just outlawe robyn hoode.

inspired by robin hood & maid marian of sherwood forest.

“just outlawe robin hood.”

&

“maid marian adventuriere.”

faerie tale feet paintings inspired by the many legends, histories, and tales of robin hood (and his merry men!), plus the romantic french addition to the tale of our beloved maid marian.

i painted these two faerie tale feet paintings with the pair in mind.
i picture robin hood leaning against a tree being all suave and manly, while maid marian reaches up to kiss his cheek. 

these two paintings side-by-side bring the spirit of sherwood forest to life.
the legend goes WAY back (my research stack was RIDICULOUSLY tall)… and range from theories of “robyn hoode” being a nickname for any outlawe in ye olde english record books, to an actual historical figure… the legend changed with the times as the populace might be mad at government (prince john, the sheriff of nottingham) at one point in history, or angry at the church (yes, friar tuck is the bad guy in a good number of versions, too!) it was a lot of fun to research the varying tellings, and there is no shortage of adventure or daring in any tale of robin hood and his merry men.

have a look at the painting process below, and then i'll give you a list of all the story icons i included in the background!

looooots of robin hood {robyn hoode} research… i got a bit carried away. here’s most of my research/re-tellings stack.

looooots of robin hood {robyn hoode} research… i got a bit carried away. here’s most of my research/re-tellings stack.

the first sketches and thumbnails of robin hood and maid marian. i picture him leaning against a tree all suave and confident, & marian leaning up to kiss his cheek. excellent use of a tree in the forest, no? ;)

the first sketches and thumbnails of robin hood and maid marian. i picture him leaning against a tree all suave and confident, & marian leaning up to kiss his cheek. excellent use of a tree in the forest, no? ;)

here’s my process of beginning to trace all of my story icon shapes onto robin’s tracing paper to create a full pattern background.

here’s my process of beginning to trace all of my story icon shapes onto robin’s tracing paper to create a full pattern background.

here are the final background patterns for both robin and marian.

here are the final background patterns for both robin and marian.

marian’s background green gouache paint colour is a little more mint than robin’s. but they still look smashing side-by-side.

marian’s background green gouache paint colour is a little more mint than robin’s. but they still look smashing side-by-side.

after i transferred the patterns down to illustration board with graphite paper, i filled in each background. robin’s background green is a bit more neutral than marian’s.

after i transferred the patterns down to illustration board with graphite paper, i filled in each background. robin’s background green is a bit more neutral than marian’s.

here’s both side-by side in progress…. starting to fill in the icon shapes one colour at a time.

here’s both side-by side in progress…. starting to fill in the icon shapes one colour at a time.

i did use the same gouache colour for the icons in both paintings. (like richard the lion hearted lions are the same colour of peachy gouache paint. but thanks to the miracle of colour theory, it looks a lot more red in marian's painting than in rob…

i did use the same gouache colour for the icons in both paintings. (like richard the lion hearted lions are the same colour of peachy gouache paint. but thanks to the miracle of colour theory, it looks a lot more red in marian's painting than in robin's.) :)

here they are side-by-side. almost done! continuing to fill in each story icon shape one mixed paint colour at a time. and working on the painting details of robin & marian’s legs and boots!

here they are side-by-side. almost done! continuing to fill in each story icon shape one mixed paint colour at a time. and working on the painting details of robin & marian’s legs and boots!

these were all the paper plate palettes i used to mix up each new colour of paint! i do love all the colours!! :D and obviously created quite a few new ones for this duo!

these were all the paper plate palettes i used to mix up each new colour of paint! i do love all the colours!! :D and obviously created quite a few new ones for this duo!

included story iconography:

here’s what you’ll find in these two backgrounds of our forest lovers:

  • the silver arrow (won in an archery contest while robin hood was in disguise; later shot through the window of the sheriff of nottingham with a “note” on it. ha!)

  • an archer (the merry men) in green

  • the crown (prince john, wrongly ruling while richard was “out of town.” hmpf.)

  • a beard (robin hood was handsome with brown hair & a neat beard. i’ll take it)

  • a fleur de lis (the english legends and tales had no girls in the stories. the french being the romantics that they are, praise God, added maid marian!)

  • robin hood’s famous feathered cap

  • a lion (king richard the lion hearted, returned from battle to marry robin hood and maid marian)

  • the silver bugle (kept at robin hood’s side to call his merry men if he were ever in danger)

  • a sword (yes, lots of sword fights, too.)

  • red deer (illegal, with the death penalty, to kill the king’s deer, it’s what robin hood and his merry men lived off of in sherwood forest. robin figured richard would forgive him upon his return for upholding justice for the commoners and against the evil sheriff of nottingham and prince john while richard was away. robin was correct, and was fully pardoned by the rightful king richard.)

  • a harp (the story of allan-a-dale, who enlisted the aid of robin hood, the merry men, and friar tuck to prevent his true love from having to marry an old & stinky bachelor as arranged by her father. they intervened and friar tuck performed the ceremony for allan-a-dale, a wandering minstrel, and his beloved bride.)

  • a target (in most tellings, robin hood is superb archer; in others, he's notoriously terrible!)….

and i think that’s all that’s hidden in the background pattern. let me know if you find more.  ;)

(background icons are the same with the exception of an added owl shape to maid marian’s background; goddess of the forest, artemis, athena, wisdom, you know…it totally all made sense in my head at the time of painting.)

original gouache paintings (each painting is 11″ square, about 19″ in their soft black handmade wooden frames ) available for collecting, $425 each (+ $40 for safe US shipping.)  contact me!