Introduction Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. - C.S. Lewis This quote by C.S. Lewis sums up why I chose my thesis. Even though the primary audience for my work is children, I believe that my work is for anyone of any age. Regardless of how old you are, you can still enjoy fairytales and feeling like a kid. The joys and memories of childhood have had a great impact on who I am and why I chose to become an illustrator. I love creating cute, whimsical artwork that can be enjoyed not only by children but everyone. My thesis is redesigning three stories from Hans Christian Anderson’s Classic Fairy Tales: The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Princess and the Pea. Storybooks have always had a strong presence in my life. Some of my favorite memories are reading picture books with my family and among my favorite stories are fairy tales. The original versions of each of these stories have elements and plot points that aren’t included in movies and remade books. I stuck to the original stories, incorporating those details into my designs. Working digitally, I build compositions with unique, graphic shapes. I add layers of texture to my pieces because I want to make them more fun and visually interesting to the viewer. I’m also drawn to bright, warm colors and use vibrant palettes to make the illustrations stand out and feel more playful. My life is centered around family. My thesis is dedicated to them, for not only supporting my passion for illustrating but helping me get to where I am now. I wouldn’t have been able to pursue my dream and get through college without their help. Whenever I feel like I’m in a rut or unsure of what to do next, I look back on my memories growing up and all the books I’ve read and find inspiration from them. I strive to create memorable pieces that bring others the same joy that children’s books give me.
Character and Environment Design Growing up, the tale of The Little Mermaid was undoubtedly my favorite story. A huge amount of my love for that story can be credited to the movie, but, as I grew up I became more fascinated by the evolution of the story. I learned the origin of the fable and found that I was more captivated by the original version rather than the remakes. While illustrating pages for The Little Mermaid, I paid attention to the details in the original story that were not carried into the more modern versions of the tale. The original story holds a lot of descriptive imagery towards the environment and the characters, as well as actual moments in the story’s plot. The environment was designed to appeal to a younger audience. Using bright colors and fun dynamic shapes layered with textures, the compositions have a whimsical, playful appearance. When designing the characters, my goal was to create my interpretation of each character, giving each one their unique, personal details. For the Little Mermaid, these details include her crown of lilies and oysters lining the end of her tail; both of which serve as symbols of her coming of age and her high status as a princess. The witch was designed with a sleek, sharper tail and darker colors to make her appear more villainous.
Excerpt From The Story The illustration to the left depicts a moment in the story that is told differently in the original version of the tale. As told in Anderson’s book, “She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while her sisters would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels, she cared for nothing but her pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other.”
Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire. Each of the young princesses had a little plot of ground in the garden, where she might dig and plant as she pleased. One arranged her flower-bed into the form of a whale; another thought it better to make hers like the figure of a little mermaid; but that of the youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at sunset.
Spot Illustrations The spot illustration to the right depicts the moment the Sea Witch offers the Little Mermaid a potion to turn her into a human in exchange for her voice: “I know what you want,” said the sea witch; [...]“You want to get rid of your fish’s tail, and to have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so that the young prince may fall in love with you, and that you may have an immortal soul.” And then the witch laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there wriggling about. “You are but just in time,” said the witch; “for after sunrise tomorrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which you must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore and drink it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all this, I will help you.” The spot illustration to the left portrays the little mermaid during her time at the prince’s castle: “The prince said she should remain with him always, and she received permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. [...] They rode together through the sweet scented woods, where the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She climbed with the prince to the tops of high mountains; and although her tender feet bled so that even her steps were marked, she only laughed, and followed him till they could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds travelling to distant lands. While at the prince’s palace, and when all the household were asleep, she would go and sit on the broad marble steps; for it eased her burning feet to bathe them in the cold sea-water; and then she thought of all those below in the deep.”
Character and Environment Design
The story of the Ugly Duckling was one that was often read to me by my mother when I was a child. The
story of a child struggling to find where they fit in is a very relatable story for most people growing up. This
story holds a special place in my heart and I enjoyed the challenge of taking a relatively simple character and
making it my own. I wanted to give the ugly duckling a rougher appearance than a common duckling. I gave him a sketchy design, incorporating a mix of flat shapes and textured brushstrokes, to give him a less convention-
ally attractive appearance that still holds the viewer’s attention. Baby swans are more grey than other ducklings, which is why I chose grey for the character, adding some blues to give him color.
The environment was designed with soft natural colors and graphic shapes to showcase the textures I
used. I enjoy creating a paper cut - like effect using both texture and shape, and I used this to add a warm and peaceful quality to the illustrations.
A majority of the story takes place outdoors, whether its by a pond, in the woods, or a meadow. I chose
to capture moments in the story that differ from what was included in remakes. One of those moments is
pictured in the spot on the next page. This moment is when the Ugly Duckling is escaping nearby hunters and is very afraid. He comes across an old cottage in the woods and decides to take a closer look to see if it is safe to rest there. This part of the story was one that I was unaware of as a child and it also introduces a couple of
characters that I previously did not know existed. I found this part of the story to be very intriguing as it adds new details to the ducklings story and character development.
I chose this moment, not only because it is less known, but also
because I enjoy drawing various houses and have a soft spot for cot-
tages. The cottage was described as run-down and overgrown which gave me the liberty to incorporate foliage and overgrown plants all
around it. The duckling is so small that to see him in the composition, I had to zoom in on the cottage, which allowed me to play around with the shape of the edges and work with the negative space.
“It was late in the day before all became quiet, but even then the poor young thing
did not dare to move. He waited quietly for several hours, and then, after looking carefully
around him, hastened away from the moor as fast as he could. He ran over field and meadow till a storm arose, and he could hardly struggle against it. Towards evening, he reached
a poor little cottage that seemed ready to fall, and only remained standing because it could
not decide on which side to fall first. The storm continued so violent, that the duckling could go no farther; he sat down by the cottage, and then he noticed that the door was not quite
closed in consequence of one of the hinges having given way. There was therefore a narrow opening near the bottom large enough for him to slip through, which he did very quietly, and got a shelter for the night.�
One evening, just as the sun set amid radiant clouds, there came a large flock of beautiful birds out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen any like them before. They were swans, and they curved their graceful necks, while their soft plumage shown with dazzling whiteness. They uttered a singular cry, as they spread their glorious wings and flew away from those cold regions to warmer countries across the sea. As they mounted higher and higher in the air, the ugly little duckling felt quite a strange sensation as he watched them. He whirled himself in the water like a wheel, stretched out his neck towards them, and uttered a cry so strange that it frightened himself. Could he ever forget those beautiful, happy birds; and when at last they were out of his sight, he dived under the water, and rose again almost beside himself with excitement. He knew not the names of these birds, nor where they had flown, but he felt towards them as he had never felt for any other bird in the world. He was not envious of these beautiful creatures, but wished to be as lovely as they.
To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s
egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much
better all the pleasure and happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the new-comer, and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.
“I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling.”
Character and Environment Design
The tale of The Princess and the Pea is the shortest of the three stories. Growing up, I was fond of the
absurdity and foolishness of this story. When reading this story, I was drawn to the first description of the
princess; completely soaked by the storm around her and not in the least princess-like. The idea of a princess who looked disheveled is what I built my illustrations around. I gave the princess a more raggedy design,
complete with uncombed hair and pajamas. I also pictured her as a girl with more attitude than the common princess and given her situation, I wanted to illustrate the various moods she went through.
I used a color palette that resembled soft pastel princess colors and focused on detailing the mattresses,
which are the real stars of the story. Creating the interior environment was fun because it was very different from the other two environments I previously illustrated.
Another benefit of this story is that it is so short that it can fit within a few pages:
ONCE upon a time there was a prince who wanted to
marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess.
He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but
it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should
be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.
One evening a terrible storm came on; there was
thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate.
But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had
made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
“Oh, very badly!” said she. “I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in
the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It’s horrible!”
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.
Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
The spot illustration to the right is from that final moments of this short tale:
So the prince took her for his wife, for now he
knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in athe museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
There, that is a true story.