The many faces of Gretel

Research on the different versions of Gretel.

The many faces of Hansel

Some research on the different looks of Hansel.

Hansel....character development,put together

Hansel as a whole

I started by adding all the bottom elements together (shoes trousers)

Then the top half, braces shirt,neck tie.

Drew one from behind.

I mocked up this final, but decided he looked far too old to be the hansel I was looking for, He looks more like a teen than a young child.

I made him smaller and thinner, I do like this attempt, but the braces were all wrong.

I like this Hansel the braces are right and I like the simplicity of the shapes, although Im not sure about his face.

Hansel character development...the beginning

HANSEL

I decided to start with his pants, I thought they should be slightly baggy but not too much. 

Next was the shirt, I added braces too keep up his pants because I felt it added more to the outfit.

Brace buckles, I decided to experiment with different buckle shapes, I stuck to the round buckle but added a small section underneath it for the straps to join.

Final shirt design.

shoes, it was difficult deciding what shoes to add to hansel because I wasn't sure wether to use boots or loafers. In the end I decided to mix both.

Hair style, I basically through a load of different hairstyles out on a page on the basic same head shape to see which one  I felt would best portray my Hansel, I even tried adding a hat.

The many faces of a witch

The look of a witch basically depends on the creator, I've researched many faces of witches and so far these are my favourite. Some are too gruesome as I wish to make my witch a tad sweeter and more beautiful as she manages to lure the children inside the house, but once inside her entire persona changes. 

Graziano Farinaccio

Graziano Farinaccio

Graziano Farinaccio is an illustrator represented by Advocate Art Illustration Agency. He has been drawing for as long as he can remember and it is his passion for art that led him to his career as a freelance illustrator. His work is full of character, inspired by artists such as Arthur Rackham and Lisbeth Zwerger and mixed with a world full of pop details and creepy illusions. He always begins with pencil sketches of the composition idea and completes the overall piece with acrylic paints or digital technique.

Once again I find his works are heavily influenced by Burton and his many followers and fans of that style. I love this piece as I find it gives the book a less childish feel even though it keeps its intensity. 

Ashley Fisher

Ashley Fisher

Fisher is a freelance artist and colour stylist from california. She specializes in inking, color, character rigging, layout, animation cleanup, background cleanup. I love her work It reminds me a lot of Tim Burton's work, also I appreciate the multiple layers she uses in her pieces, doing this I feel adds depth to her work and makes it more appealing to the audience. The lack of excessive colour also gives the book its well deserved creepy feel which I feel usually is lacking in others versions. 

What I plan to do...

What I plan to do.

This may seem like a harmless children's book but upon reading the original story its clear that there is many a different aspects hidden in this ''simple fairytale''. To begin with theres the object of fear we come against is in the form of betrayal. The children get betrayed at the beginning of the movie by both there father and stepmother. Next it is by the witch who deceivingly lure them into her house with promises of fine foods and then she holds them captive and finally was the fact there father failed to protect them through the entire story and just left them in the forest. There is also aspects of cannibalism (where the witch plans to eat the children). The close relationship between siblings is expressed perfectly in this book as well.  I would like to take this book back to its roots and portray it in the way it was wrote, Im NOT going to simplify it and make it ''child friendly'' as I find this sometimes makes the book loose its originality. The many times this book has been republished and retold by various authors and illustrated by many illustrators, I wish to give it a new style, I intend on showing the darker side of The Brothers Grimm- Hansel and Gretel, the way I feel was intended.

Sybille Schenker

Schenker is a Berlin based illustrator who recently created images based on Hansel and Gretel. Instead of traditionally drawing them or painting them she created the creepy silhouettes using paper cuts and transparencies. The multiple layering of various textures really deepens the mystery of the story and I find it engages the audience more and gives the story more depth. 

I love this style and I think its a brilliant idea to make the book more interactive.

Hansel and Gretal (Grethal)

Brief synopsis 

Hansel and Gretal is an extremely well know fairy tale written by The Grimm brothers, the tale is of german origin. Although it has been adapted and retold by many an author and illustrated by many an illustrator.

The story basically tells of a family which is struggling to supports themselves. So there stepmother persuades the father to lure the children into the forest and leave them there. The children over hear the plan and decide to leave a trail behind in order to return home, once lead into the forest and abandoned they manage to stumble across a house made entirely of cake and confectionary. Here lives and evil cannibalistic witch which holds the children captive and plans on fattening them up in order to eat them. Once the witch decided that hansel is fat enough to eat she plans on cooking him but the children manage to out smart the witch and push her into the oven which was burning intended for Hansel. The children find a vase full of precious jewels and riches, and fill there clothes with them, a swan ferries the two small children over an expanse of water and they manage to find there way home from there. Their father is overjoyed to see the children as he did not want to leave them in the forest in the first place, the step mother has died of unknown causes and the family live happily from there on.

Why I shall choose this.

I have decided to do this book as i think it would be the best option for my style of art as i can explore the darker side of this tale and try and successfully portray that in a series of illustrations.   

Walter Crane- Research

Walter Crane

Walter was a British born artist and book illustrator. He is known as one of the most influential childrens book creators of his time. I like his style due to the lack of colour. 

I find the simple block black and the black outline shows off his style of work adequately. 

The simplistic yet highly detailed style is something I will be thinking about trying to reproduce in my own work.

Jan pienkowski- research

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 Jan Pienkowski

Pienowski is a Polish born British children's illustrator, he was born 1936 and has done work for theatre. I love his style of work because the majority of it is silhouette based. The contrasting colours from the backgrounds to the blackened shapes in the fore ground really attract my attention and I think its a brilliant style, this could be created through printing, ink, or stencils. I also like the way he cleverly manages to entwine his illustrations successfully within the text.

yuhon

Yuhon is a deviantart artist, i cant find much information on him but I love his Zodiac work.