A bit about my Process: part 2

This time I will be talking about my series of illustrations inspired by the European Eel. This part of my four part newsletter is about how inspiration can unexpectedly strike and how it can often be a drip feed rather than a flood. It is about following up on those little things that you find curious in life because you never know where a walk might take you.

“Eel Larvae”, Giclée print of original digital illustration by Lizzie Ault

One that started with a walk

I had noticed circular, brass plaques, set into the pavement in Ely, with eels on them and wondered what they were. We found the eel trail pamphlet in Oliver Cromwell’s house and set off on the trail with friends and kids in tow. We obviously knew what the larger plaques with eels on were but we didn’t understand the smaller ones with what looked like leaves on them. It wasn’t until some time later when I was reading a collection of nature stories by Enid Blyton to my eldest that I realised. One of the stories explained the wonderful life cycle of the eel including how it starts as a leaf-like creature floating in the Sargasso Sea and travels across the Atlantic to Europe, changing as it travels. I now understood what the smaller plaques were: eel larvae.

© Copyright Evelyn Simak and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Research into the life cycle of the European eel was internet-based but I used various sources and didn’t stick too closely to any of them to inform my drawings. I don’t remember any preliminary sketches for this series. I went straight to the digital sketching software but I do have a video of the creation of glass eels showing some ideas that got discarded. I’ll talk more about this piece in a  later email. I chose colours and added textures creatively, attempting to bring the creatures to life in my own way. 

“Yellow Eel”, giclée print of original digital illustration by Lizzie Ault

I’m very lucky to have a partner who is also creatively inclined and very helpful with composition and drawing feedback. He inspired the figure of eight composition for the yellow eel. The positioning of this eel reminds me of the cyclical nature of life but also the bizarre tales of eunuch eels (eels that take longer than normal to enter the final, silver eel, stage) who live to an extreme age and grow to enormous sizes.

Tray of young eels copyright Lizzie Ault 2023

I’ve since been able to see eels in the local eel trap and in the tank display at Kingfisher bridge and these observations now inform my eel artwork. I admit I use artistic licence with their faces to add emotion and make them more appealing. 

“Silver Eel” collage by Lizzie Ault

If you would like to learn more about the life cycle of the European Eel I have written a blog post about it here.