I made hundreds of drawings in preparation for the Old Stile Press 1998 illustrated edition of Richard Barnfield’s poem The Affectionate Shepheard, many of which, like the ‘bee’ below, never made it into the book. A touch of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in this one, where the beloved has become a player in a masque.
Below an image from the book…
… and here a painted study that I made in preparation for it. In the study the details are reduced to abbreviations (such as the sgraffito implying the decorations of the hat) whereas in the finished drawing you can see that the ‘cockade’ on the upturned brim is in fact a glove, a token from a lover. I enjoy such details of custom in historic dress, a legacy of my time as a costume designer.
