Watch the Aurora

I'm slowly gathering reference materials and inspirational ideas for "A Patchwork Tale" - my fairy tale/children's book-in-progress. The book will be illustrated with a combination of pen & ink drawings and watercolor paintings. Tonight, I did a small test drawing of an aurora in pen and ink. In color, an aurora would be easier to manage, the greens, reds, and pinks in the sky would give it away immediately. But how to handle those graceful ribbons in black and white? I'm still working on it. But this was my first attempt.

"Watch the Aurora" pen & ink in a
Stillman and Birn epsilon journal