(DATABASE) Project Two - Refined Sketches

Yejin Park

My take on Urashima Taro is a bit more direct in its interpretation (versus what I chose to do for The Bird Maiden). I wanted to portray the princess of being more closely incorporated with the sea itself. After all, our main character is a fisherman in a time when the occupation itself saw a lot more peril. It would not be unusual for the sea to be treated as a character or entity of its own in folklore. Also, who doesn't want to be guided out of certain death by a giant woman?

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On The Bird Maiden:

At a human level, versions of the story often deal with the lot of a young woman who, far from home, has been trapped into a union through the strength and guile of a stranger. There is a kind of demand for the wife to be both bird (for this is what makes her otherwordly), and woman (which positions her as a potential wife). Migratory and trapped. That is her nature and fate - to be both and neither.

There are variations of the story in East Asia (varying origins) where the husband/father is taken to heaven, sometimes able to return to earth by gaining "heavenly favor". Sometimes not.

But there is almost always the inclusion of the bird-maiden regaining her robes and returning back to her home in one way or another.

Cranes are often employed as a motif of a symbolic link between heaven and earth, so perhaps the stories can not just be interpreted as a literal taking of the bird-maiden as a wife - but of a man's meddling with matters of life and death. If you were the bird-maiden, stripped of your wings, forced to wed the person who stole them, and who kept you tethered to earth...would you just accept fate? I like to think that sometimes she doesn't.

Sho ritco

Emperors new clothes and the folktale about a man getting betrayed and blinded and going up a tree to listen to the birds talk 

Hunter Chapman

I chose the story of Urashima Taro because I recognized it from folktale books from Japan I have. I could have done one familiar to westerners but I did a similar project a year or two back, so I figured this would be more engaging. I only got one more refined sketch down in time due to a hectic week of house showings and work, but I want to include all of the main elements from the story while trying out a more ‘me’ style instead of referencing ones already done for the story. For research I am having to go way back in time to see what the architecture, hairstyles and outfits were like for reference. 

Nina Droz

Going with the bird maiden from the assigned reading. Image 3 is extra thumbnails I did of other stories

Ryunosuke Kikuchi

I looked at The Two Travelers and also Childe Rowland.

I decided to create thumbnails and generate ideas based on various themes starting from sci-fi and space to a more horror style.

The two that I decided are on the very right and I feel are heading to the direction that I am most happy with.

It follows my theme of eldritch cyberpunk "chuthulu punk" with hi rise buildings as the tower and a mafia boss as the king of the fae.

The main character has a talking Bat named Father Brand that advises and guides him on his journey through the Other world

For the elements of the food I wanted to think about some sort of delicious yet unfamiliar looking food.

I didn't realize that Steven King's Dark Towers was based off the story of Childe Rowland, and how Shakespeare quotes the story as well.
Hence having to avoid interpreting Father's Brand into a gun or a gunslinger as it starts to draw too much similarities.

I decided to do project 2 with the folktale "Two Travellers". The reason why I chose this story is that the narrative, settings, and characters are very similar to the Korean folktale that I read when I was young. Also, the contrast between characters, protagonist against antagonist (with their characteristics, their act, and ending) was clear enough to visually develop how both characters are separated. 

Yuki

Two traveller

I only illustrate the good man because I think he is more Important for the storyline.  I might draw a little bad man on the top right corner.

Brontë Sobotka

I am doing the story of the Lad who went to the North Wind. I’m mostly gender swapping the protagonist, making her a girl instead of a lad, and I’m also approaching it in a way to make it anachronistic while maintaining the feeling of a children’s book folktale. Combining elements of historical buildings and field environments in combination with contemporary objects will have a more comedic undertone which fits with the final resolution of the story. I find the scene of the character returning home very heartwarming, so I tried to encompass all elements that are present at the end of the story.

Xinyi Zhao

The story I depict is “The Two Travelers “. Basically it’s tells about good begets good, and evil leads to evil. I choose kind a scroll narration. The first is simply reading from left to right. It carries almost every thing I see from this folktale. And the layout of other one is connected with birds. It full of different states of natural objects; plants are alive and lush on good side(left), while on the bad side(right) they wither. I think it’s a thoughtful metaphor. I personally prefer latter, it seems more organized. For color palette, I decided to have two color systems for good and bad man separately, and have gradient cross them like I did in Project 1.

Tasha Sterling

Sketches for the story of Sadko or Urashima Taro and the Princess of the Sea and The Witches' Tale in which I want to take more of a realistic approach to the Sadko story or a very very whimsical childish take for the Witch tale, as per the energy and vibes that both of those tales gave me.

Reading Urashima Taro and the Princess of the Sea, it was a very unsettling atmosphere. There was this uncomfortable feeling of something that would go wrong, as most stories usually have a bit of conflict but with that tale, it was entirely happy and whimsical until what felt like a somewhat unfair when a kid was being rewarded for helping someone. Given a temptation and then having his whole family removed and stolen from him while he becomes 300+ years old and fully alone in the world as he can never return to the castle. It was a very grim ending with a very sad outlook and so I wanted to add a sense of horror in my thumbnails. 

In the Witches' Tale, it felt much more fun and goofy, especially with a very goofy character who was "foolish". This tale is more in line with what I'm familiar with (Hispanic culture) and other than the composition being a little askew, I like this one, but am unsure if I want to abandon the Sadko story for this, since the other two thumbnails are much more developed and there is more imagery to work with.