"The Faerie Hill" by Joseph Coyle

 A knight is drawn towards light within a dark and wild wood, light emenating from an ancient mound, hidden for a thousand years from the eyes of men. He feels compelled to investigate, though it may lead to his doom, and he is unaware of the myriad eyes watching him from the surrounding trees and rocks. This is no ordinary wood, but one full of wonderous creatures hiding within it's sacred trees, this is another place where the boundaries are thin between the worlds. The lights from the great faery court beneath the hill will draw any who see them, and they will most likely never return. 

From intitial sketches to the finished piece this took me a very long time, it's the most detailed piece i've ever done at A4 size. It was done specifically for an exhibition of faery based art. I spent a lot of time arranging all the creatures amongst the trees and getting them all to look dynamic. The initial image went through a lot of stages and originally it was going to be more complex, but I didn't have the time to develop it as far as I'd wanted. In many ways this is a recreation of the 'The Wild Wood', it has the same basic idea behind it, but it's a lot more sophisticated and I spent more time on it. What I'm really pleased with is the light and colour, I think it turned out really atmospheric, the only problem is, at A4, it's a bit cramped and would have benefited from a larger size. I think in terms of colour, light, detail etc, and the success of the imagery, this is one of the best pieces i've done, if not the best. 

The knight was originally going to be a more traditional medieval sort, but I couldn't get the armour and positioning right, so I made his style up, I'm not sure what culture or era he would be from.