At the third sting the Fox screamed, and down went his tail between his legs 1920

Arthur Rackham made this drawing, "At the third sting the Fox screamed, and down went his tail between his legs", using ink and something else. It could be watercolor. Who knows? All the marks are loose and free and seem to be added as the feeling arose. There is so much life and movement in it. Everything is running, flapping, flying! It’s like Rackham went into a trance and just let his hand go where it wanted. Look at the animals on the ground—a chaos of black shapes that feel like some kind of ecological nightmare but still contain a strange beauty. Notice how the silhouette of the fox has a thick and hairy quality, achieved through repeated short strokes of the pen or brush, and think about how that texture is so critical to the sense of the fox's panic and speed. You know, this reminds me a bit of Odilon Redon's dreamlike drawings, but with way more animals. Both seem to understand that art should be a place for experimentation, and mystery rather than giving us something obvious.