Other Pigs

What I said previously about the storks was probably a lie.  My Avicides idea has been ditched, or at least put on hold indefinitely.  I enjoyed reading The Bronze Pig/The Metal Pig, but have not done my illustration yet.

In the meantime, here are the pigs I have been working on:

Avicide

Avicide (n) the killing of a bird or birds; also, something used to kill birds

It seems everywhere I turn, I find more dead birds.

A simple illustration this time for The Storks, (but with paint this time - how exciting!) because I think there is much, much more to come based on this story.

Peter

[Acrylic + Graphite. Moleskine. 5x5"]

The Flying Trunk

After reading The Garden of Eden, I flipped a few pages further along and noticed that the next story, The Flying Trunk, was quite short, so I went ahead and read it, too.  I did not like it.  The tale reaches something of a climax with the main character telling some kind of (allegorical? perhaps just nonsensical)  tale about kitchen matches, so I've taken this opportunity to do a little exercise of a still life drawing featuring a jar of burnt-up matches that have been collecting on my kitchen window sill.  I've always admired artists who could paint trompe l'oeil pictures of glassware, what with all the reflections and shadows and transparency - it presents quite a challenge.  Those things are not easy to draw in pencil, either, but where I really failed with this one is with the shapes.  I have a tendency to hold my paper at an angle while I draw, thus making all my shapes look distorted when I hold it up straight.  D'oh!
May I present what is probably the most awkward thing I've drawn in recent memory (but I suppose a crap story deserves a crap drawing):

"I feel as if I were really in the kitchen, and could see the matches; yes, you shall marry our daughter.”

[Graphite. Moleskine sketchbook. 5x~3"]


How's that for a caption?  Yep, that's how wacky this story was.
Wow, three posts already this year?
Next!

The Garden of Eden

Haugaard translates the title of this tale as The Garden of Eden. Older translations call it The Garden of Paradise. Either way, I suppose you'd call it a Christian parable about man's inability to resist temptation. I won't dwell on the story; I spent far enough time poring over the illustration. What started as something simple quickly evolved into a fairly intricate and detailed work. I thoroughly enjoyed creating it, in fact, I couldn't put it down.

"Why, frost is my greatest delight."

[Graphite. Moleskine sketchbook. ~6 x 8.25"]

This is the North Wind, personified as one of four brothers who inhabit a cave with their mother. Yes, Andersen manages to weave all that into a story about Eden.
Buttons are the result of residual textile-themed influence from Kirby's Epic Yarn.

The Wild Swans

Today's offering is The Wild Swans.  No time for comparing translations today - I was far too busy drawing boobs.

... and the third snuggled as close to her heart as it could.

Have I mentioned that I'm in love with my Moleskine sketchbook?  Graphite flows onto its pages like a velvety dream.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

I read the Haugaard translation of Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier (a.k.a. The Brave Tin Soldier), but I have yet to read the older translation.  (Though I can tell you right now I prefer the decision to use the word "brave" rather than "steadfast" in a fairy tale / children's story - not because it is a word that children are more likely to know, I just think it's warmer and more evocative of an emotion.)   I feel the need to mention this, as this blog has become nearly as much a study of the differences between the older and newer translations as it is a place for my little drawings.  As often is the case, the part of the story that screamed out to me to be illustrated was not necessarily a vital part of the story.  Nonetheless...

"Have you got a passport?  Give me your passport!"

The Daisy

What can I say about The Daisy?  It turned out to be much darker of a tale than I anticipated when I first read the title.  A short little story about embracing what pleasures life has to offer while you have the chance.  I've been dabbling in digital art of late, so here's my take on The Daisy in a quick digital drawing.

Bewailing its Lost Freedom

Oh, by the way, did I mention that the previously titled Steampunk Taxidermy series is finished?  Well, it is, and now I've taken to calling it Unnatural Miscellany, after the late 18th- and early 19th-century publication The Naturalist's Miscellany.  The final piece:

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