They thanked her and said good-bye, and she went on her journey 1927

Arthur Rackham created "They thanked her and said good-bye, and she went on her journey" as an illustration, and it’s got this enchanting, otherworldly feel, which comes in part from the muted color palette. There's a limited range of tones, mostly earth colors and blues, which create this dream-like atmosphere. Look at the way he’s handled the brambles in the background. There’s such a delicate balance between detail and suggestion. Rackham uses fine, spidery lines to capture the thorny texture, but he also allows areas to dissolve into a hazy wash of color. Notice the faces in the water too, they're painted with such precision. Rackham reminds me a little of Kay Nielsen who was a little younger and brought a touch more of that Art Deco feel to his work. With both of them, you get that sense that illustration isn’t just about rendering an image, but creating a mood, a feeling, a whole world that exists just beyond the surface of the page. It’s about embracing ambiguity, letting the image resonate in unexpected ways.