Title: Everything was very still now: Mole in the Wild Wood (from The Wind in the Willows)

Artist: Deborah Sheehy

Medium: Acrylic on paper

Dimensions: 8” x 11.7”

Year: 2017

Winner of the SCBWI Europe wide competition for new talent in illustration 2018.

This painting was my entry into the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators competition for new talent in Children’s Picture Books. One of the options was to illustrate a scene from the classic book The Wind in the Willows, and a singular moment jumped out at me: the moment when Mole enters the Wild Wood. It is like a hush, the stillness before the action, and I knew this was the scene I wanted to paint.

“Although very dark and simply presented, this is an atmospheric and beautifully lit composition. The limited tones provide a wonderful dramatic tension and a great sense of the scale and mystery of the woods through soft and interesting mark-making.” – Judges Comments