the Jack of the Lantern. He stalks through the night on his broom of flame. Laughing all the way to unholy Hell. He takes what he pleases, he takes many souls. And he vanishes into the darkest of the shadows.
Jane Austen (1775–1817)
Austen never lived alone and had little expectation of solitude in her daily life. Her final home, a cottage in the village of Chawton, England, was no exception: she lived there with her mother, her sister, a close friend, and three servants, and there was a steady stream of visitors, often unannounced.
...
Austen wrote in the family sitting room, “subject to all kinds of casual interruptions,” her nephew recalled. She was careful that her occupation should not be suspected by servants, or visitors, or any persons beyond her own family party. She wrote upon small sheets of paper which could easily be put away, or covered with a piece of blotting paper. There was, between the front door and the offices, a swing door which creaked when it was opened; but she objected to having this little inconvenience remedied, because it gave her notice when anyone was coming.
“Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton & doses of rhubarb.”
From Daily rituals by Mason Currey
#dailyrituals #inktober #janeAusten @masoncurrey
OH SNAP! If you're wondering about the song Timothy was singing a few pages back, it's from the "Ollie & Scoops" episode, Old Crumplecranks. It can be found here. https://youtu.be/GqoFrHoWJJM?si=zr-jqtgMtfrY1Oh6
This portrait was created using mixed media like colored pencils, markers, and ink. The portrait features the face of a man resting in his hand, and staring dead-eyed at the viewer. I used non local color techniques to create depth and form using colors not typically found in the human face, like blues and violets for shadows and yellows and oranges or highlights. Parts of his face include small pink stars which originally faded from the previous page, but I really like the look it gives, they almost look like celestial freckles.
