’ve signed up for called Fairy-Tale Illustration With Pen and Ink. I was attracted by the possibility of doing something in the style of Harry Clarke or Aubrey Beardsley, but I find that I’m just not that good at that sort of precision, and I’m constantly drawn back to the chaos of John Blanche.

So there’s some of that in this, but probably not enough, so I’m going to give the same subject matter another attempt, I think. I want to make the Cailleach’s face more horrible too.

I’m also quite into Japanese Ukiyo e prints at the moment, so I’m hoping to get some of that influence in as well.