Illustration for Down-Adown-Derry 

This artwork is a vintage illustration by Dorothy Lathrop, and it was most likely made with watercolor on paper. The fairies and enchanted landscapes Lathrop favored required a delicate touch. Watercolor is a medium that can be unforgiving. Once the pigment is laid down on the paper, it’s very difficult to rework. This permanence demands precision and control, a mastery of the brush. But watercolor also has its own inherent qualities, such as its fluidity, and it's through these that we can begin to understand how Lathrop imbued her artwork with such otherworldly qualities. By building up thin layers of translucent color, she captured the ethereal quality of her fairy subjects. This aligns her practice with other illustrative arts, such as printmaking. So while it may be tempting to dismiss illustrations like this as mere commercial work, to do so is to overlook the incredible artistry and skill that went into their making. We should understand it as a material production, and recognize the cultural significance it embodies.