Charcoal and Watercolor

A Glimpse into Abi’s Art

I first began writing fantasy last summer. It is our custom for me to teach our children a summer elective each year. So last year we watched N.D. Wilson’s School of Fantastical Wordcraft and did all the assignments. But when the summer and the course came to an end, I couldn’t stop.

My daughter Abi, on the other hand, could stop. It was not her thing. Her thing, rather, is art—and I think she is really good. So it was decided: I would write and she would draw and paint what I write. Her very first task: the marble bug.

As the hows and whys and wheres besieged his thinking, peculiar movement in his periphery suddenly arrested his attention. James tracked the motion and spotted the mover, absolutely transfixed. Translucent green wings buzzed upon a dark silver-blue body as round as a marble. Curiously approaching in lackadaisical loops, the insect’s dark eyes stared at James as James stared back. As it came within an arms length, James reached out his hand to give it purchase, but his movement frightened the creature, leading it to initiate its lone defensive tactic. Without warning, the bug ceased its flapping, retracted its wings, and dropped like a rock to the ground, bouncing several times before rolling away.

James’ eyes and mouth bent into a wonder-struck smile. That was, without a doubt, the coolest thing he had ever seen in his life.

(Excerpt from Chapter 2 of The Slaves’ Law.)

How did she do?