The Princess and the Pea is an original acrylic painting on paper, measuring approximately 16.5” x 11.5”.

I loved this story as a child and thought about it often. There was something so wonderfully ridiculous about the idea that a real princess could feel one tiny pea beneath an enormous pile of mattresses — and I could always picture that extraordinary bed in my imagination.

When I came to paint my own version of the story, it was the mattresses I was most excited about. I wanted each one to be different, filling the pile with colour, pattern, texture and tiny details. Stripes, checks, stars, flowers, ribbons, tassels and trimmings gradually built up into the wonderfully excessive stack I had imagined when I was little.

Right at the bottom, of course, is the tiny pea that caused all the trouble.

A picture to get lost in for a little while.

This is the original, one-of-a-kind painting from which The Princess and the Pea fine art prints are produced.

Paintings of this complexity take me well over 100 hours to create, from the initial research and drawing through to slowly building up the many layers of colour and detail, often using brushes as fine as 0000.

I have been painting and illustrating professionally for more than 30 years, and this painstaking way of working has become an important part of how I create my imaginary worlds.

The painting is mounted and presented in a white wooden frame measuring 16” × 20”.

The original is signed by me and will be supplied with a signed Certificate of Authenticity.

If you have any questions about this original painting, or would like to discuss purchasing it, please get in touch.