A very popular genre in the artistic realm is fantasy art.
Made popular by science fiction and fantasy comic book illustrations, these magical and supernatural drawings, and characters now have a genre of their own apart from speculative fiction.
Wizards, dragons and fantasy art fairies are the characters that largely make up the illustrations of a wide array of talented artists. In fact, most “fan art” are pieces inspired by or made to represent characters in fantasy fiction. This is a large and popular subculture that is represented by many different websites, one of the most popular for men being “Elfwood.”
Early Fantasy Drawings
Fairies and fantasy go hand in hand. Some of the earliest fantasy drawings depicted fairies and they are a large part of Irish, Scottish, and German folklore.
These fanciful little creatures have had cautionary stories told about them handed down from Grandmother to mother to daughter since the days of the ancient Celts. Long before they were made into drawings and ceramic figures, the fairies that flit through the woods and hide in the tall grass of the garden were considered to be dangerous if angered or insulted.
Generations of tale-tellers shared stories of unlucky humans who had insulted them. As tales depicted some were spirited away to work in the fairy mines or to weave shelters out of the grass. As the story goes one must never go past the grove of trees at the end of the pasture, or wander far from home, and certainly never speak to a fairy unless they speak to you first. Fairies may be cute and delicate, but they are can also be a little arrogant.
Fantasy art fairies can be found online, at summer street fairs, and best of all at your local book or metaphysical shop in books or as greeting card art. As you flit about, you just might fill a fantasy or two.
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