Wow! This illustration could be very disturbing. That in itself can work, provided it's what you want to communicate. From the thumbnails, I could say for sure what were the bodies hanging from the ceilings in several thumbnails. Are they babies? That would be horrifying and present Rumpelstiltskin as a monster (maybe he is). Moreover, is it me or are all the circles about some of the hearths stacks of skulls like we see them in the catacombs in Paris (do an image search and you'll see what I'm referencing -- it's quite a disquieting sight, and it's real!). Finally, one juxtaposition charged with cognitive dissonance was the nice bed in front of the hearth. If you had that "nice and cozy" bed in front of a dreadful background, it would seem surreal that someone could have "sweet dreams" in such a room. Add to that a nicely set table with the knife and fork neatly aligned and it's really disturbing! Maybe that's what your version of Rumpelstiltskin is?!
About the thumbnails, #1 and #2 look good. I could also see a blending of #14 (or #17) with #25. Speaking of that, you can choose or not to show the creatures hanging in full. If not in full, you can show only parts clipped (cropped) by the top edge of the canvas. As a result, we'd only see the feet or parts of the legs, and the viewer is left imagining what the non-represented parts look like (which can be more powerful and more disturbing). If you need to "clarify" what those creatures are, you can cast their shadows on the walls. Therefore, we'd only see the feet and somewhere else the full shadows, and our imagination would create what's missing.
Thumbnail #18 is very unusual but hard to read (but maybe it's workable). It could be combined with #24.
In other words, sometimes, it's more powerful for the illustrator to let the viewer figure things out on his own. Your job is not to show **everything**. You can show enough and give enough clues, and the viewer can finish the job. And oftentimes, in those situations, the viewer's imagination is more terrifying than our scariest drawings.
Have at it, but don't get nightmares from this project!
Wow! This illustration could be very disturbing. That in itself can work, provided it's what you want to communicate. From the thumbnails, I could say for sure what were the bodies hanging from the ceilings in several thumbnails. Are they babies? That would be horrifying and present Rumpelstiltskin as a monster (maybe he is). Moreover, is it me or are all the circles about some of the hearths stacks of skulls like we see them in the catacombs in Paris (do an image search and you'll see what I'm referencing -- it's quite a disquieting sight, and it's real!). Finally, one juxtaposition charged with cognitive dissonance was the nice bed in front of the hearth. If you had that "nice and cozy" bed in front of a dreadful background, it would seem surreal that someone could have "sweet dreams" in such a room. Add to that a nicely set table with the knife and fork neatly aligned and it's really disturbing! Maybe that's what your version of Rumpelstiltskin is?!
ReplyDeleteAbout the thumbnails, #1 and #2 look good. I could also see a blending of #14 (or #17) with #25. Speaking of that, you can choose or not to show the creatures hanging in full. If not in full, you can show only parts clipped (cropped) by the top edge of the canvas. As a result, we'd only see the feet or parts of the legs, and the viewer is left imagining what the non-represented parts look like (which can be more powerful and more disturbing). If you need to "clarify" what those creatures are, you can cast their shadows on the walls. Therefore, we'd only see the feet and somewhere else the full shadows, and our imagination would create what's missing.
Thumbnail #18 is very unusual but hard to read (but maybe it's workable). It could be combined with #24.
In other words, sometimes, it's more powerful for the illustrator to let the viewer figure things out on his own. Your job is not to show **everything**. You can show enough and give enough clues, and the viewer can finish the job. And oftentimes, in those situations, the viewer's imagination is more terrifying than our scariest drawings.
Have at it, but don't get nightmares from this project!