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Dawn D. Davidson

Welcome to my gallery! Make yourself comfortable.

If you need a break from bat-winged vampires and bleeding skulls, this is your spot. I celebrate the beautiful.

I love high fantasy literature, my favorite classics being The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I often find children's fantasy to be better crafted and more worth reading than the mass-produced adult rubbish on the market, with few exceptions. As the great C.S.Lewis pointed out: "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty...the only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all."

As is obvious from my gallery, I am chiefly devoted to Prydain, and highly recommend the series to all. The book titles (in English) are The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King. Look in your local library, because a lot of bookstores only carry one or two of the five in the series. Read them to yourself, to your kids, your students; loan them to your friends. And please do not confuse them with the Disney animated feature The Black Cauldron, which, though supposedly based on the books, is considered an abomination by most fans of the series. It does occasionally serve the useful purpose of sending curious viewers looking for the source material, however.

Every Prydain fan should visit:
Tim Kou-Great Prydain character studies and some humorous moments
Kathleen Lei Jun Dallons-whimsical, stylized scenes of Prydain and its characters
Justin Kunz-The John Howe of the Prydain world. Sketches of nearly every character, plus one gorgeous oil painting for each book.
And, um, I hesitate to betray my uber-geekness, but I also have a Prydain fanfiction in the works, which you can read here.

You should also visit my husband's  gallery .  Because I say so.

Many thanks to all friends and fellow elfwooders who have been so encouraging with your comments and critiques; and especially to my fellow Prydain companions for their unabashed enthusiasm!

People who inspire me (besides the aforementioned authors and in no particular order): Alan Lee. Ian McCaig. Jim Henson. Brian and Wendy Froud. Frank Oz. John Howe. Drew Struzan. Alphonse Mucha. L.M.Montgomery. George MacDonald. Madeleine L'Engle. Robin McKinley. And the First and Greatest Artist of All: the Almighty God, to whom I give thanks for all His blessing and inspiration.

Guestbook for Sunrise

Date Name Comment   4 Aug 2008 Ora Loading... You are amazing! you know, you could probably sell the covers for the chronicles of narnia series and the publishers would publish the book with that cover! 13 Nov 2008 Natalie Hatch Loading... I am really impressed by the angles and depth perception in a lot of your works. They make your pictures really refreshing to look at even though they have been covered by film and literature. Keep up the awesome work! Btw, Labyrinth is my favorite childhood movie! Good choice 25 Nov 2008 Hannah Fritz Loading... I’m so glad I found your gallery. For some reason, these books popped into my head today. This was the first fantasy series, or fantasy BOOKS, that I’d ever read. And I have such fond nostalgia for them. I’d seen Justin Kunz’ artwork, but no one else’s worth mentioning. And I’m so thrilled to see each and every one of your wonderful illustrations! I love ’em! Needs more Gwydion though. ;-) But I adore the way you portrayed Gurgi. I think this will be my new de facto mental picture of him. And I appreciate the way you kept Eilonwy’s hair "red-gold" as it emphatically should be. And Taran is perfect--very innocent and untested, but then gradually more capable and self-assured. I’m totally off to see if my library has these books in stock. 29 Nov 2008 Cyrus Loading... Enjoyed it, but speaking about sandals, I don’t think the author would have used the word in its medieval meaning and confuse the reader. So I suppose they were the sandals we think of today. 2 Apr 2009 MT Starkey Loading... Fantastic pictures. Great colours, great lighting. You’re really good with the facial expressions also. 5 Sep 2009 Tom Draco Noir Taylor Loading... Excellent work- and just visited your talented husband’s gallery. So nice that both of you are such skilled artists. I can see the influences of great artists in your work, like Mucha. And appreciate your comment about the Great Artist-without whose Art nothing beautiful would exist! 26 Nov 2009 Jessica Loading... I’m delighted. Mostly because I love all things C. S. Lewis. My mom used to read us the books when we were little. Narnia is such a precious world to me, it’s good to see it is to others as well. 27 Apr 2010 James Bull Loading... You have some amazing work in your gallery. I love the coloring...it really brings out your style! 5 Jun 2010 Bakunawa Loading... Very inspirational work includes two things i love, art and fantasy novels 9 Feb 2011 Janaun Melvin Loading... I think that we are kindred spirits you and I! (You’ve read L.M.Montgomery, so I know you know what I mean). Your bio could almost be my bio! I love everything that you love and have also been illustrating The Prydain Chronicles for recreation for years! I’m so excited to know that you are out there! And crediting God with your blessings and talent (as I feel compelled to do) just makes me an even bigger fan! I wish I could get to know you better! Dawn D. Davidson replies: "Thank you so much! I don’t do much on this gallery any more, so I’m glad I dropped in long enough to see your comment. Please look for me on deviantArt because I am much more active over there - user name Saeriellyn. " Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

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Dawn D. Davidson