Cat Sidhe - The Phantom Cat

Cat Sidhe is a cat from Celtic mythology and represents the Letter 'C' in the Animal Alphabets 2020 Mythical Creatures Challenge. #animalphab

"The Cat Sidhe is a fairy creature from Celtic mythology. It is described as being all black except for a small white spot on its chest. It is said to haunt the Scottish highlands, and it is believed it could steal a dead persons soul by passing over the corpse before it was claimed by the gods." - excerpt from Animal Alphabets. 

​I wanted to further explore a new style I've been working on aimed at illustrations for Middle Grade books, inspired by series such as R.L. Stine's Goosebumps and the Scooby-Doo franchise.

With the idea of developing a cover design, I built on a concept that I had started exploring while working on a previous illustration created in 2016 based on the Three Witches from Macbeth - an overgrown graveyard with elements of mystery and magic.

Detail from Three Witches, illustrated by Lauren Mullinder 2016

I started by researching different graveyards and grave stone markers, focusing on European and British locales. When visiting Austria in 2012, I visited a graveyard in Salzburg that had the most amazing atmosphere and decoration and wanted to bring a small element of this in to my illustration through the glowing flowers.

When it came to developing my final layout, I knew I wanted to have a dynamic point of view and played with perspective so the viewer is looking up at the Cat Sidhe, silhouetted against the moon and tree. An earlier version had additional grave markers in the background, but I subsequently removed these as I felt they detracted from the focus of the piece.

St. Peter's Monastery & Cemetery in Salzburg, photographed by Prerna Ashok 2012

Set at midnight to the light of a full moon, the black phantom cat sits atop the Celtic marker stone, surrounded by a field of nocturnal flowers, glowing in anticipation for the ghostly deeds to come...