(November 30th, 2020)
Last week I saw some rather captivating images on Instagram under the hashtag of folktale week and I was rather impressed by the mystical and creative work that artists were posting under a folktale prompt, and I decided to give it a shot and see what I could create with the prompts mentioned below. Folktales, or folklores are stories, typically legends or myths, passed on orally and culturally and they usually depict something deeper about the race, people or geographical location from which these fantastical stories originate (I made up my own stories here though).
The prompt for day one was Birth, so this is what I drew… a picture of how fairies come into being. All the whimsical longings and yearnings of human beings are collected to create a sweet little fairy that dreams of spreading sunshine and magic when we’re struggling to find our own.
Day 2 of the folktale prompt was Ritual, and here’s a mother teaching her child the phases of that celestial white orb that fiercely governs their wild natures. A ritual as old as time, watching the moon and being swayed by her many moods.
Day 3 of the folktale prompt was Courtship. Here’s a goddess who grew up on earth and lost sense of her divinity. Life had scarred her (notice the scars on her back where I actually messed up and the paper started peeling, and it looked like scars, so I went along with it) and she withdrew into her shell, becoming a shadow of who she was meant to be. All that changed when love walked in and made her remember her true nature. That’s the healing power of love, it will make flowers grow out of scars. She found her heaven with him who taught her how to love and that’s what courtship means in its truest sense.
Day 4 of the folktale prompt was Solstice and here’s a winter angel overseeing the onset of Winter Solstice. As the sunlit green gives way to the long nights ahead, let us stay warm by kindling the fire in our souls and spreading it to all the souls we meet.
Day 5 of the folktale prompt was Death. As seen in the previous sketch, winter has quickly taken hold of the land and this forest nymph was desolate without her life-giving love, the Sun. Fear filled her being, she had lost everything; her thick green foliage, the birds who lived in her hair and the love of her life. That was when she learned to look inwards and hear his voice, and feel his wonderful warmth surround her. Fear and doubt are put to death when you seek the truth within… you’ll be covered in warm sunshine too like this meditating forest nymph.
Day 6 of the folktale prompt was Harvest and I thought why not draw a witch harvesting the energy of the moon, after setting up an altar with bonfires. She takes to the sky after the pagan ritual, feeling an intense affinity with the moon.
Day 7 , which was yesterday, marks the end of the week long folktale prompt, and the theme for the last day was Dance. Yesterday was Karthigai Deepam and I wanted to incorporate fire into my sketch, so naturally fire breathing dragons came to mind. Here are three dragon friends who spot the brightest and the most spectacular star they’ve ever seen and they start dancing around it in excitement and wonder. Little do they know that they are in for an adventure as they witness the greatest miracle unfolding on earth below, under the guiding light of this beautiful star. A divine child is about to be born and life will never be the same again for everyone who perceives the magnitude of His love. Yeah, I know… I had to include Christmas in somewhere. Yesterday was also the first Sunday of Advent and that means we’ve already entered the most beautiful time of the year. This folktale week has been fun, I had no clear-cut idea what to draw each day… but thinking it out and playing with water colours was incredibly therapeutic.
Here’s the (rather messy) page in my sketchbook…
Here’s the next page with dance as the prompt… I’ll look up last year’s prompts and draw something eventually to fill up the blank space. Now it’s time to focus on Christmas decorations.
The prompt for day one was Birth, so this is what I drew… a picture of how fairies come into being. All the whimsical longings and yearnings of human beings are collected to create a sweet little fairy that dreams of spreading sunshine and magic when we’re struggling to find our own.
Day 2 of the folktale prompt was Ritual, and here’s a mother teaching her child the phases of that celestial white orb that fiercely governs their wild natures. A ritual as old as time, watching the moon and being swayed by her many moods.
Day 3 of the folktale prompt was Courtship. Here’s a goddess who grew up on earth and lost sense of her divinity. Life had scarred her (notice the scars on her back where I actually messed up and the paper started peeling, and it looked like scars, so I went along with it) and she withdrew into her shell, becoming a shadow of who she was meant to be. All that changed when love walked in and made her remember her true nature. That’s the healing power of love, it will make flowers grow out of scars. She found her heaven with him who taught her how to love and that’s what courtship means in its truest sense.
Day 4 of the folktale prompt was Solstice and here’s a winter angel overseeing the onset of Winter Solstice. As the sunlit green gives way to the long nights ahead, let us stay warm by kindling the fire in our souls and spreading it to all the souls we meet.
Day 5 of the folktale prompt was Death. As seen in the previous sketch, winter has quickly taken hold of the land and this forest nymph was desolate without her life-giving love, the Sun. Fear filled her being, she had lost everything; her thick green foliage, the birds who lived in her hair and the love of her life. That was when she learned to look inwards and hear his voice, and feel his wonderful warmth surround her. Fear and doubt are put to death when you seek the truth within… you’ll be covered in warm sunshine too like this meditating forest nymph.
Day 6 of the folktale prompt was Harvest and I thought why not draw a witch harvesting the energy of the moon, after setting up an altar with bonfires. She takes to the sky after the pagan ritual, feeling an intense affinity with the moon.
Day 7 , which was yesterday, marks the end of the week long folktale prompt, and the theme for the last day was Dance. Yesterday was Karthigai Deepam and I wanted to incorporate fire into my sketch, so naturally fire breathing dragons came to mind. Here are three dragon friends who spot the brightest and the most spectacular star they’ve ever seen and they start dancing around it in excitement and wonder. Little do they know that they are in for an adventure as they witness the greatest miracle unfolding on earth below, under the guiding light of this beautiful star. A divine child is about to be born and life will never be the same again for everyone who perceives the magnitude of His love. Yeah, I know… I had to include Christmas in somewhere. Yesterday was also the first Sunday of Advent and that means we’ve already entered the most beautiful time of the year. This folktale week has been fun, I had no clear-cut idea what to draw each day… but thinking it out and playing with water colours was incredibly therapeutic.
Here’s the (rather messy) page in my sketchbook…
Here’s the next page with dance as the prompt… I’ll look up last year’s prompts and draw something eventually to fill up the blank space. Now it’s time to focus on Christmas decorations.
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