![A3 Feather print, Ella Johnston](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/A3Featherprint_04_Sq-1024x1024.jpg)
As I was prepping for one of my drawing workshops I wondered why I am so fascinated by feathers.
![A5 Yellow Feather print, Ella Johnston](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/FEATHER_Yellow_A5PRINT_1_Sq-1024x1024.jpg)
I suppose, for me, feathers represent duality. To me that are symbols of fragility and strength; the frailty of existence and yet the wonder of creation.
![Feathers, work in progress](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Feather_StepbyStep_07-683x1024.jpg)
Hold a feather in your hand and it feels so light, almost weightless and soft. It’s so delicate that my instinct is to treat a feather with reverence and gentleness. However just look at even the tiniest of feathers’ structure and you see so much good structural design there. And strength, so much strength.
![Watercolour feathers, work in progress](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/WIP_GoldenFeathers-1024x1024.jpg)
The process of observation and examination is fundamental to my art and illustration practice. The purpose of a feather – warmth, flight, waterproofing, camouflage, display etc – is so evident once you examine one close up. For me this one object symbolises so many of the things we need in life to survive both physically and emotionally; resilience, protection, comfort.
![Blue watercolour feathers, work in progress](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/WIP_BlueFeathers2P-685x1024.jpg)
As a species I feel we treat animal life so cheaply. We treat birds terribly. I also want the feathers to be a symbol of this. While they represent so much life, in reality they also are symbols of death.
I like to represent them in my work as celebrations of life, proud and at times even totemic. But as objects they are solitary, plucked, indeed, plucked or removed from a body. A stark reminder of the elemental, fragile line we walk between life and death.
![Blue wild feather print Ella Johnston](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/BlueFerather1500_1-1024x1024.jpg)
I must admit I’m conflicted when I have to source my feathers to draw. I’ve gathered a lot of them from the muddy floor of near-by woodland. I have been known to buy them from vintage markets (like when I use to buy leather jackets, I had to know the cow would have been long dead before I could benefit from it – a strange logic I know). But mostly I get given them by friends who find them on their travels.
Most of my feather pieces are created with watercolour and pigment ink pen. I teach this technique at my workshop and I went through it in a step by step for uni-ball. You can read it here…
![Ink feather drawing Ella Johnston](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/INk_Feather_lR.jpg)
I’m also playing around with pen and loose Indian ink as you can see.
![Ink feathers](https://ellasplace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Feather_inkdrawingWIP-1024x683.jpg)
Take a closer look at my feather prints on my Folksy shop.