Real places in Yorkshire, reimagined through folklore and storybook illustration.
Hello and welcome to Pencils and Pixies.
'North of the Ordinary' - is a series of mixed media drawings which take real locations around Yorkshire, and reimagine them into something older, quieter, and a little uncanny.
Each piece is part place, part story — where the ordinary moves sideways, and something else looks back.
Drawn in coloured pencil and watercolour, one place at a time... one mystery at a time.
Look closely. Sprig is always there.
"It doesn't always go to plan, but it always becomes something."
Place, transformation and story, told through atmospheric slow art and imagination.
This is a very odd corner of Yorkshire. Please feel free to wander around. No promises you won't find a Goblin, but isn't that half the fun?
Pencils & Pixies
Old brickwork can be surprisingly colourful.
When I looked at the reference, I wasn't really seeing "red bricks." I was seeing oranges, greys, browns, purples, yellows and even hints of black. Rather than copying each brick exactly, I tried to use those colours to capture the feeling of a weathered wall that has stood for generations.
Sometimes it's the overall impression that's more important than every individual detail.
Real places in Yorkshire, reimagined through folklore and storybook illustration.
You can see the whole thing cometogether over in the Grindylow's reach playlist
youtube.com/@PencilsandPixies/playlists
Real places in Yorkshire, reimagined through folklore and storybook illustration.
3 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Pencils & Pixies
Real places in Yorkshire, reimagined through folklore and storybook illustration.
One thing I really enjoy about combining watercolour with coloured pencil is that the initial wash does a lot of the heavy lifting. It won't suit everyone, but it works really well for me.
For this section of Gryndelows Reach, I started with a simple watercolour wash, built the foliage with stippling, then used Polychromos pencils to add the shadow pockets and mid tones.
That first wash removes the stark white of the paper, which means I need fewer pencil layers to build depth and colour. For me, it makes the whole process smoother while still letting the coloured pencil create the detail.
Every artist develops their own way of working, and this is one of those little techniques that has become part of mine.
You can watch the full Gryndelows Reach playlist here:
youtube.com/@PencilsandPixies/playlists
3 months ago | [YT] | 0
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I'm beginning a new page in my North of the Ordinary folklore atlas of Yorkshire this week.
Grindylow's Reach is inspired by a real Victorian sluice gate on Holderness Drain, Hedon Road, Hull, and imagines what else might be waiting beneath its dark waters.
In Yorkshire folklore, a Grindylow is associated with meres, bogs and lakes... so why not a drain?
Follow along over the coming weeks as the Grindylow and its surroundings slowly take shape, from the first pencil lines to the finished illustration.
New videos every Sunday.
youtube.com/@PencilsandPixies/playlists
Real places in Yorkshire, reimagined through folklore and storybook illustration.
3 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Real places in Yorkshire, reimagined through folklore and storybook illustration.
It started with a real stone bridge in a real park, and became the home of a dragon and a goblin.
Creating a hundred-hour, 12×18-inch artwork in coloured pencil and watercolour is only the first step.
Dragon's Folly taught me that making the artwork and making the film are two very different skills.
Watching this compilation back, I can see every lesson I didn't know I needed to learn. Better lighting. Better framing. Better focus. Better storytelling. Nine weeks ago, I was figuring it all out through trial and error, and every chapter taught me something new.
I wouldn't make these videos the same way today, and that's exactly how it should be.
Dragon's Folly has been a huge part of my life for the last nine weeks. It taught me how to build this channel just as much as it taught me how to build an atlas page.
So this is my goodbye to Dragon's Folly.
The first page of North of the Ordinary is complete.
It's time to turn the page and begin the next story.
If you'd like to see how Dragon's Folly was created, you can find the full playlist here:
youtube.com/@PencilsandPixies/playlists
4 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dragon's Folly, the drawing I've been creating over the last eight videos, has taken nearly 100 hours to complete and is the first illustration in the North of the Ordinary series.
Each drawing begins with a real location or structure in Yorkshire and is built across a series of videos, from the first sketch to the finished illustration.
Rather than a single time-lapse, each video focuses on one part of the artwork.
Together, these individual videos form one completed mixed-media illustration, combining place, transformation, story and hidden details into a single finished artwork.
If you'd like to see how Dragon's Folly was created, you can find the full playlist here:
youtube.com/@PencilsandPixies/playlists
4 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Sometimes the most “boring” part of a piece ends up being the thing that holds the whole world together.
This week, for me, it was… a path.
Not the most exciting subject at first glance. But what’s the point of a dragon bridge without something beneath it. Pathways lead us places — old places, quiet places, magical places — and they set the tone long before we notice them.
So yes, I spent the week drawing a path. And somewhere along the way I realised that the least dramatic element was actually the one tying everything else together.
A small reminder that even the quiet bits matter.
4 months ago | [YT] | 0
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North of the Ordinary is an ongoing folklore atlas of Yorkshire.
Each artwork begins with a real place.
The drawing unfolds across a series of chapters, collected into a playlist.
Together, those chapters become a single finished atlas page.
Each playlist is a new place, a new story, and a new page in the atlas.
4 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Life happened this week, so there won't be a new chapter of Dragon's Folly on Sunday. The atlas will continue next week. Thank you for being here.
5 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Every artist has that moment where they have a pencil, pen or brush in their hand, put it down, and 2.4 seconds later it’s gone.
You turn the room upside down, look in the place you KNOW you put it 17 times, and it’s just not there… but you need it to finish what you’re doing.
So you walk out in frustration and make a cup of tea.
Then you walk back in the room and there it is. Right where you left it. Like:
“Oh hello. Welcome back.”
Road rage is the only thing stronger than missing pencil, pen or brush rage.
5 months ago | [YT] | 0
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I was supposed to be drawing a muntjac this week — and I did, sort of. Only parts of it made it into the video because I forgot to press record again, so now there’s a neon pink sticky note stuck to my desk. If that doesn’t remind me, nothing will. I can’t be the only one who does this… surely.
5 months ago | [YT] | 0
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