"Phil the Fluter's Ball"

Happy Lainte St. Patrick's Day, everybody! (Had to make it rhyme somehow, lol.) This year, I present a traditional fan-art of a classic Irish folk song entitled, well..."Phil the Fluter's Ball".

(Also, I apologize for the quality--my scanner is currently in storage, and this was the best I could do. When I have access to a scanner again, I'll re-up-load this in better quality.)

Anyway, the song is about a man who's down on his luck financially, so he invites all the locals to his house for a little shindig, where he provides dancy music on his flute. But he subtly suggests in his invitation that, in return for the fun time, they put a little bit of money in his hat.

In the case of this picture, Phil is a Natterjack, a toad native to Ireland, who got fired from his job as a house-builder (as evidenced by his shoddy self-built cottage), and is providing a party for other local animals in his area to raise money for commodities.

All the animals are either native to or common in Ireland. He's throwing a St. Patrick's Day party for them, where they're happily but casually celebrating their heritage, as do the real people of Ireland. And Phil will probably find out by the end that he's has more luck as a musician than a house builder!

This is my first big attempt at environmental shading. This picture takes place at sun-set, where most of the light comes from the west, and shadows triple in size and cast onto the wall of the cottage. I took the flash-light of my phone and passed it over several random objects, in different directions, observing how the shadows grow and shift depending on the direction of the light. And, according to my Mommy (who is an artist herself), I nailed it here.

I hope you all enjoy it! I worked hard to make it as beautiful, fun and wonderfully Irish as possible.