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Azriel Lee

@leeside_illustration

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Fantasy illustrator/character designer in love with folklore and fairytales
Mountain-raised, MI-based | 24

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Happy New Year! I’ve been feeling the need to update my Meet the Artist for a while and felt like now was the perfect time. The last times I made one of these were when I started art school in 2021 and after I got married and moved states in 2024. I’ve changed a lot since then, it feels like eons ago already! Wishing you all a happy and fulfilling 2026!!

#meettheartist2025 #meettheartist2026 #meettheartist #meettheartistchallenge #fantasyillustrator by @leeside_illustration

A few weeks ago, I lay awake and realized in shock that Gerda’s story has been simmering in my mind and MS Word drafts since 2019.

Since my early years, The Snow Queen has remained one of my favorite parables of true love, bravery, and redemption. My retelling aims to emphasize the gravity and nuance of these themes in a way that older audiences can identify with while remaining true to the intent and basic plot of the original fable, using influences from Norse mythology to ground the world building in a way that is thematically consistent.

A strong sense of visual artistry has always felt intertwined with my writing sensibilities, and a huge part of what this story demands. I went back and forth between the idea of making an illustrated novel or simply a world building/design project before I realized sharing this story in comic format was perhaps the best middle ground, a way to have my cake and eat it too. But that was a commitment that felt too enormous and too daunting to even know where to begin.

Whether it was school, marriage, moving states, or a lack of confidence in my skill level, it just never felt like the “right time” to pursue. Fast forward six years and life has not let up since 2019 (who would’ve guessed?). And I’ve slowly realized that “the right time” will never present itself, and that “readiness” is a decision. And so this year, I’ve decided I want to shift more time and effort to sharing this project. This means…

- finishing the last character design sheets to round out the main cast (two left to go!)
- writing the script and beginning work on a comic draft with the goal of having a fully finished prologue and first (few) chapters ready to share by this year’s end
- sharing excerpts of this story in comic format throughout the year

I’m done ruminating and procrastinating and coming up with excuses not to share the ideas that keep me up at night. As always, I’m so grateful to everyone who has shown my art and my characters love over the last several years! I have tons more content planned that I can’t wait to share with you this 2026!!

#thesnowqueen #norsemythology #fairytaleretellings #comicillustration #storytellingart by @leeside_illustration

My very first attempt at a minicomic excerpt for my Norse mythology-inspired retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen!! This story is one I have ruminated on for many years now, and I decided it was time to stop ruminating and start writing, start making.

This is Gerda’s first time at the Astral Beach or “The Grey”, a liminal dream space in between sleeping and waking. Here, she reunites with her best friend and romantic interest Kai (or at least a version of him) for the first time after a terrible argument and his presumed death/disappearance. Her memories of their last interactions haunt her as she struggles to cope with her grief. I know I’ve made mostly fluffy art of these two, but they do go through quite a bit of angst!

Making this was my first committed dive into comic making and honestly a huge learning curve for me! It stretched my creativity, and I poured everything I had into these panels and inks. Not every page and composition is perfect, but if I’ve learned anything through this process, it’s to start letting go of my own perfectionism and just begin sharing the story! I hope you enjoy!

#thesnowqueen #gerdaandkai #hcandersen #fantasycomic #minicomics by @leeside_illustration

Rare traditional art post! Some friends of mine were married this past month, so I wanted to make something commemorating their engagement in the Tetons! I broke out my gouache/watercolors, colored pencils, and fine liners for this one.

#engagementpainting #couplesillustration #gouachepainting🎨 #gouacheillustration #folkillustration by @leeside_illustration

The Snow Queen lineup Pt. 1 featuring the supporting cast!

It wasn’t until I was reading through Andersen’s original fairytale in its seven parts in order to select a main lineup to design that I realized that almost the entire supporting cast, in addition to the heroine and villain, is made up of women. The “conjuring woman”, the princess, the robber girl, and the “Finn woman”; each of Gerda’s interactions with them serves as a chapter in her journey, providing aid, perspective, and in some cases, challenges to overcome.

I felt this indicated an opportunity to interpret this fairytale from a female-centered perspective, and that notion has ultimately become a driving force behind my retelling. Now, I’m working toward the kind of story I’ve always wanted to see in the world: a women-centered coming-of-age questing epic for girls like me who have always wanted to embark on a Tolkien-esque adventure to discover true strength, true love, and true bravery. An integral part of that vision is the diverse cast of women Gerda meets and is affected by along the way.

I love a traditional fairytale heroine AND a badass woman warrior. The Snow Queen is the perfect opportunity to represent both and all of the above.

#thesnowqueen #characterlineup #hcandersen #fantasycharacterdesign #fairytaleretelling by @leeside_illustration

I’m nearly finished with The Raven King, and I need people to know how absolutely not normal I am about The Raven Cycle. I need to talk about just how exactly I am this series’ target audience. I don’t know how it took me this long to find it because this series was practically made to be my perfect read.

A coming-of-age supernatural small-town mystery, steeped in Welsh myth and Arthurian legend is already up all my exact alleys, but then I realize halfway through the prologue it’s SET IN my home region in the rural Shenandoah Valley in the early-mid 2010s, and it’s written in a way that captures the feeling of it SO WELL. Also, features found family with real relational tension and complex dynamics. Also, raw and impactful character work to the point I identify myself and my friends in every character. ALSO, a deliciously slow-burn romantic subplot. PLUS SCRUMPTIOUS, GROUNDED, BEAUTIFUL PROSE that verges on POETRY and MAKES ME CRY because it’s THAT GOOD.

✋🏼 Say. No. More. SAY NO MORE!! Yes, I want to spend all summer traipsing through the dense, mystical forests of the Appalachians, hunting for dead Welsh kings with my friends. Yes please.

Anyway… here’s a character lineup of Blue and the Raven Boys, as I’ve been envisioning them while reading. As always, did my best to be faithful to their descriptions on the page and use my sensibilities to fill in the gaps. These characters truly feel like people I’ve known in my own life on some level, and I feel it kind of shows in the end results. Loved tapping back into what some of the kids in my hometown were wearing in 2015 and that teenage chip on my shoulder for these designs.

#theravencyclefanart #trcfanart #bookfanart #bookcharacterdesign #characterlineup by @leeside_illustration

Something a little different steeped in some vulnerable feelings from over the past few months. Was originally planning this as an (obviously very late) entry for September 1st’s prompt #forestsprite for #folktember2026 but it took on a life of its own, haha!

As much as I love exploring darker takes on folklore and nature spirits, nature has in reality always played more of a comforting role in my own life growing up in the eastern foothills, surrounded by the dense forests of Blue Ridge mountains.

The internet loves to meme about moss girl summers and being slowly absorbed back into nature, but when life gets too overwhelming, or the thoughts in my head are too chaotic and despairing, the urge to run for the hills becomes very literal and very loud. In particular, I have a very specific fantasy about laying down in the grass and falling asleep for so long I sink into the dirt and become a part of something larger and more constant than myself, because that somehow feels more gentle and discreet than having a meltdown, haha.

It’s an uncomfortable realization, but growing up, the hills and forests were always there when I had to process my heaviest emotions alone. They never ask me to be anything other than the soft corporeal being I am, the way a mountain or a river is never asked to be anything other than what it is. That brings me a sense of security and rest that is hard to describe, and I think that an ache for that rest is at the core of the musings that inspired this piece. I hope I was able to capture that feeling.

#treesprite #dryadart #forestspiritart by @leeside_illustration

Happy DTIYS Friday! I had hoped to post this before I left for my camping trip, but I’m back from the lake and finally found the time to finish it. The small wins deserve to be celebrated as much as the big ones (jk, passing 500 followers is actually a very big deal to me and I’m so grateful), and y’all asked for a DTIYS challenge, so hopefully this delivers.

We’re keeping this low pressure! Here are the rules:

1. Anyone can join!
2. No tracing and no AI-generated or AI-modified images (obviously). All mediums are welcome!
3. This challenge features Gerda, an OC from a current story project of mine, and her raven companion, Munin. They come from a world inspired by Scandinavian folk culture and Norse mythology. Please be generally respectful of the design, but feel free to change the pose and composition!
4. Please include the original image at the end of your post if you can, and be sure to tag me @leeside_illustration so I can be sure to see your beautiful work! I will be reposting and sharing entries on my story!
5. Deadline is September 31st. All entries will be featured on a story highlight at the end of the challenge.
6. Have fun!

#dtiyschallenge #ocdtiys #drawthisinyourstylechallenge #norsemythologyart #ocillustration by @leeside_illustration

My last character sheet!

Meet Wýrð, a downcast Norn who weaves the threads of destiny. God-like yet not quite a god, blind yet having vision like no other, burdened with foresight yet bound to silence and non-interference, wise and yet a fool at the whim of fate, Wýrð is an ancient being existing between earthly and unearthly.

Aside from the Wýrð of Norse mythology, her character is based on both the “Finn Woman” and the “Sámi Woman”, ambiguous figures in H. C. Andersen’s tale, serving as consecutive way stations along Gerda’s path to the Snow Queen’s domain, providing aid and awakening Gerda to the true power within her as she prepares to face Kai.

Documented cross-cultural influence between Norse Scandinavians and northern indigenous peoples such as the Sámi seems to reveal a link between practices shared between Sámi shamanism (noaidi) and Norse divination (seiðr) as described in the sagas. I was really inspired by this idea to include elements of both Norse (spindle staff associated with the Norns/völur, galdr or incantation, weaving) and Sámi (drums, joik or traditional singing) tradition, resulting in a threads-based magic system that will be featured throughout the story.

#thesnowqueen #ocsheet #characterdesignsheet #norsemythologyart #norns by @leeside_illustration

Since the moment Gerda had stood on the bank staring at the dark hole in the surface of the water, a part of her had fallen through the ice and not returned. She spent the days reliving their last moments together; his contemptuous words, the skates over his shoulder, and the sound of the door closing as he left for the cold embrace of the lake. Her heart had left her chest and followed him there. She was floating weightless beneath that ice, and she had no intention of returning to the surface.

Outdoors, where she was closest to the nature that Kai had loved best and removed from the eyes that pried at her grief, she felt most at peace. Most of all, the lake. Kai’s grave was at the barrow on the hill. That was where the flowers were placed, but his body was not there. His body had become one with the lake, and his soul seemed to infuse with the land around it: the trees, the sky, the quiet lap of the river, and the birds that alighted on the ice, dusting it with snow from their wings.

#thesnowqueen #fantasylandscapeart #fantasyworldbuilding #winterlandscapes #conceptillustration by @leeside_illustration

Posting these two side by side to get the full impact. I knew going into this project I wanted to make something that could represent the different relationship dynamics between the two duos AND create strong contrast in visual language between Gerda and the Snow Queen in a way that supports the themes of the story.

Gerda is characterized by warm, saturated colors, soft shapes, and organic/floral elements inspired by Scandinavian folk craft, such as embroidery and furniture decoration practices. Roses in particular serve as a repeated motif integral to the story. I want the imagery around her to associate her with the arrival of springtime and with manmade craft and ingenuity.

Meanwhile, Skadi has a cold, monotone palette with a focus on texture. She is simultaneously linked to the harshness of the natural world and a macabre, otherworldly beauty. The visual language I associate with her leans into sharp angles and geometric shapes, combining the crystalline aspects of winter phenomena like snowflakes, frost, and fissures in ice with Old Norse bind runes.

I tried my best to implement these principles to their border frames as well to further support the opposing visual identities.

#thesnowqueen #norsefantasy #ocillustrations #fantasyillustrations #fairytaleillustration by @leeside_illustration

Hesperis Matronalis - Dame’s Rocket

Adding a third installment to my flower fairy series! Every spring, this weed grows through woodlands, on riverbanks, and in roadside ditches across the U.S.

Seeing their striking patches of pinks and purples against green embankments and smelling their intensely sweet scent at dusk as I drive by heralds May/midsummer time in my hometown. In my opinion, the perfect season for fairies. I imagine them zipping between tall stalks, heady with perfume.

Dame’s Rocket is an ornamental species brought by European settlers in the 1700s to the U.S. where it is lacks the ecological predators that help keep it in check, shades out native plants, and is classified as invasive. While often mistaken for native phlox, it can be differentiated by its four-petaled flowers and alternating arrangement of serrated leaves along the stem.

#damesrocket #flowerfairies #botanicalillustration #fairyillustration #wildflowerillustration by @leeside_illustration