Bonjourasaurus

Un dinosaure pas comme les autres...

Troll!

Aschenputtel

"Shake and rattle, little tree!
Throw gold and silver over me!"

Probably due to the bicentenary of the publication of Grimms' Fairy Tales, I've been thinking quite a lot about their tales, in particular their version of "Cinderella", known in German as "Aschenputtel". Like all fairy tales, many variants of "Cinderella" exist around the world. In the English-speaking world, the version of "Cinderella" we know is the late 17th century French version by Charles Perrault (this is the version Walt Disney adapted). Yet in many countries, in particular those in the German-speaking world, the Grimms' version of the tale is better known. I can remember being ten and picking up a collection of Grimm tales at school and reading their version of "Cinderella" for the first time. Unaware of the idea that multiple versions of the same narrative existed across different cultures, I was surprised to read such a different version.

"There's blood in the shoe!" warn the birds.

The Perrault version of the tale is much more light-hearted and refined than the more sombre Grimm version. The stepfamily in Grimms' version are truly cruel, demonic creations as opposed to delightfully haughty comic villains. In particular, the stepmother, so hell bent on seeing her family wed into royalty, has her own daughters cut off bits of their feet to make Cinderella's golden slipper fit. The magical helpers in Grimms' version of the tale are also radically different. Whereas Perrault has a fairy godmother appearing mid-point through the story to get Cinderella to the ball, the Grimms have Cinderella plant a hazel tree at her birth mother's grave in the garden, which can grant such wishes as providing a lovely dress and slippers for the royal ball (one can assume that the dead mother's spirit inhabits the tree). Also helpful are the birds that reside in the tree; they help Cinderella with the tedious task handed by her stepmother of sorting out good and bad lentils that have been thrown among the ashes, and they alert the prince of the stepsisters' treachery by getting him to notice the blood in the golden slipper. Yet these birds aren't entirely sweet and innocent as well. In an ending that would delight Hithcock, Cinderella's bird friends peck out the eyes of the stepsisters as punishment for their horrid ways.

The birds help Cinderella with her tedious chores.

Yes, it may sound like an unpleasant tale, especially if you were raised on Disney or Ladybird books. Yet the original Grimms' stories are not exactly stories for children to begin with, hence their bowdlerisation in versions for younger people (in fact, I believe contemporary German versions of the tales for children tone down the violence).  Equally, there is something about the Grimms' "Cinderella" that really is enchanting. So much so, in fact, that I decided to make some sketches based on it. Enjoy!

Dick Whittington (and his cat, too)

I've Got No Strings (Petroushka)

First of all, many sincere apologies for not updating this blog. Things in general have been an absolute rollercoaster these past few months, but I've been particularly pre-occupied since the end of May/beginning of June (yet ultimately not for all that bad reasons). I've now found myself in a somewhat quieter period, though things will probably speed up once more come a few weeks time.

Anyhow, while I'm "stringless", so to speak, here's a picture of a living puppet other than Pinocchio. Igor Stravinsky's ballet Petroushka tells the story of a clown puppet at a winter carnival brought to life by his cruel master's magic flute. Though I've never seen the ballet (to be perfectly honest, it's not my cup of tea), the music and the story is beautiful. I believe that Walt Disney briefly considered animating it as a segment for his ambitious and sadly ill-fated Fantasia follow-up. If we ever do see another Fantasia film (highly unlikely as it is, unfortunately), I'm sure that this would be an excellent choice...

A Turnip from 2011

It's the Circle of Life?

Here's a little something from around February or March of last year: a few little studies in gouache and pencil on The Enormous Turnip. I actually meant to post it here quite some time ago, but it got lost amongst all sorts of new things that I kept churning out. I have included the entire page I was working on in addition to the main highlights as separate images.

I will naturally admit that I didn't get very far with the whole thing, but I did have a clear vision of the story in my head and where I would have gone with it. As with many other fairy tales and fables, The Enormous Turnip is so flexible that it can be easily adapted and changed without losing much of the plot and significance of the original, standardised version. The original story is Russian in origin, but most contemporary illustrated versions don't tend to envision it as such. I too decided against the Russian peasant setting, and instead envisioned the story as taking place in a Victorian walled garden somewhere in late-19th/early-20th century rural England. I think I even drew a fuller picture of the old man, in which he was definitely wearing clothes typical of the era.

Toad of Toad Hall

Not much more than a study, but here's a quick little sketch of the wayward protagonist from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. A story like The Wind in the Willows is easier to visualise than some comparable works, as it arguably doesn't have a set of definitive set of illustrations associated with it as the likes of Alice in Wonderland or Roald Dahl's books do (though I think it is worth saying that E.H. Shepard's illustrations are classic).

The Sadness of Birthday Bear

When Young Holly encountered Birthday Bear

The poor old teddy was in such despair.

"Come," said the girl,  handing him a sweet pea,

"Why all the tears? Why be melancholy?"

"Alas," said the bear, "'Tis a namesake curse!

"A grave malady that only gets worse!

"I long for my birthday most days of the year,

"But I weep and I wail when it gets here.

"You see, I'm reminded, like I'm Macbeth,

"That each day I'm ageing, closer to death."

The Afternoon of a Faun

Insomnia

Insomnia...something I only know too well.

Grim Lairy Tales

Cheshire Countryside

Where I am, it is chucking it down, and I believe it's the same for much of the UK. So for all in need of a jolly holiday, here we have a little something inspired by my home county...