Folk Tale Week is a week long collaborative community exercise that happens yearly on Instagram. Created by illustrators to provide seven prompts to initiate ideas for other illustrators to create, each prompt to be posted/shared each day for a whole week. The group initiative builds community of creators working on similar themes at the same time, but the interesting part is always the various interpretation. The pieces can be individual, or as a short week long narrative. Prompts can be combined or the meaning abstract.
The prompts are released a month before the selected sharing dates, giving participants time to prepare their ideas and being working on their art.
This year I plan to participate for multiple reasons; to push myself into creating narrative work, to share that narrative work, as well as to work on subjects I wouldn't choose myself, in order to stretch my abilities, whilst still applying my own style, thoughts and preferences onto said work.
Whilst I am working on the narrative side I wanted to research some past Folk Tale Week creators and their creations. Particularly those who did choose to work a narrative between the prompts, and those who work traditionally.
Below are three creators who's contributions stood out to me:
Emma Carlisle - Emma is a landscape artist, children's book writer and illustrator. I loved the energy in this piece, the texture and vibrance, whilst keeping Emma's authentic style. The combination of the prompts, and the unique outcome is inspiring.
Sarah Dyer - A Children's picture book creator and illustration lecturer. I love Sarahs collage work and seeing in worked into a narrative piece is wonderful. The overall composition and texture of this piece (and every other Sarah created for this Folk Tale Week) are beautiful. I also really loved the dark undertones of the story.
Sarah van Dongen - Sarah is an illustrator. I discovered Sarah through Folk Tale Week, being drawn in particularly by her play with size and perspective. Although Sarah Van Dongen chose to treat each prompt separately, this one piece tells such a huge story. With the who characters, the background and the details of the home.
Reference:
Emma Carlisle - https://www.emmacarlisle.com/
Sarah Dyer - https://www.sarahdyer.com/
Sarah van Dongen - https://www.sarahvandongen.com/