The white snake 1920

Arthur Rackham made this fantastic drawing, probably around the turn of the last century, and it’s got this unreal quality to it. The image is steeped in these earthy browns and greens, punctuated by the silvery verticals of birch trees. I imagine Rackham working meticulously, layering each pencil stroke, each touch of ink to create this enchanted atmosphere. I feel this real sympathy for him, trying to find a way to represent the unrepresentable. He captures that moment where the mundane meets the magical. It's there in the bend of the figure’s back, the careful positioning of the hands and the reeds, the ripple in the water. It’s so beautiful how the artist orchestrates these different details. It reminds me of other illustrators like Aubrey Beardsley, who were also trying to evoke these otherworldly realms through image making.