Fee Greening’s aesthetic is tender and feminine, with a dash of mystique. Based in London, she specializes in dip pen and ink, with her illustrations inspired by Medieval, Gothic and Flemish art. Animals, insects, and flowers are recurring themes throughout her work, but also hands, posed in different gestures.
“I love the dramatic gestures of hands in Renaissance paintings and how you can decode the narrative by reading them,” she explained in an interview with the Papier blog. “I am really interested in symbolism as well, I love an evil snake or an apple of temptation and I draw a lot of curiosities – corals, shells, jewels, etc. I have always been interested in magic and Medieval illuminated manuscripts.”
The creative process itself takes her time and effort, as she tends to prefer more traditional techniques. “It is a very slow process, the pen can only draw 1/2cm before you need to re-dip it,” explained Greening. “I also have to wait for it to dry for a couple of minutes so I don’t smudge or drag my long hair across the wet ink.”
“Although there are many wonderful aspects of living in a digital age, it has given us very short attention spans,” she went on the say. “I think we crave traditional analog outlets to balance out our scrolling culture. A detailed drawing is not only precious because of its beauty but also because of the time dedicated to making it.”
Her Instagram page is a breath of fresh air. See for yourself:
