Salem Hawker

This weekend I painted two illustrations of Hawker kids from my web comic "Swan Eaters." Yesterday I shared the new painting of Clover Hawker, and today I have a painting of Salem Hawker to show you. 

Salem Hawker and a new friend readers
may meet soon....

Clover Hawker and dolly.

Salem is one of my favorite Hawker kids, along with her younger sister Clover. Both girls are very clever and interested in learning magic from Grandma Hawker. (In fact, both girls clearly take after Grandma while their older sister Vesper is much more like mother Hester).

Salem is ten years old in the 1941 setting of Swan Eaters, and she is the only girl in the Hawker's set of triplets. She maintains a tense sort of peace with her fellow triplets, Ivan and Peter, mostly out of loyalty than friendship. Peter is a strange child, and Ivan is the Hawker's number one trouble maker. Ivan and Salem find each other at odds often, but he rarely dares to cross her purposefully.

Peter, Salem, and Ivan:
The Hawker Triplets.

Salem has many talents, but she is best at summoning creatures from other worlds. Some time before the comic began, Salem taught herself from Grandma's books and began practicing magics far more advanced than a little girl should be dabbling with.

She has summoned a Wendigo she calls "Winnie", and a gigantic monstrous man named Wigglesworth who poses as a leper in rags and does odd jobs for Morbis and Offal Hawker. Only Salem, Grandma, Clover, and Ivan know what Wigglesworth truly is, the rest of the Hawkers take him to be a mute Morbis hired after Ivan found him in the woods and brought him round for work. Wigglesworth took to family life with the Hawkers (staying at first because he fell in love with Vesper Hawker) and is fond of Salem and Clover.

Wigglesworth carrying Salem and Clover to the wagons.

Besides Salem, only Grandma and Clover know Winnie is real.
The rest of the Hawkers believe he is just an imaginary friend.

Salem feels responsible for Winnie. When the Hawkers ran out of food
in the winter of 1941, she worried about how Winnie would survive....

...But in the end, it was Winnie who saved the day!

When the Hawkers were run out of town, Winnie lost their trail.
Salem has been trying to find him since.

She has a hard time getting help to find him.

She's tried leaving letters and signs.

Winnie can't understand the notes Salem has been leaving,
but his sense of smell is supernaturally strong. (Hey, he's a monster).

When Grandma chose to apprentice Clover, Salem fretted until Grandma explained
why she didn't need the tutoring.

Salem is very patient and very studious, and it's probably why she
understands summoning so well.

Her brothers really bug her.

Recently Salem tried to summon Winnie again only to be caught by Grandma,
who has forbidden her from summoning in the past due to the dangers.

And that's a little bit about Salem Hawker!