#challenge 136

Challenge 136: Fairy Tale Swap: The Enchanted Maiden

So excited that I got to collab with Caitlin on this challenge, her sketch was a dream to work from ( she knows I’m a sucker for portraits ;D ). The story she chose for me was a Portuguese fairy tale called "The Enchanted Maiden”. It’s a story of three sisters, marriage, shallowness, childbirth, magical blessings, and a young woman getting her eyes poked out along the way. Want to know how it ends? Check it out here!

Along with the story/ sketch, Caitlin also mentioned that she was going for a Florence Mary Anderson vibe (which I happily leaned into as much as possible). Here’s to hoping I did the story ( and Cailtin’s sketch) justice ✨

Challenge 136: Fairy Tale Swap: The Magpie

I was chosen by Natasha to do the story of the Magpie and their nest! 

All the birds came to the magpie, because it was the wisest, and asked it to teach them how to build nests. The magpie started to demonstrate, but each time she did something, another bird concluded that was all there was to it. By the time she was done, only the turtle-dove was left, and it had been paying no attention, but singing "Take two". The magpie said that one was enough but looked up and saw that every bird had left. She became angry and would not teach any more. That is why birds build their nests differently.

I wanted to do this illustration monochromatic and Shibori Indigo inspired patterns incorporated into it as well just for fun! Enjoy!


-Tina


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Challenge 136 : Fairy Tale Swap : Shippeitaro

An amazing sketch from Jordon of a Japanese fairy tale of a magnificent heroic dog “Shippeitaro". (Read the tale here) It’s amazing how alike ideas and sketches seem to form from this challenge, like ourselves. That it only feels right to style swap with Jordon sketch with my own, a great artistic partnership I believe.

Challenge 136: Fairy Tale Swap: Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What

So... James chose this super awesome trippy Russian Fairy Tale, Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What.

His sketch seemed pretty awesome and I only hope that my final came out decently.

During this aspect of the story the main character rides a frog to jump over a river of fire in order to “fetch what he knows not what it is.”

Hope you enjoy the illustration or at the very least you maybe decide to take a look into trippy Russian Fairy Tales.

Challenge 136: Fairy Tale Swap: The Fox Sister

Elizabeth gave me a beautiful sketch from a very fascinating Korean story about a family who has to navigate the struggles of having a sister who is also a fox (read it here). This story was surprisingly dark, as I suppose many original fairy tales are. It was also quite a fascinating origin story! This image captures the climax of the story, where the fox sister sets out on a chase of her eldest brother, who is equipped with some potion bottles to help keep her away.

I had such a fun time taking this sketch, which I feel really emulates Elizabeth’s style and really shows her skills for detailed figure sketches, and translating into my somewhat more blocky and simplified style!

Challenge 136: Fairy Tale Swap: The Golden Slipper

Brett supplied the sketch that was the basis for my The Golden Slipper illustration, featuring the part where the Cinderella-like character’s slipper gets stuck to the church floor with tar.

Challenge 136: Fairy Tale Swap: Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed

I received the original sketch for this piece from Emily. It was a very fun challenge to translate her style and expressive characters into my own way of working, and I’m very happy with the result. This image illustrates a Norwegian folktale in which a fox tricks the bear into literally freezing his tail off in an effort to catch fish.