The Story of Witches, illustrated by Katie Ponder.
We adore these wickedly wonderful illustrations by Katie Ponder for this new book written by Willow Winsham published by Batsford Books. The book explores the folklore, supersition and history behind witches.
‘I really enjoyed this subject as paganism, magic and all things witchy has always been a huge interest of mine. Reading Willow’s writing as I worked through the project was fascinating - from the folklore of Baba Yaga and Perchta to the very real and dark history women lived through during the witch trials.
I chose a colour palette which to me always feels quite magic - the combination of lilac purple hues alongside ochre yellows to contrast. I wanted to create an antique but bold and striking feeling with the colours. The colours are also a reference to the balance between the light and dark nature of the theme of Witches.
I leaned into the folklore/ folkart element of this book, creating borders for some of the images that feature folk design, symbols and reference traditional quilting shapes.’