Bohemian Girl - 'I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls! 1910

This illustration by Byam Shaw, made sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century, uses watercolour and ink, so you get these lovely, luminous washes of colour laid down in thin layers. It’s like he’s building up the image from a dream. Look at how the figures in the background are sketched in with just a few quick strokes, all soft and blurry, while the couple in the foreground are much more defined, almost like paper dolls against a stage set. And that rug they're sitting on! It's almost alive with its own weird patterning. It's like he wants us to feel the drama, the push and pull between what's real and what's imagined. That little cross on the man's chest? It’s like a tiny beacon, drawing you in. It's like Shaw is saying, "Here's where the heart of the story is, right in this moment of connection." Makes me think of Arthur Rackham, another illustrator who knew how to make fantasy feel so vivid and real, but with a slightly stranger, more unsettling edge. It reminds me that art’s not about answers; it’s about opening up a space for endless possibilities.