Of Leaves and Wishes

Leaves and Wishes, by Soni Alcorn-Hender

Leaves and Wishes

“There is a bower between the rowan and the hawthorn, the elder and the oak.
Wait for him there.”

Original character from a story in progress.
Acrylics, watercolour, pastel, pencil, and a distinct feeling of something in the forest, on 300gsm paper.

Prints and nice things available here.

Rath Roiben Rye

“…Say Roiben of the Unseelie Court asks for your aid.”

Rath Roiben Rye by Soni Alcorn-Hender

Rath Roiben Rye by Soni Alcorn-Hender

Some bookish fanart (that was only meant to be a warm-up sketch, but I have no control of these things).

Roiben from ‘Tithe’, ‘Ironiside’, and the ‘Folk of the Air’ series of faerie stories by Holly Black
Acrylics, pastel, & pencil – 21×29 cm

Oberon & Puck

Oberon & Puck, Soni Alcorn-Hender

Oberon & Puck

‘Oberon & Puck’
Basecard art for a trading card by Iconic Creations for the set ‘Iconic Literature’.
Acrylics, mica glitter, gold leaf, dubious love potions and fairy-level arrogance, on paper
A3 / 29cms x 42cms

Prints and art items available at Society6

Work in progress and detail images:

The Fair Folk

Some of the illustrations for the perfume collection: ‘Fair Folk‘, by CocoaPink Bath & Body, Autumn/Winter 2019, and some of the story snippets the artwork inspired.

The Fairy King by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Fairy King by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Fairy King

“The entire Faerie Court was known to be a sinuous knot of depravity, but the worst in all of this – or perhaps by their standards, the best – was their King. It was said he could lead an entire village into voluptuous disarray simply by walking through it on a May morning.
Casanova himself chronicled some of the King’s exploits, but his unfinished book was rudely seized and, ‘for the good of humanity’, it was supposedly burned. Though many believe the manuscript still exists to this day, and is kept in the vaults of a shockingly famous building where it quietly causes the air to sparkle and the stones to blush.”

Pastel pencils on A3 toned paper.
Shiny things of the shiny king can be found here.

‘Fairy King’ scent:
Their noble lord. He is the most gracious, most generous, and most wicked of them all.
A crown of ivy and lavender, a staff of oak; green mosses, softest leather, bewitching elf musk.

 

The Proud Queen by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Proud Queen by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Proud Queen of Faerie.

“Those who met her, and survived, couldn’t agree if the Queen was fantastically evil or just exquisitely insane. Some said both. Yet amid the tales of carnage and curious horror are accounts of a few mortals upon whom she lavished gifts and affection – though whether they were her lovers or just favoured pets we may never know. But it’s recorded that the Queen gave them lands and fine houses, though nothing remains of them now, and that with easy violence she destroyed their enemies and rivals, and anyone else her chosen ones pointed a finger at. In the fairy-haunted lands of medieval England, it was well known one must not upset those who are loved by fairies.”

Pastel pencils on A3 toned paper.
Prints available here.

The ‘Proud Queen’ scent:
She rules all that is strange and dangerous, poisonous and beautiful.
Foxgloves, opium poppies, bitter nightshade, green roses of hellebore, oleander’s apricot notes, and innocent orange blossom, with a breath of raspberries, white chocolate, marshmallow, and warm white musk.

 

The Changeling by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Changeling by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Changeling

‘The Changeling looked like any human, except perhaps for her eyes which were those of a wild thing. She was known also for her constant companionship of animals: sleek, dark creatures with silver eyes.’

Pastel pencils and acrylic on A3 painted paper.
Prints and dark delicious things

Dark Changeling scent:
Oh beautiful monsterling, to which world do you belong?
Sugary dark cherries surrounded by night forests, incense, dragon’s blood, and wolf’s musk.

 

The Black Prince by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Black Prince by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Black Prince:

“One of the farthest, darkest edges of Faerie was the Rose Kingdom where velvet blooms filled starlit gardens.
Their king was a sombre tyrant who grew even harsher after his wife’s death, and took to leaving his lands for months at a time. To the amazement of his court he suddenly returned one midwinter’s night with an infant son held in his arms, and would speak no word of the boy’s mother.
The court whispered she must have been a demon or vampire countess, which was why the Prince grew so wicked, cold and strong, even for a fairy. (For fairies are, as I’ve noted before, a largely cruel and despicable race).
They said that under his touch red roses became black, which was how he got his title.
But the Queen from the court of the Death’s Head Moth was delighted with him, and took him into her personal service as Master of Information, for he was exquisitely talented in gaining both secrets and silence, and here was permitted to perfect his dreadful arts.”

Pastel pencils and acrylic on A3 painted paper.
Prints and dark delicious things can be found here.

The ‘Black Prince’ scent:

Roses, leather, love and sin,
to wrap a fairy princeling in.
~Black roses, Black amber, black vanilla, black leather.

The Raven King

John Uskglass, the Raven King, Soni Alcorn-Hender

John Uskglass, the Raven King

“Even the Raven King – who was not a fairy, but an Englishman –
had a somewhat regrettable habit of abducting
men and women and taking them to live with him
in his castle in the Other Lands.”

The Raven King, with bird and book. Inspired by the character from exquisite Strange & Norrell by Susanna Clarke. (The audiobook is particularly good.)

Acrylics, pencil, liquid gold and silver, sterling silver leaf, and old English magic on paper 21×30 cms. Prints available here.

‘To Signify My Claim’

The Gentleman With the Thistle-down Hair, from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
Pencils and digital colouring, 21×29 cms

“I should take something of the lady’s to signify my claim upon her.”

What he takes is a finger. Though just a little one.

Gentleman with the Thistle-down Hair, Strange & Norrell, by Soni Alcorn-Hender

The Demon’s Ball

Illustration (10×12″ acrylics on canvas-board) for Perna Studio’s trading card set: Halloween 2015. Detail images below (click the images see their stories.)

The Demon's Ball

.

Now available on REDBUBBLE here.

Demon Ball goodies on RedBubble, Soni Alcorn-Hender

Some of the Demon Ball goodies on RedBubble

John Uskglass, the Raven King & ivy

John Uskglass, the Raven King with a crown of ivy leaves, for ‘ivy binds English magic’. The magician King raised by faeries, from Susanna Clarke’s book ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell’.
Pencil and acrylics on old paper, 8×11.5″, finished digitally.

A detail of the whole (click to see full size) :

John Uskglass, the Raven King crowned in Ivy (detail) by Soni Alcorn-Hender

John Uskglass, the Raven King crowned in Ivy (detail)

And the entire thing.
(If only someone would hire me to illustrate her next book. PleaseOhPleaseOhPlease. )

John Uskglass, the Raven King crowned in Ivy, Soni Alcorn-Hender

John Uskglass, the Raven King crowned in Ivy

The Raven King & Ivy, work in progress

The medieval magician and monarch, the ‘Raven King’ from Susanna Clarke’s ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell’.
Pencil and acrylics on very old crunchy paper, 8×11.5″

Raven King (Strange & Norrell) work-in-progress 2, by Soni Alcorn-Hender

Raven King, work-in-progress 2

Raven King (Strange & Norrell) work-in-progress, by Soni Alcorn-Hender

Raven King work-in-progress 1