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from "The Wasteland"
“You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
“They called me the hyacinth girl.”
For ten years (or more) I've wanted to teach a class dedicated entirely to the (purported) sources of Eliot's poem and then read the poem with same understanding as the poet.
With that study, I want to illustrate the poem using artistic styles related to the allusions.
I keep starting then stopping because I don't have the skill I want to make the thing happen.
I'm done with that mindset! I'll grow into the poem as I practice, and it's not going anywhere. I can always return to it when I'm a better artist and redo it all.
I started with the Hyacinth Girl because hyacinths are easy to draw. This Youtube tutorial is simple to follow and doesn't demand a great deal of scientific accuracy.
I've also used Karen Campbell's Art Deco classes/book, so I understood the style. I found a reference photo on Etsy that I used for this look.
In the poem the woman is described as "Your arms full, and your hair wet," after leaving the garden, so here she is IN the garden because drawing her arms full isn't in my skillset yet (I'm assuming full of hyacinths).
I started with a simple pencil drawing and layered with micron ink pen. The font is a French art nouveau style.
I didn't give her a face because I'm not good with that slant (I suppose I should say it's because every woman is The Woman of the poem, but it's really about the drawing).
This is a pen-and-ink journal, so I added Prisma color pencils to the piece to provide interest. I didn't erase all of the original lines to keep the sketch feeling.
Overall, I approve of this restart!