East of the Sun and West of the Moon 1914

Kay Nielsen concocted this image for a fairy tale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, but the exact date is unknown. It looks like he made it with watercolor and pen and ink, line by line. I can only imagine his hand making those delicate marks. Looking at this image, I think of other illustrators like Aubrey Beardsley, and Edmund Dulac, who were working at around the same time. Nielsen was clearly thinking about the traditions of storytelling as well. I wonder, how did he go about creating this otherworldly place, bit by bit, mark by mark? What part did he start with? Perhaps he was led by the forest? Nielsen’s embrace of ambiguity and uncertainty allows for multiple interpretations. It reminds me that artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another’s creativity across time. We’re all in this together!