The Messenger
5″ x 7″ pen and ink, digital sky
For the topic “Talent” at Illustration Friday. He is the very best at delivering messages. The truth is, I originally envisioned a pile of creatures atop this old-fashioned bicycle, a circus-style balancing act. But that is not what happened!
Children sometimes see the messenger, but rarely adults. He is one of five sprites of the faerie realm who run important missions between our two worlds. This messenger carries just one message at a time. Often very grave or urgent messages! But it is not for me to share his secrets.
Apologies to those who find such things as faeries and fairies and sprites and magic, entirely preposterous and beneath the interests of mature and intelligent folk. We will have to agree to disagree. I certainly prefer them to political scandals and sports dynasties!
A few notes: I believe this fellow would have fared better if the plain inked version had been colored in Photoshop. But I do not have Photoshop, nor am I a digital artist. But I do use paint.NET for touch-ups and for clouds. Saves on markers; makes nice clouds.
Thanks for visiting! Have a great March. :)
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I just love his hat and outfit!
I love your very talented messenger! I guess I’m not very mature and like such things.
So much fun!I love his horn.
A bicycle messenger, love him! I prefer traditional art over digital art myself, although digital art has its place. And never apologize for your talent!
I am totally with you on the subject of fairies and magic and I love the way you tell your stories each week. Your “Messenger” is wonderfully serious and reverent. I think I would intrust him with my secrets.
I’m glad there are still artists who don’t use PhotoShop. There’s something more wonderful about feeling the artist’s hand on a paintbrush. There are people who don’t believe in fairies and sprites?!!
I did not get this post in my email….I manually went to your blog and saw this latest post…..hope my subscription did not get dropped again!
But I DO LOVE this sprite! Love the vintage feel of the image and the background w clouds is lovely too!
Thank you! I’ve just updated the widget and re-sent the notice. I think we’re good now! (cross fingers) :)
As cool as cool can be. Love this guy.
Woe to those who don’t believe in fairies. They’re the miserable ones. Great work!!! (Love the hat!!!)
Haha good character…he looks a bit fast too! I often just draw and see what develops…the plan never really goes to plan!
I would love a bike like this and fly through the air not being seen by adults. Super messenger!
OH I love the messenger! I’ve a new image in my mind of a bike messenger. Wonderful whimsy!
I LOVE this one, Cindy! So quirky & magical! And I love that the illustration effectively tells the story, even if you omitted the accompanying copy.
PS- Magic is NOT reserved only for children…& I consider myself VERY intelligent…though not necessarily very mature! ;)
Love it, Cindy! I bet if you follow this fellow, he’ll lead you through some very magical places! :)
Oh my goodness…this is amazing.
I got it, the message is for me.(because I am not mature or intelligent)
I see often these messengers in the deepest woods of Artichokistan,and even sometimes during the meetings with mature, intelligent and very clever people ( but I do not tell them what I see…)
Nice.
(and now I am hurrying to catch up one of the messengers biking around)
He’s magical flying on his nice old fashioned bike, I would love to hear his secret message :-))
Love the “Messenger”-is he going to the party?? Love, Mom
I wholeheartedly agree! Up with fairies and magic. Down with political nonsense. Your messenger is quite dapper. I love that he has wings on his back and wings on his shoes, yet he prefers to ride his very cool ride. I would too. I mean, just look at that piece of awesomeness! The horn! Love it all! I’ll be looking up in the skies in hopes of spotting him.
And love your doggies and ponies below! Best in show!
this is gorgeous!! I love the blue sky background u chose for it <3
What a soulful character! And that background with clouds is a perfect final touch.
A bit of magic never hurt anyone and what a wonderfully magical whimsical fellow you have here.
Very cute! Love the bike, and especially his little carrier-pouch. You are so creative!
Oh he’s wonderful! I love the little wings but he’s still riding a bike. Super illustration :)
You are sooo good!
Hey Cindy, I really like how you have branched out with this backdrop. It is great to see how everyone online keeps developing themselves and their art. I wanted to reach out and stroke this one with my finger! Those colours are so satisfying. I don’t know what paint.NET is but I am gonna check it out.
I like how the penny~farthing motif is repeated thoughout the composition.
very effective.
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“Magic”. I think it is the ingredient that makes life bearable. Love the idea of the flying sprite but I guess I don’t want to receive one of his messages if the are “grave”. Good job, Cindy!
haha!we are in the same frame of mind with these bikes this week! i love doing illos with bikes..here is one i did a few years ago and is on my web site…they are so fun!
http://www.doodlestreet.com/images/ca05.jpg
this weeks word is ‘eye glasses’…i love that and have so many ideas in my brain i don’t know where to start! i’m looking forward to your play on it. :) have a good weekend!
Great imaginative illustration. Love the bicycle.