The sweet and touching tale of Fleur and Blanchefleur 1922

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale conjured "The sweet and touching tale of Fleur and Blanchefleur" using what looks like watercolor, and it's just so lovely. The colors are bright and cheerful, and the lines are so clean, almost like a coloring book illustration. You can see the artist enjoying the flat blocks of color, the way they bump up against each other to define forms. Look at the king's robe, the way the green and blue meet, with just a simple black line holding them together. It's such a direct way of working. There's a real charm to the simplicity of the drawing. The figures are outlined with such clarity and the limited palette creates a sense of harmony. It reminds me of early illustration, something bold and easy to digest. I see echoes of Walter Crane, but with an even more direct approach to color. It's a reminder that art can be both beautiful and accessible.