Hansel & Gretel – Progress #1

Hello!

I’ve chosen Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm as the fairytale I want to work on, as I like the dark connotation behind the story. As I was researching on the history of Hansel and Gretel, I found that it could have been inspired by the Great Famine in Europe in the 14th century, and I thought it was pretty cool that it was sparked off by real life events where parents abandoned their children due to the shortage of food, or sold their children for money.

So I thought of using food illustrations as patterns, and am possibly leaning towards a more whimsical approach in lieu with the children in this tale. Below are screenshots of some inspirations I’ve pinned on Pinterest!


  1. Dessert illustrations:

screen-shot-2017-01-24-at-2-34-33-pm

So far I have done rough sketches of the some motifs in pen, but have not progressed to using water colour finishings, which I may try!

2. Decay:

screen-shot-2017-01-24-at-2-35-09-pm

Because of the darker meaning behind Hansel and Gretel, I thought of decaying food, given that moulding and decay is related to expired food. I kind of want to use it as an element to bring out the negativity in the fairytale.