The Fir-tree and the Bramble 1912

Arthur Rackham made this illustration, The Fir-tree and the Bramble, with ink and watercolor. Look at the way he built up the forms, the way he coaxed the figures out of the ground, like he was there with them. I can imagine Rackham outdoors with his ink and paper, letting the landscape seep in. The bramble looks like a queen, with the tree looming behind, and the little men at the bottom. Did he feel like one of them, looking up at the great, gnarled tree? It has such presence; it's almost human. The way Rackham uses the thin, scratchy lines, they give a sense of age. Like the tree has been there forever. But the watercolor softens it, makes it feel like a dream. It's like he's showing us the secret life of the woods, the way things talk to each other when we're not looking. Painters have always been fascinated by the natural world and the stories it tells us, inspiring one another to look closer. The Fir-tree and the Bramble invites us to imagine our own stories in the landscape.