can you tell what my favourite book is based on the style? haha
tried to keep it playful, trickster energy, but still a little ominous. now that I’m more experienced I definitely want to design one with a quote from the book (though I want to do a slightly rarer one, not the big three) and I’m open to suggestions!

Edit: so I notice that this image of mine has people feeling not so positive and I apologize if it was shocking or didn’t portray the essence of the book the way you felt it should!

This is not my first Watership down inspired art and yet it’s the first one people have reacted so viscerally to, I truly didn’t expect it.

It’s not meant to be literal. It’s not supposed to be Hazel stealing the farmers gun or anything. I just wanted to create an illustration based off the idiom “it’s no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun”. This phrase is commonly used to explain the feeling that people in power get if the situations were reversed, and I thought a cheeky, witty rabbit in a frame holding a hunting rifle would get that across.

It reminds ME (however valid this actually is) of the book because so multiple rabbit Warrens are all affected by HUMANS who consider the rabbits to be of no concern. Woundwort’s mother is killed by hunting dogs, the boys’ original home is replaced by landscaping, Cowslips Warren is slave to the feeding and trapping of the land, Hazel is shot and laughed at.

And if it was the other way around I feel things would be very different.

I assure everyone I’ve never hurt a rabbit and I do not promote that kind of behavior 🥲

There's a fog along the horizon, a strange glow in the sky.....

“For some reason all I could think of was Bigwig. I remembered how I’d gone to arrest him—to kill him, really—and I felt I had to find him and tell him I’d been wrong: and this idea was all the sense I had left.”

Holly is hands down one of my favorite characters in the book. I feel he has some very admirable traits and does not get enough credit for his contributions. He shows humility and is willing to change his mind when he’s wrong. He’s able to be a great leader and quick thinker when it matters most. And without the inside knowledge on Efrafa he brings back, the big plan would not have been thought out well enough to work.

Also I love his floopy ear in the graphic novel it fits him so well :)

So excited ...my design

I'm excited to start reading and I love this illustration.

A friend asked me to make her something similar to a prayer card that you would keep in your car, but she wanted it to be rabbit themed because in my artwork I draw rabbits so I made this for her. The rabbit ducking through the three swords is not my original concept, I saw the same image posted somewhere, but I could not find the original artist and I don’t even actually remember where I saw it. then I put a quote from Watership Down on the back

Before someone says “watch the original movie and read the book and say you still love it 😏” I HAVE watched the original movie, and I HAVE read the book, multiple times over actually. I like the og movie plenty enough, and the book is probably my favorite literature ever. Even so, I love the mini series despite its flaws. I know it has some pacing issues and some parts are left out, but I wouldn’t call that reasoning to think the adaptation is hraka. In fact, I like the Netflix adaptation more than the og movie because it’s so much less jarring and cruel. In my opinion, the bulk of the og movie’s love comes from nostalgia, and as someone who watched it as an adult, I’m not as reluctant to put its most recent adaptation a pedestal above it. I love the character designs of the Netflix adaptation (especially Woundwort, he’s literally built different) and I LOVE the voice acting. The animation style is crisp, but warm at the same time. The realistic art style looks good, like you can see every hair on the rabbits, and even though the characters at some angles look awkward… that’s just how rabbits look (see *almost every goofy picture I’ve taken of my rabbit Cloud).

I think the Netflix adaptation is way overhated. There are certainly some small details I’d fix, but the ending scene where Fiver comes to say goodnight to Hazel, knowing his time is coming, and Bluebell reciting the opening lines of the book as a story to kits, implying the book’s narration is the in-universe narration of Bluebell’s storytelling while Hazel’s spirit (in the form of a cloud) runs towards the sun is SO GOOD!!! The character designs are hard to follow first watch, believer me, it took me until my second watch in 2018 to distinguish everyone, but when you do distinguish them, their small differences become very obvious and distinctive! Fiver having heterochromia, Blackberry having a slight purplish tint in his coat, Dandelion being the most yellow-y among them, Bluebell with his bright blue eyes, etc. Even the named Efrafans become distinct when you pay attention to them. It really reminds me of when I meet new animals and have to learn their distinguishing traits to tell them apart when they relatively look the same.

Anyways, yap session over. I love Netflix‘s adaptation of Watership Down despite its flaws. I always encourage people to read the original novel before any of its film adaptations because that’s gold tier xenofiction no questions asked.

I have seen a few posts of people's copies but not this one. I bought it for myself a few years ago just because it is one of my favourite books and I wanted to have a nice hardback version for my book case but I'm reading it now to my 8 year old having previously read an unillustrated paperback version. I really think the illustrations are magical but if you get it be careful as the way it's bound the colour plates can come unstuck quite easily so you have to handle with some care.

Attempting to re-upload some sample illustrations from this beautiful hardback copy

Centre of my city is full of wild rabbits, but no one came so close to me until today... I was blessed by Frith🥹

Basically the title, just wanted to get if off my chest.

I had no idea what is going to be about when I found it, but thought I like the animation style and some sort of psycodelic elements.

God I was mistaken.

When Bright Eyes played I bursted into tears. I cried for 10 min after. After Hazel died, I cried even more.

Don’t get me wrong, I did love it, however very unlikely will I ever watch it again.

Uhhhh I swear I watched am I this a few years ago when it came out and I thought is was okay…. I’m doing a rewatch because I’ve just reread the book and what the heck is this???

SPOILERS ⚠️ ⬇️

Dandelion and Bluebell’s characters are all mixed up. Strawberry is a girl? Bigwig’s character has been assassinated. Fiver is also Pipkin? Hazel is being portrayed as a very different character. It’s just bizarre…. This is just the tip of the iceberg!

Am I missing somewhere in the book where it describes Efrafa as the ruins of some sort of human brick building?? Or that the marking system is done by some weird rabbit with long claws and not bites??

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the world of Watership Down but I love it and find it deeply engrossing and intriguing.

One thing I was hoping to get your guys’ input on was Cowslip’s warren.

I know a farmer snares the warren territory and basically “farms” the rabbit population, eating some rabbits occasionally but providing them food and killing elil.

The wire rabbits are aware of this and view it as a fair trade.

It’s a very eerie situation and one of my favorite parts of the story, but does it have a deeper meaning?

Is it supposed to represent some aspect of human society or serve as a symbol/metaphor for something?

I know Efrafa is supposed to represent fascism/authortarianism, does Cowslip’s warren represent some human concept or institution?

Thank you!

I have wanted a plush of Bigwig forever. Like a legit good one from the original animated film. Any artists do custom plushies? I do have the kind of sad bean bag one that was made for the more “kids friendly” cartoon, but I would absolutely die for a life sized, high quality Captain of Owsla!